AvatarWriting

A guy who likes to write stories. Story/game ideas - outlines/tips/whatever else I stumble across that could help somebody. I have a normal blog called @avatarThorpe.

[lizardxlizard]

Stuff that always gets me

[writeouswriter]

[leave-her-a-tome]

My main WIP: you haven’t been … working on any side projects have you?

Me: …

[beccafromaphistory]

rip to all the kids who used to reads books cover to cover in one sitting and now can’t find the energy to read for fun

[argumate]

sci-fi plot: yeah and in this futuristic city he meets a woman–

producer: is she a stripper? is she a callgirl? does she get her tits out? is she a cop working undercover as a stripper? is she a sexy assassin who has sex with her victims and then kills them sexily? is she a robot stripper? is she a mystical being of pure energy who has no need for clothes and a great rack? is she a holographic beer advertisement?

[trashblogbestblog]

How People Watching Improves Your Writing

Sensory detail. 

When I was fourteen or fifteen, I liked to draw. I’d look up internet tutorials on how to draw the human figure, and nearly all of them suggested going outside and sketching anyone who goes by. Not only was this relaxing, but I noticed my art style become more realistic over time. I think we can apply similar concepts as writers to improve sensory description. 

How to practice: Try writing down specific details about the people you see. How is their walking gait? What does their voice sound like? What quirks about them stand out as you observe them? Write down descriptions using all of the senses (except maybe taste) and, over time, you’ll notice your words become more lively.

Observation.

You don’t have to be Sherlock Holmes to benefit from observation skills. Writing stories is all about noticing connections and seeing the extraordinary in ordinary life. People watching can boost your ability to notice little details and recognize them as important, and it can help you sense patterns more easily.

How to practice: In this case, remember once again that you are not Sherlock Holmes. Don’t assume that you know a person’s life story based on what socks they’re wearing (and definitely don’t try making such assumptions with friends or family). 

Try to take in people who pass by and the small, unique details about them. Notice how they’re interacting with other people and the world around them. Think about why that might be and write down any thoughts or connections that interest you.

Freewriting. 

Writing first drafts can paralyze anyone. We all know that getting the words out is the first, most important step, but that can feel like torture sometimes. If you’re a hesitant writer, freewriting can help you feel less self-conscious when writing and jot down thoughts or impressions as they come. Other exercises can help you with editing later on, but you can’t get there unless you freewrite.

How to practice: Write down anything that strikes you without worrying whether it’s important or you’ll use it later. I like to focus on one person per minute and during that time, write anything that I find interesting. Once the sixty seconds are up, I move onto another person and continue that cycle as long as I want to keep going. With time, you’ll get faster and may notice that words come more easily.

Creativity. 

In the book Stargirl, one of my favorite parts is when Stargirl and Leo go to the park and play a game where they make up stories about the strangers they pass. As they connect together little observations, they create vivid backstories that may not necessarily be true, but that’s not the point. What matters is stretching their minds.

How to practice: Play this game for yourself. Pick a person at random and, piecing together little details you notice about them, give them a backstory. What are they doing, and where are they going (both right now and in the long-term)? Why are they hurrying so quickly to wherever they’re going or walking almost aimlessly along? Don’t worry about getting it “right” so much as creating an interesting story for this person.

Empathy. 

Developing empathy as a writer is so important, though not often talked about. If you can put yourself in the shoes of another person and consider what complexities, challenges, and little joys life holds for them, you will create emotionally powerful pieces. People watching helps train your eye to notice those around you more and remember that yours is not the only voice in the world.

How to practice: Remember the definition of the word “sonder:” the realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own. Look for those complexities. Notice relationships. Notice facial expressions and emotions. Don’t just look at them but see them, and write down what strikes you about them.

[insomniac-arrest]

it’s all “accidental hand touch” this and “brief longing gaze” that, where’s my support at for “reaching up and fixing someone’s collar for them” crew??

the intimacy disguised as helpfulness! the lingering contact! the optional subdued “you look nice” as they stand too close!!

expand your pining vocabulary people

[delusioninabox]

Daily #2,288! Kind of the opposite of what I was going for.

[violaboss]

I’ve seen a lot of curious people wanting to dive into classical music but don’t know where to start, so I have written out a list of pieces to listen to depending on mood. I’ve only put out a few, but please add more if you want to. hope this helps y’all out. :)

stereotypical delightful classical music:

battalia a 10 in d major (biber)

brandenburg concerto no. 5

brandenburg concerto no. 3

symphony no. 45 - “farewell” (haydn)

if you need to chill:

rondo alla turca

fur elise

anitra’s dance

in the steppes of central asia (borodin) (added by viola-ology)

if you need to sleep:

moonlight sonata

swan lake

corral nocturne

sleep (eric whitacre) (added by thelonecomposer)

if you need to wake up:

morning mood

summer (from the four seasons)

buckaroo holiday (if you’ve played this in orch you might end up screaming instead of waking up joyfully)

if you are feeling very proud:

pomp and circumstance

symphony no. 9 (beethoven; this is where ode to joy came from)

1812 overture

symphony no. 5, finale (tchaikovsky) (added by viola-ology)

american (dvořák)

if you feel really excited:

hoedown (copland)

bacchanale

spring (from the four seasons) (be careful, if you listen to this too much you’ll start hating it)

la gazza ladra

death and the maiden (schubert)

if you are angry and you want to take a baseball bat and start hitting a bush:

dance of the knights (from the romeo and juliet suite by prokofiev)

winter, mvt. 1 (from the four seasons)

symphony no. 10 mvt. 2 (shostakovich)

symphony no. 5 (beethoven)

totentanz (liszt)

quartet no. 8, mvt. 2 (shostakovich) (added by viola-ology)

young person’s guide to the orchestra, fugue (britten) (added by iwillsavemyworld)

symphony no. 5 mvt. 4 (shostakovich) (added by eternal-cadenza)

marche slave (tchaikovsky) (added by eternal-cadenza)

if you want to cry for a really long time:

fantasia based on russian themes (rimsky-korsakov)

adagio for strings (barber)

violin concerto in e minor (mendelssohn)

aase’s death

andante festivo

vocalise (rachmaninoff) (added by tropicalmunchakoopas)

if you want to feel like you’re on an adventure:

an american in paris (gershwin)

if you want chills:

danse macabre

russian easter overture

egmont overture (added by shayshay526)

if you want to study:

eine kleine nachtmusik

bolero (ravel)

serenade for strings (elgar)

scheherazade (rimsky-korsakov) (added by viola-ology)

pines of rome, mvt. 4 (resphigi) (added by viola-ology)

if you really want to dance:

capriccio espagnol (rimsky-korsakov)

blue danube

le cid (massenet) (added by viola-ology)

radetzky march

if you want to start bouncing in your chair:

hopak (mussorgsky)

les toreadors (from carmen suite no.1)

if you’re about to pass out and you need energy:

hungarian dance no. 1

hungarian dance no. 5

if you want to hear suspense within music:

firebird

in the hall of the mountain king

ride of the valkyries

night on bald mountain (mussorgsky) (added by viola-ology)

if you want a jazzy/classical feel:

rhapsody in blue

jazz suite no. 2 (shostakovich) (added by eternal-cadenza)

if you want to feel emotional with no explanation:

introduction and rondo capriccioso

unfinished symphony (schubert)

symphony no. 7, allegretto (beethoven) (added by viola-ology)

canon in d (pachelbel)

if you want to sit back and have a nice cup of tea:

st. paul’s suite

concerto for two violins (vivaldi)

l’arlésienne suite

concierto de aranjuez (added by tropicalmunchakoopas)

pieces that don’t really have a valid explanation:

symphony no. 40 (mozart)

cello suite no. 1 (bach)

polovtsian dances

enigma variations (elgar) (added by viola-ology)

perpetuum mobile

moto perpetuo (paganini)

pieces that just sound really cool:

scherzo tarantelle

dance of the goblins

caprice no. 24 (paganini)

new world symphony, allegro con fuoco (dvorak) (added by viola-ology​)

le tombeau de couperin (added by tropicalmunchakoopas)

carnival of the animals (added by shadowraven45662)

if you feel like listening to concertos all day (I do not recommend doing that):

concerto for two violins (bach)

concerto for two violins (vivaldi)

violin concerto in a minor (vivaldi)

violin concerto (tchaikovsky) (added by iwillsavemyworld)

violin concerto in d minor (sibelius) (added by eternal-cadenza)

cello concerto in c (haydn)

piano concerto, mvt. 1 (pierne) (added by iwillsavemyworld)

harp concerto in E-flat major, mvt. 1 (added by iwillsavemyworld)

and if you really just hate classical music in general:

4′33″ (cage)

a lot of these pieces apply in multiple categories, but I sorted them by which I think they match the most. have fun exploring classical music!

also, thank you to viola-ology, iwillsavemyworld, shayshay526, eternal-cadenza, tropicalmunchakoopas, shadowraven45662, and thelonecomposer for adding on! if you would like to add on your own suggestions, please reblog and add on or message me so I can give you credit for the suggestion!

[dreameater1988]

Let me just add a few of my favourite things I didn’t see on the list (or maybe I’m just blind)

Something haunting:  - great fugue (beethoven)

Cheerful music: - rage over a lost penny (beethoven) - slavonic dance nr 1 (dvorak)

Impressive orchestral work: - slavonic dance nr 8 (dvorak) - overture to leonore (beethoven) - vltava (smetana)

Some fancy baroque music that’s generally just pretty: - oboe concertos (albinoni)

A wonderful piece by a composer people often forget about: - violin concerto no 1 in g minor (bruch)

And something fun I found while searching for a better version of the Hungarian Dance No 5: - hungarian dance nr 5 (modern cover)

[somethingwittyandweird]

I heartily endorse what’s been said before, and find it really comprehensive and well organized. I just have a few of my favorite piano pieces to add to it:

the sunken cathedral (debussy) 

the maid with the flaxen hair (debussy)

clair de lune (also debussy)

gymnopedie no. 1 (satie) 

nocturne in e flat no 2 (chopin)

prelude no 1 in c major (bach)

Recommended for quiet or contemplative moods.

Bonus orchestral works that might be a little more exciting:

  waltz of the flowers (tchaikovsky)

  overture to orpheus in the underworld (offenbach)

[cherribalm-deactivated20140609]

site that you can type in the definition of a word and get the word

site for when you can only remember part of a word/its definition 

site that gives you words that rhyme with a word

site that gives you synonyms and antonyms

[bumblebeebabie]

THAT FIRST SITE IS EVERY WRITER’S DREAM DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY TIMES I’VE TRIED WRITING SOMETHING AND THOUGHT GOD DAMN IS THERE A SPECIFIC WORD FOR WHAT I’M USING TWO SENTENCES TO DESCRIBE AND JUST GETTING A BUNCH OF SHIT GOOGLE RESULTS

[modernsuperhero]

oh my god

[zagreus]

“if it’s not plot relevant, cut it!!” is such awful writing advice

if JRR Tolkien had cut every bit of Lord of the Rings that wasn’t directly related to the central plot, it would have been just one book long, COLOURLESS and DULL AS DIRT. 

all the little worldbuilding/character details are what draw you in and give the central plot weight, FOOL

[veryrarelystable-deactivated201]

The plot is not the same thing as the story.  The plot is the mechanics of how one thing causes another.

Some classic stories have no plot to speak of – the characters just wander from one situation to the next.  Alice in Wonderland and The Wizard of Oz are examples.

Some stories have partial plots, where some things in the story cause other things, but other things come out of the blue and pass away without consequence.  This category includes classics too: Huckleberry Finn, The Wind in the Willows.

Even in stories with a strong plot, sometimes the most iconic moments fall outside that plot.  Think of the No-Man’s-Land scene in Wonder Woman or the dying dinosaur in Jurassic World II.

Ah, but those aren’t classics, I hear someone say.  Well, I disagree in the case of Wonder Woman (although time will tell), but let’s go right to the top of the English canon, Shakespeare’s Hamlet.

What’s the most iconic scene, if you had to pick one to illustrate for the front cover or the playbill poster?  Ninety-nine times out of a hundred, it’s the Yorick skull scene.  What does that have to do with the plot?  Precious little.  It’s just a way to keep Hamlet busy until Ophelia’s funeral arrives.  And even there it’s not very well fit for purpose, because it doesn’t explain why Hamlet is hanging around in a graveyard anyway.

That’s because, tight though the plot of Hamlet is, the story of Hamlet is not reducible to its plot.  Hamlet is a three-hour exploration of death and skulls and murder and corpses and funerals and ghosts and “what dreams may come”.  The plot is just there to drive you around between the features of that mental landscape.

So the question isn’t “Does this serve the plot?”  The question is “Does this help explore the idea that the story is about?”

(Why yes, I have written all this somewhere before.)

[allofthefeelings]

One really helpful thing I learned- and I can’t remember if it was from a writing class or a lit class, so I don’t even who to thank for it- is that each scene should move at least two or three aspects of what you’re writing forward.

That can be plot. It can be story. It can be worldbuilding. It can be theme. It can be character. It can be relationships. It can be any number of things, but it needs to be more than one.

If a scene does nothing but move plot forward, it’s not accomplishing enough to earn its real estate on the page, any more than a scene that just builds character does.

When I look at it not as prioritizing plot, but as not prioritizing any one aspect of the story above all others, it makes it easier for me to figure out what strengthens my writing and what doesn’t, or,at the very least, how to make a scene that’s important to me more useful to the story as a whole.

[writingadvice1]

60 Awesome Search Engines for Serious Writers

[referenceforwriters]

Finding the information you need as a writer shouldn’t be a chore. Luckily, there are plenty of search engines out there that are designed to help you at any stage of the process, from coming up with great ideas to finding a publisher to get your work into print. Both writers still in college and those on their way to professional success will appreciate this list of useful search applications that are great from making writing a little easier and more efficient.

Professional

Find other writers, publishers and ways to market your work through these searchable databases and search engines.

Litscene: Use this search engine to search through thousands of writers and literary projects, and add your own as well.

Thinkers.net: Get a boost in your creativity with some assistance from this site.

PoeWar: Whether you need help with your career or your writing, this site is full of great searchable articles.

Publisher’s Catalogues: Try out this site to search through the catalogs and names of thousands of publishers.

Edit Red: Through this site you can showcase your own work and search through work by others, as well as find helpful FAQ’s on writing.

Writersdock: Search through this site for help with your writing, find jobs and join other writers in discussions.

PoetrySoup: If you want to find some inspirational poetry, this site is a great resource.

Booksie.com: Here, you can search through a wide range of self-published books.

One Stop Write Shop: Use this tool to search through the writings of hundreds of other amateur writers.

Writer’s Cafe: Check out this online writer’s forum to find and share creative works.

Literary Marketplace: Need to know something about the publishing industry? Use this search tool to find the information you need now.

Writing

These helpful tools will help you along in the writing process.

WriteSearch: This search engine focuses exclusively on sites devoted to reading and writing to deliver its results.

The Burry Man Writers Center: Find a wealth of writing resources on this searchable site.

Writing.com: This fully-featured site makes it possible to find information both fun and serious about the craft of writing.

Purdue OWL: Need a little instruction on your writing? This tool from Purdue University can help.

Writing Forums: Search through these writing forums to find answers to your writing issues.

Research

Try out these tools to get your writing research done in a snap.

Google Scholar: With this specialized search engine from Google, you’ll only get reliable, academic results for your searches.

WorldCat: If you need a book from the library, try out this tool. It’ll search and find the closest location.

Scirus: Find great scientific articles and publications through this search engine.

OpenLibrary: If you don’t have time to run to a brick-and-mortar library, this online tool can still help you find books you can use.

Online Journals Search Engine: Try out this search engine to find free online journal articles.

All Academic: This search engine focuses on returning highly academic, reliable resources.

LOC Ask a Librarian: Search through the questions on this site to find helpful answers about the holdings at the Library of Congress.

Encylcopedia.com: This search engine can help you find basic encyclopedia articles.

Clusty: If you’re searching for a topic to write on, this search engine with clustered results can help get your creative juices flowing.

Intute: Here you’ll find a British search engine that delivers carefully chosen results from academia.

AllExperts: Have a question? Ask the experts on this site or search through the existing answers.

Reference

Need to look up a quote or a fact? These search tools make it simple.

Writer’s Web Search Engine: This search engine is a great place to find reference information on how to write well.

Bloomsbury Magazine Research Centre: You’ll find numerous resources on publications, authors and more through this search engine.

Merriam-Webster Dictionary and Thesaurus: Make sure you’re using words correctly and can come up with alternatives with the help of this tool.

References.net: Find all the reference material you could ever need through this search engine.

Quotes.net: If you need a quote, try searching for one by topic or by author on this site.

Literary Encyclopedia: Look up any famous book or author in this search tool.

Acronym Finder: Not sure what a particular acronym means? Look it up here.

Bartleby: Through Bartleby, you can find a wide range of quotes from famous thinkers, writers and celebrities.

Wikipedia.com: Just about anything and everything you could want to look up is found on this site.

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Find all the great philosophers you could want to reference in this online tool.

Niche Writers

If you’re focusing on writing in a particular niche, these tools can be a big help.

PubGene: Those working in sci-fi or medical writing will appreciate this database of genes, biological terms and organisms.

GoPubMd: You’ll find all kinds of science and medical search results here.

Jayde: Looking for a business? Try out this search tool.

Zibb: No matter what kind of business you need to find out more about, this tool will find the information.

TechWeb: Do a little tech research using this news site and search engine.

Google Trends: Try out this tool to find out what people are talking about.

Godchecker: Doing a little work on ancient gods and goddesses? This tool can help you make sure you have your information straight.

Healia: Find a wide range of health topics and information by using this site.

Sci-Fi Search: Those working on sci-fi can search through relevant sites to make sure their ideas are original.

Books

Find your own work and inspirational tomes from others by using these search engines.

Literature Classics: This search tool makes it easy to find the free and famous books you want to look through.

InLibris: This search engine provides one of the largest directories of literary resources on the web.

SHARP Web: Using this tool, you can search through the information on the history of reading and publishing.

AllReaders: See what kind of reviews books you admire got with this search engine.

BookFinder: No matter what book you’re looking for you’re bound to find it here.

ReadPrint: Search through this site for access to thousands of free books.

Google Book Search: Search through the content of thousands upon thousands of books here, some of which is free to use.

Indie Store Finder: If you want to support the little guy, this tool makes it simple to find an independent bookseller in your neck of the woods.

Blogging

For web writing, these tools can be a big help.

Technorati: This site makes it possible to search through millions of blogs for both larger topics and individual posts.

Google Blog Search: Using this specialized Google search engine, you can search through the content of blogs all over the web.

Domain Search: Looking for a place to start your own blog? This search tool will let you know what’s out there.

OpinMind: Try out this blog search tool to find opinion focused blogs.

IceRocket: Here you’ll find a real-time blog search engine so you’ll get the latest news and posts out there.

PubSub: This search tool scours sites like Twitter and Friendfeed to find the topics people are talking about most every day.

[faerisms-deactivated20200805]

true writing is knowing exactly how your wip starts and knowing exactly how how it ends but the middle is the equivalent of you standing stranded on highway 52 while your car burns in the background before a freeze frame zooms in on your face and a voice-over goes “yup that’s me. you might be wondering how i got here.” 

[charlesoberonn]

People in badly written fantasy stories will usually talk about the major historical events of their world and how magic has affected the lives of everyone, but ask a person in the real world to describe the effects of WWI and the invention of the combustion engine on modern life and they’d probably couldn’t tell you.

[bone-us-zone]

Broke: every character seems to know everything about the history and lore of the world

Woke: most characters can’t tell you much besides the basics but there are some that can tell you more complete but specific parts

H Y P E R W O K E: Every character tells you a wildly different version of the past and what effects it has on the present, ranging from the government is an imperialist, colonizing body obsessed with power to the one true ruler was sent by the gods and has smote down anyone who got in his way to “Oh you mean Jeff, the quote unquote tyrant of the west? I knew that guy! He was alright, never did anything wrong really just wanted some soup.” And there’s no way to tell what actually happened

[charlesoberonn]

I like your thinking

[drearyhours]

my favorite trope is the thing star trek does where when a character lists something and they’ll list real things/people but add 1 thats fictional, like “great writers such as shakespeare, robert frost, edgar allan poe and zaxar the giant rat man“

[thesubcon10ent]

Idk anything about Star Trek and this trope is absolutely hilarious but I’m also a big fan of the opposite of this trope, where the character is listing things that aren’t real but they’ll add 1 thing that’s real at the end

[100doplangblr]

Tips to finishing creative writings

Have one main piece and several smaller ones The story you are most eager to write and has some form of a developed plot should be your main story, but don’t limit yourself to only that piece. That’s when you abandon it. Instead, tell yourself, “I have a good idea for another story. Let me write 500-1000 words of it.” This allows you to put what’s in your mind on paper. You can also get a feel for it and see if it is really something you think you could write an entire story for. When you finish your main story, come back to it and make that your new main if you still want to write it.

Use your desire to write another story to finish the one you’re working on Continuing with the point from above, if you are still extremely excited about your small work, use that enthusiasm to fuel your current story. Tell yourself, “I need to finish X story before I can write Y story.” You will write so much more and so much faster than you ever planned. You can also be proud that you finished something you originally planned to abandon.

Love your characters This may seem obvious, but writing is hard if you don’t even know or like your characters. Draw your characters together. Give them funky clothes or send them abroad. Even make an AU of your story in your head. If you can’t draw, find an avatar creator and give your characters a tangible image. The more you love your characters and give them personalities, the more eager you will be to write about those characters.

Take a break Be kind to yourself. You’re only human. If life is stressful and writing is more of a chore than it is fun, take a break. When you have more free time and are excited to write again, sit down, grab a pen, and find yourself happily immersed in a world you haven’t visited in a while. Good luck with your stories and be kind to yourself <3

[writersblockbecomesunblocked]

How To End Your Story

The Circle Ending- A story that does a full circle and comes back to the beginning

The Moral Ending- An ending where you learn a lesson and see the character develop

The Surprise Ending- A big plot twist last minute

The Reflection Ending- The Character looks back on their past achievements and experiences

The Emotional Ending- Leave your readers feeling sad, bittersweet, or happy

The Cliff Hanger Ending- End on something that will leave your readers at the edge of their seat

The Humor Ending- Finish in a funny or humorous way

The Question Ending- Make the reader wonder what will happen next

The Image Ending- Show, don’t tell

The Dialogue Ending- Finish with a quote from one of your characters