Bookgathering

Favorite Titles: Earth's Children, Sacred Wilderness, Firekeeper Saga, 1Q84, Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind

[fixyourwritinghabits]

Plot A Month W3D4: How to Make Subplots Work

I’ve been hammering away at at plot so much that I feel like I’ve completely missed talking about subplots. And that’s bad, because subplots are important! When we think about subplots, we should break it down three ways.

Plot: The main focus of your story, what your character’s main goal is focused on. For example, the girl knight decides to slay the dragon.

Subplot: A ‘miniplot’ or sideplot in your story. For example, the girl knight who decides to slay the dragon has a bad relationship with her father, who told her she can’t be a dragon slayer. She wants to prove him wrong, but she also wants his approval. (For the romantic subplot: solving the murder leads the detective to be involved with a private eye.)

Chances are, if you’ve been writing stories for awhile, you’ve already been doing subplots without really thinking about it. But let’s say you’re still a bit lost. First, we’ll look at how to find your subplots:

How many goals does the main character have? SO I’M GOING TO USE AVATAR THE LAST AIRBENDER COOL COOL viewing Aang as one of our main characters, let’s look at his goals: master the elements to defeat the firelord. Those are his external goals. However, he also has to build up confidence in himself, forgive himself for his past mistakes, and find a way to defeat the firelord without killing him. That’s a lot goals, the first two internal, the second external. Those secondary goals are going to lead to some subplots: what will Aang do to build up confidence? How will he find a way to defeat the firelord without killing him?

How many goals do the supporting characters have? If we look at Katara, she wants to master waterbending. That’s her main external goal. She also has to confront her problems with her father and deal with her forced role as replacing her mother. Those are her internal goals. While the main plot is Defeat The Firelord, Katara also has to reach her own goals. Those are subplots, things that need to be resolved before the end of the story.

How do those goals relate to the main plot? You’ll notice a few things about subplots; they tend to tie into the main plot (particular with the main or head character), and they are deeply related to what makes the character a person. Aang’s past mistakes haunt him, Katara’s needs tie directly to her history and drive her goals.

Although you might already be doing subplots or have a vague idea of what they’re going to be, here are some suggestions on how to figure out your subplots:

What’s important to your character? Obviously besides the main plot, they’re going to have other concerns and worries. Although you’ll have external goals as subplots, a lot of them will be the internal goals. Aang’s role as the Avatar means he must overcome his failings and find his own way of resolving conflict.

What will stand in the way of your character getting their internal goals? Self-doubt, mistakes, and emotional confusion can make your character have a harder time changing what needs to be changed.

Will resolving the main plot also resolve the subplots? If not, how can they be resolved? Thinking about this will help you bring all the threads of your story together.

Hopefully if you haven’t thought about your subplots yet, you can have a decent start now. For more, check out:

7 Ways to Add Great Subplots to Your Story

Adding Subplots to a Novel

Hit Me With Your Best Subplot

Weave Subplots Into Your Novel

Starting With Subplot

25 Turns…To Complicate Your Plot

All About Subplots

[the-writers-society-deactivated]

10 Ways to Start Your Story

In writing, as in dating and business, initial reactions matter. You don’t get a second chance, as mouthwash commercials often remind us, to make a first impression.

So it’s unfortunate that opening sentences frequently receive short shrift in writing workshops. While drilling aspiring literati on the subtleties of characterization and plot, few, if any, writing instructors offer lessons on crafting a first line, or even an introductory paragraph—though many agents and editors, if not impressed after a sentence or two, will read no further. I started devoting an entire session of my writing class to opening lines when I realized that the last formal instruction I’d had on the subject was the grade school admonition that stories should begin with “a hook.” In the years since, I’ve come to believe that the fate of most literary endeavors is sealed within the initial paragraph—and that the seeds of that triumph or defeat are usually sown by the end of the very first sentence.

Think of every opening line you write as a pebble tossed down a mountainside: The stone may jolt back and forth within a limited path, building up force, but the trajectory of its initial release largely determines its subsequent route. Never forget that the entire course of a story or novel, like an avalanche, is largely defined within its first seconds. To craft a compelling story, you must first launch it in the right direction.

Here are 10 ways to do it.

1. Build momentum. The first cardinal rule of opening lines is that they should possess most of the individual craft elements that make up the story as a whole. An opening line should have a distinctive voice, a point of view, a rudimentary plot and some hint of characterization. By the end of the first paragraph, we should also know the setting and conflict, unless there is a particular reason to withhold this information.

This need not lead to elaborate or complex openings. Simplicity will suffice. For example, the opening sentence of Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man Is Hard to Find” tells the reader: “The grandmother didn’t want to go to Florida.” Already, we have a distinctive voice—somewhat distant, possibly ironic—referring to the grandmother with a definite article. We have a basic plot: conflict over a journey. And we have a sense of characterization: a stubborn or determined elderly woman. Although we do not know the precise setting, we can rule out Plato’s Athens, Italy under the Borgias and countless others. All of that in eight words. Yet what matters most is that we have direction—that O’Connor’s opening is not static.

Immediately, we face a series of potential questions: Why didn’t the grandmother want to go to Florida? Where else, if anywhere, did she wish to go? Who did want to go to Florida? A successful opening line raises multiple questions, but not an infinite number. In other words, it carries momentum.

2. Resist the urge to start too early. You might be tempted to begin your narrative before the action actually starts, such as when a character wakes up to what will eventually be a challenging or dramatic day. But unless you’re rewriting Sleeping Beauty, waking up is rarely challenging or dramatic. Often, when we start this way, it’s because we’re struggling to write our way into the narrative, rather than letting the story develop momentum of its own. Far better to begin at the first moment of large-scale conflict. If the protagonist’s early-morning rituals are essential to the story line, or merely entertaining, they can always be included in backstory or flashbacks—or later, when he wakes up for a second time.

3. Remember that small hooks catch more fish than big ones. Many writers are taught that the more unusual or extreme their opening line, the more likely they are to “hook” the reader. But what we’re not taught is that such large hooks also have the power to easily disappoint readers if the subsequent narrative doesn’t measure up. If you begin writing at the most dramatic or tense moment in your story, you have nowhere to go but downhill. Similarly, if your hook is extremely strange or misleading, you might have trouble living up to its odd expectations. As a fishing buddy of mine explains, the trick is to use the smallest hook possible to make a catch—and then to pull like crazy in the opposite direction.

4. Open at a distance and close in. In modern cinema, films commonly begin with the camera focused close up on an object and then draw back panoramically, often to revelatory effect, such as when what appears to be a nude form is actually revealed to be a piece of fruit. This technique rarely works in prose. Most readers prefer to be “grounded” in context and then to focus in. Open your story accordingly.

5. Avoid getting ahead of your reader. One of the easiest pitfalls in starting a story is to begin with an opening line that is confusing upon first reading, but that makes perfect sense once the reader learns additional information later in the story. The problem is that few readers, if confused, will ever make it that far. This is not to say that you can’t include information in your opening that acquires additional meaning once the reader learns more. That technique is often a highly rewarding tool. But the opening should make sense on both levels—with and without knowledge the reader will acquire later.

6. Start with a minor mystery. While you don’t want to confuse your readers, presenting them with a puzzle can be highly effective—particularly if the narrator is also puzzled. This has the instant effect of making the reader and narrator partners in crime. An unanswered question can even encompass an entire novel, as when David Copperfield asks, “Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show.”

7. Keep talk to a minimum. If you feel compelled to begin a story with dialogue, keep in mind that you’re thrusting your readers directly into a maelstrom in which it’s easy to lose them. One possible way around this is to begin with a single line of dialogue and then to draw back and to offer additional context before proceeding with the rest of the conversation—a rare instance in which starting close up and then providing a panorama sometimes works. But long sequences of dialogue at the outset of a story usually prove difficult to follow.

8. Be mindful of what works. Once you’ve given some concentrated thought to your own opening line, obtain copies of anthologies like The Best American Short Stories and The PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories and read only the first sentence of each story. As with any other aspect of writing, openings are their own distinct art form—and exposure to the masterwork of others is one of the best ways to learn. (Of course, the challenge of this exercise is to avoid being lured into a story with such a compelling opening that you aren’t able to put it down!)

9. When in doubt, test several options. Writers are often advised to make a short list of titles and try them out on friends and family. Try doing the same with opening sentences. An opening line, like a title, sometimes seems truly perfect—until you come up with several even better choices.

10. Revisit the beginning once you reach the end. Sometimes a story evolves so significantly during the writing process that an opening line, no matter how brilliant, no longer applies to the story that follows. The only way to know this is to reconsider the opening sentence, like the title, once the final draft of the story is complete. Often a new opening is called for. That doesn’t mean your first opening needs to be scrapped entirely; instead, file it away for use in a future project.

Needless to say, a brilliant opening line cannot salvage a story that lacks other merits, nor will your story be accepted for publication based on the opening alone. But in a literary environment where journals and publishing houses receive large quantities of submissions, a distinctive opening line can help define a piece. A riveting opening can even serve as shorthand for an entire story, so that harried editors, sitting around a table as they evaluate the crème de la slush pile, may refer to your piece not by its title, but as “the one that begins with the clocks striking 13” (as does George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four). Even after the rest of the story has evaporated from conscious memory, the opening may stick with editors, an iron peg upon which to hang their hats—and, with any luck, it will have that effect on readers, too.

Also, check out my writing prompts! Maybe they’ll help :)

[ravenclawslibrary-deactivated20]

How do you write good smut?

I can’t tell if this is a compliment or just a general question… haha

I only really jumped on the smut train a year or so ago (thanks Straggle & Lost, you are such bad influences), so I can’t claim to be an expert by any means…

Personally, I think good smut is realistic smut. It doesn’t have to be a thousand crazy positions with twenty orgasms a piece. It just has to be something you’re comfortable writing and something believable for the characters you’re writing for. For example, I don’t shy away from putting dialogue into my smut because I really believe that good sex is about communication. It might be sexy to make it all moans and groans, but I think partners talking to each other - telling each other what feels good where and how fast - is just as sexy. Plus, dirty talk is kind of one of my kinks haha.

Logistically, make sure you know what body parts are where, what clothes are coming off, and what the layout of the scene is before you start in on the dirty stuff. You don’t want your reader to be mid-sex and confused about whether they’re in the bed or still against that wall in the hallway.

Otherwise, just write and write again! That’s the best advice I can give you :)

[thestraggletag]

Fun fact: I love dialogue in sex scenes. Love it to pieces. I don’t know if it’s just me but… yeah.

And yeah, keeping track of what is where is kinda important. 

Also, I’m not sorry, Raven.

[woodelf68]

I just read something last night where one moment Rum was clothed and then he was naked and I went back thinking ‘did I miss a sentence saying he undressed?’, but nope. It didn’t need a detailed description of item-by-item removal, but that sort of thing takes you out of the moment completely, as does trying to figure out if they’re still standing or in bed, or who’s on top, etc. And the ‘he gives her several orgasms first’ has actually become an overused trope in this fandom, in my opinion. So yes, stay realistic. Unless, y’know, there’s a spilled lust potion involved. Then go crazy. :D

[thestraggletag]

My number one problem when writing smut is remembering to take the time to let the readers know when clothes are coming off. Suddenly I’m in the middle of writing and then I remember technically Gold still has his pants on so I have to go back and take them off… Such a hassle, but it’s a labour of love.

I do agree with the “several orgasms first” being a bit much (unless there’s some sort of specific reason involved, a special occasion, Gold wanting to prove something, first time doing something so he really gets into it, some sort of beast-mode, love-potion or viagra cocktail…).

The logistics of writing a sex scene are hard and I admire those who can write a good sex scene without so much description. I don’t know how to explain it but some people can do it, and make it really hot, and I’m really jealous.

[sfiddy]

The thing I like to keep in mind is while descriptions can be very sexy, you really shouldn’t describe everything. For starters, a story that has its roots in the characters/plot really didn’t need to devolve into multi sentence musing on the texture of pre-come. I don’t want to know how many veins trace a cock nor read a profound piece on the heft of a tit. Everyone has bits, and going into it too deeply kills the mood, slows the story, and makes passion read like stereo instructions. Be strategic in the descriptions you DO select and give those particular details careful attention, while not losing the emotional connection (or lack thereof, depending on characters and purpose).

That said, I throw out every word if you want to write parody. That’s an art form unto itself, and highly underrated.

[woodelf68]

I hate writing physical description myself, and too much of it can slow the action down. And unlike a book, if you’re writing fic for a TV show or movie, your readers know what the characters look like, you don’t have to keep mentioning Belle’s brunette curls, for instance. Be strategic in what you describe, as you said, as far as the physical goes, I don’t need a big info dump on every detail of someone’s wardrobe, or a whole paragraph on the pinkness and wetness of Belle’s labial folds, for instance. One well-crafted sentence can give the reader more of a mental image than a lengthy but boring narration. Yeah, writing smut is hard. 

[luthienebonyx]

How to Write a Sex Scene by Resonant, one of the best writers I’ve encountered in any fandom.

[ghostflowerdreams]

Writing Research - The Roaring Twenties

The Roaring Twenties is a term sometimes used to refer to the 1920s in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, characterizing the decade’s distinctive cultural edge in New York City, Chicago, Paris, Berlin, London, Los Angeles and many other major cities during a period of sustained economic prosperity. French speakers called it the “années folles" ("Crazy Years"), emphasizing the era’s social, artistic, and cultural dynamism.

Normalcy returned to politics in the wake of hyper-emotional patriotism after World War I, jazz music blossomed, the flapper redefined modern womanhood, and Art Deco peaked. Economically, the era saw the large-scale diffusion and use of automobiles, telephones, motion pictures, and electricity, unprecedented industrial growth, accelerated consumer demand and aspirations, and significant changes in lifestyle and culture. The media focused on celebrities, especially sports heroes and movie stars, as cities rooted for their home team and filled the new palatial cinemas and gigantic stadiums. In most major countries women won the right to vote for the first time. Finally the Wall Street Crash of 1929 ended the era, as the Great Depression set in, bringing years of worldwide gloom and hardship.

The social and cultural features known as the Roaring Twenties began in leading metropolitan centers, especially Chicago, New Orleans, Los Angeles, New York City, Philadelphia, Paris and London, then spread widely in the aftermath of World War I. The United States gained dominance in world finance. Thus when Germany could no longer afford war reparations to Britain, France and other Allies, the Americans came up with the Dawes Plan and Wall Street invested heavily in Germany, which repaid its reparations to nations that in turn used the dollars to pay off their war debts to Washington. By the middle of the decade, prosperity was widespread, with the second half of the decade later becoming known as the “Golden Twenties”.

The spirit of the Roaring Twenties was marked by a general feeling of discontinuity associated with modernity and a break with traditions. Everything seemed to be feasible through modern technology. New technologies, especially automobiles, moving pictures and radio proliferated “modernity” to a large part of the population. Formal decorative frills were shed in favor of practicality in both daily life and architecture. At the same time, jazz and dancing rose in popularity, in opposition to the mood of the specter of World War I. As such, the period is also often referred to as the Jazz Age. [1] [2]

Names

Social Security Administration - Top Names of the 1920s

About.com: Popular Baby Names in 1920s

Nebraska Health and Human Services - 50 Most Frequent Names in Nebraska, 1920-2013

Baby Name Science - Popular New Jersey Boy Baby Names in 1920

Baby Name Science - Popular New Jersey Girl Baby Names in 1920

British Baby Names - The Top Names in England and Wales 1924

Naming Across the Pond - Best of the Twenties

eHow - Jewish Names in 1920

The NY Times - Baby name data from 1920-2008 from New York City’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene

BabyCenter - Most Popular Names in Spain (Pre-1920 and 1920s)

GlobalNews - Interactive: 93 Years of Ontario Baby Names, 1917-2010

BabyMed - Top German Baby Names, 1920s

Society & Life

HISTORY.com - The Roaring Twenties

BBC - The 1920s Overview

Ohio State University - 1920s Introduction

Indiana Historical Society - 1920s and the Great Depression

Maine Historical Society - An Evening in the 1920s

Scholastic Press - The United States Turns Inward: The 1920s and 1930s

University of Houston - Overview of the 1920s

University of Houston - Chapter 2: The Roaring Twenties (PDF)

Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History - The Roaring Twenties

Lone Star College - American Cultural History: Decade 1920-1929

Stanford History Education Group - World War I and the 1920s

Study Notes - Chapter 32: American Life in the “Roaring Twenties,” 1919-1929

American History: ‘Roaring Twenties’ a Time of Economic and Social Change

Iowa Public Television - The Great Depression Begins: The 1920s

United States Department of Labor - Chapter 2: The 1920s and the Start of the Depression, 1921-1933

North Carolina Encyclopedia - Women in the 1920s

BBC - The Changing Role of American Women in the 1920s

Ohio State University - New Women

National Women’s History Museum - Women in the Progressive Era

University of Minnesota Duluth - Jazz and Women’s Liberation

Academia.edu - Flappers and Mothers: The Women’s Movement and Feminism in the 1920s

New York Public Library - Everyday Life and Women in America, 1800-1920

American History - Working and Voting: Women in the 1920s

West Virginia Division Culture and History - “Women’s Work, Never Done”: West Virginia Farm Women, 1880s-1920s

Telegraph - Diary of a 1920s Bridget Jones

About.com: Flappers in the Roaring Twenties

U.S. History - Flappers

Smithsonian - The History of the Flapper, Part 1: A Call for Freedom

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill - Pets in America

Kansas Historical Society - Children in Kansas: 1890s - 1920s

Library of Congress - Children’s Lives at the Turn of the Twentieth Century (PDF)

Prezi - Children and Schooling in the 1920’s

University of Iowa - Children Playing. Lebabon, Ohio, 1920s

HISTORY.com - Child Labor

Public Schools in the 1920s in the New York City and Virginia

Vintage Kids and Babies Ads in the 1920s

University of Toronto - Education in the 1920s

Prezi - Canada in the 1920s: Teenagers and School Life and Discipline

Prezi - Teenagers of the 1920s

1920s American Culture: City Life & Values - US History II

Wessels Living History Farm - 1920s Farm Life

Dhahran British Grammar School - Farming in the 1920s

The Living City - New York City: Life in the 1920s

An Amazing Photographic Tour of New York In The 1920s

Digital Harlem Blog - Harlem in the 1920s

The New York Times - Listening to the Roar of 1920s New York

Smithsonian Institution - American on the Move: New York Connected, 1920s

BuzzFeed - Then Vs. Now: 1920s New York City

W. W. Norton & Company - Chapter 5: New York in the 1920s

Prezi - New York City in the 1920s

NPR - Let Frivolity Reign: London’s Roaring 1920s

1920-1929: Explore the 20th Century London

My London Life - London Life in the 1920’s

France: The Parisian Life in The 1920’s

Prezi - 1920’s in Paris

Texas State Historical Association - Texas in the 1920s

The Huffington Post - What The 1920s Was Really Like

City of Clarence: Tasmania, Australia - Life in Clarence in the 1920s and 1930s (PDF)

Belfast Telegraph - Pictures of Northern Ireland in the 1920s

Waterloo Region Record - The Great Depression hit Canada the Hardest

Prezi - Canadian Lives in the 1920s and 1930s

Canada in the 1920s

Bentley Historical Library - Detroit and the Great Migration 1916-1929

1920’s Garden: Privacy, Shelter, and Unified Design

Historic Houses Trust of New South Wales - A 1920s Garden Revisited

1920’s Interior Decorating: Simplicity in Design

1920’s Residential and Commercial Architecture

BBC - 1920s Homes

Bricks & Brass: Designs of the Period House - 1920-1929

American Vintage House Styles: A Brief History of Middle-class American Residential Architecture from 1900 to 1960

American Vintage House Styles: 1920s Bathroom Design

American Vintage House Styles: Gallery of 1920s Bedrooms

American Vintage House Styles: Gallery of 1920s Kitchen

Vintage Household Ads of the 1920s

Vintage Household Furniture Ads of the 1920s

1920’s Automobiles: Auto Industry Consolidation and Vehicle Mass Production

Brigham Young University - Love and Romance in the 1920s

Prezi - Marriages in the 1920s VS, Marriages Today

NPR - Interracial Family Prevails in 1920s Alabama

Northern Kentucky University - Prosperity of Urban Families in the 1920’s

Prezi - Family Life in the 1920s

The Huffington Post - Dating in the 1920s: Lipstick, Booze and the Origins of Slut-Shaming

The Gloss - What Dating Was Like in the 1920s

Prezi - Dating in the 1920s and early 30s

University of Oxford - The Sex Age: Gender, Sexuality and Culture in 1920s Britain

History Today - Sex and the Automobile in the Jazz Age

Ohio State University - Sexuality

University of Michigan - Lesbian History: Between the World Wars

Prezi - Homosexuality in the 1920’s

US Today - In 1920, Harvard purged Gays…

American Psychological Association - History of Lesbian, Gay, & Bisexual Social Movements

The Guardian - Pride and Prejudice in the 1920s

National Center for Biotechnology Information - Harlem Life: Black Families and Everyday Life in the 1920s and 1930s

Prezi - How did Life Change for African Americans in the 1920s?

Ohio State University - African American New Women

HISTORY.com - Great Migration: Black History

University of Houston - The Great Migration

Yale University - The Harlem Renaissance: Black American Traditions

Vintage Car Ads of the 1920s

Vintage Oil and Gas Ads of the 1920s

Commerce

The Cost of Living - 1920

The Cost of Living - 1921

The Cost of Living - 1922

The Cost of Living - 1923

The Cost of Living - 1924

The Cost of Living - 1925

The Cost of Living - 1926

The Cost of Living - 1927

The Cost of Living - 1928

The Cost of Living - 1929

The People History - Food, Groceries and Toiletries Prices in the 1920s

The People History - Electrical Goods and Appliances Prices in the 1920s

The People History - Examples of Houses for Sale in the 1920s

The People History - Fashion, Clothing and Accessories from the 1920s: Prices and Examples

The People History - Furniture Prices in the 1920s

Bryant University - Consumer Prices of the 1920s

Vintage Money, Insurance and Banking Ads of the 1920s

Statistics Canada - Prices of a Family Budget of Staple Foods, Fuel, Lighting and Rent, for 60 Cities in Canada: 1920 to 1936

Fashion

1920’s Women Fashions: Freedom from Corsets

Victoriana - 1920s Clothing

Fashion Era - 1920s Flapper Fashion History

Fashion Era - 1920s Photography of Flappers

Fashion Era - 1920-1930 Wedding Fashion History

1920’s and 1930’s Hairstyles: Transition from Long to Short Hair

The Huffington Post - 1920s Hairstyles That Defined The Decade, From The Bob To Finger Waves

Fashion Era - Hats and Hair Fashion History in 1920s

1920’s Jewelry: Classic Geometric Jewelry Designs

University of Vermont - Women’s Clothing: 1920s

Vintage Jewelry and Watches Ads of the 1920s

Vintage Perfume Ads of the 1920s

Glamourdaze - The History of 1920s Makeup

ELLE UK - 1920’s Make-up Looks

Smithsonian Institution - The History of the Flapper, Part 2: Makeup Makes a Bold Entrance

Duke University Libraries - Cosmetics of 1920s Ads

Wikipedia - Cosmetics in the 1920s

Houston Chronicle - Swimsuits from the 1920s to Today (Photos)

Fashion Era - Women’s Swimwear from 1920 to 2000

Victoria and Albert Museum - Dating Clothes & Photographs from the 1920s

University of Brighton, England - 1920s Fashion

Vintage Clothes/Fashion Ads of the 1920s

University of Vermont - Men’s Fashion: 1920s

BBC - 1920s Fashion

The People History - 1920s Children’s Fashion

Entertainment & Food

PBS - The Devil’s Music: 1920’s Jazz

PBS - Jazz in Time: Roaring Twenties

New York Historical Society - Jazz of the 1920s and ’30s

University of Minnesota Duluth - A New Jazz Culture

Academia.edu - The Influence of Jazz on Women’s Fashion and Society in the 1920s

1920’s Food: Introduction of Processed Foods

University of Chicago Press - Recipes from the Twentieth Century: 1920

The Food Timeline - 1920s: Prohibition-era Foods & Speakeasy Dining

Vintage Food Ads of the 1920s

HISTORY.com - Prohibition, Speakeasies and Finger Foods

HubPages - A 1920s Menu: What Did People Eat in the 1920s?

Global Post - Desserts From the ’20s

Old Time Candy - 1920s Candy

Vintage Candy Ads of the 1920s

Texas State Historical Association - Soft Drink Industrial

Telegraph - Cocktail Recipes: Drink like it’s the 1920s

Vintage Drinks Ads of the 1920s

Vintage Coke/Coca-Cola Ads of the 1920s

Vintage Alcohol Ads of the 1920s

Prezi - Entertainment in the 1920s

Atlantic City Weekly - Atlantic City Nightlife Circa 1920s

Wikipedia - Speakeasy

Mail Online - Inside the Speakeasies of the 1920s: The hidden drinking spots that transformed New York City’s

Prezi - The Party Life of the 1920s

Vintage Movies, Theater, and Entertainment Ads of the 1920s

University of California, Berkeley Libraries - Vamps, Flappers, and Shieks: Films of The 1920s

IMDb: Most Popular Feature Films Released 1920 to 1929

Hollywood Movie Memories - 1920’s Movie Stars

Elon University - 1920s-1960s: Television

Vintage Electronics/TV Ads of the 1920s

University at Albany, The State University of New York - Movies, Music, and Sports of the 1920s

University of Minnesota Duluth - The Great Jazz Musicians of 1920s

North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources - America’s Music in the 1920s (PDF)

1920’s Music: Jazz, Ragtime, and Musical

Vintage Music Ads of the 1920s

1920’s Literature: Books Reflected Changes in Society

University of California, Berkeley - The Books of the Century, 1920-1929

Stylist Magazine - The 50 Best Books of the 1920s

Wikipedia - 1920 in Literature

Ranker - Bestselling Novels of the ’20s: 1920 to 1929

Toronto Public Library - Roaring Times: 1890s to 1920s

Vintage Books, Magazines, and Newspaper Ads of the 1920s

Montgomery College - The Lost Generation: American Writers of the 1920’s

1920’s Toys: New Materials and Mass Production

1920’s Art: The Are of Surrealism and Art Deco

Scholastic Press - Surrealism: 1920s-1940s

1920’s Dancing: New Styles of Dancing and Music Evolved

BBC - About BBC News

Wikipedia - 1920 in Sports

York University Library - The Golden Age of Women and Sport in Canada (PDF)

Prezi - Canadian Sports Heroes of the 1920s

North Carolina Encyclopedia - Sports in the 1920s

George Mason University - The National Pastime in the 1920s: The Rise of the Baseball Fans

Prezi - Popular Pastimes of the 1920s

Ask About Ireland - Games Children Play on the 1920s

Dialogue

The Huffington Post - Flappers’ Dictionary: How To Talk The 1920s Talk

Antique Automobile Club of America - Slang of the 1920

OxfordDictionaries.com - 20 Words that Originated in the 1920s

KCTS 9 Public Television - Flapper Slang: Talk the 1920s Talk

The Wired - How to Sound Like the Bee’s Knees: A Dictionary of  1920s Slang

BuzzFeed - The A-Z’s Of 1920s Slang

Thought Catalog - 59 Quick Slang Phrases From 1920s

Health, Hygiene & Medicine

University of California, Berkeley - Life Expectancy in the USA, 1900-98

Australian Bureau of Statistics - Life Expectancy Trends, 1881-2009

National Center for Biotechnology Information - Life Expectancy in Canada: An Overview

Statistics Canada - Life Expectancy at Birth, by Sex, by Province

University of Alcalá - The Pharmaceutical Century: 1920 to 1930

National Center for Biotechnology Information - Prematurity as a public health problem: US policy from the 1920s to the 1960s

United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - Achievements in Public Health, 1900-1999: Tobacco Use in the United States

Social Security Association - 1900s to 1920s

Vintage Medicine Ads of the 1920s

HISTORY.com - Drink Some Whiskey, Call in the Morning: Doctors & Prohibition

Ohio State University - Medicinal Alcohol: Temperance & Prohibition

1920’s Medicine: Nobel Prize Winning Medical Discoveries

Cambridge University Press - Health and Health Services in British Malaya in the 1920s

Canadian Public Health Association - Milestones in Public Health: 1920 to 1929

Reddit: AskHistorians - I’m a patient at a psychiatric institution in the 1920s. What types of treatment would potentially be used?

Prezi - Medical Breakthrough in the 1920s

South Shore Hospital, South Weymouth; Boston, Massachusetts - The 1920s

Mississippi State Department of Health - Public Health Nursing 1920-1949

University of Rhode Island - Syphilis from 1880 to 1920: A Public Health Nightmare and the First Challenge to Medical Ethics

Duke University Libraries - Timeline: Medicine and Madison Avenue 1920s

PBS - A Social History Of America’s Most Popular Drugs

North Carolina Encyclopedia - Headache Powders

Michigan State University College of Veterinary Medicine - The 1920s

Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC - 1920s

BJA: British Journal of Anaesthesia - Anaesthesia in the 1920s (PDF)

London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine - 1920 History Timeline

Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand - The Polio Era, 1920s to 1960s

National Center for Biotechnology Information - Immigration, Ethnicity, and the Pandemic

National Center for Biotechnology Information - British Maternal Mortality in the 19th and Early 20th Century

The History of Midwifery and Childbirth - A Timeline

National Institutes of Health - The History of the Pregnancy Test Kit: Timeline

Family Planning Association - Contraception: Past, Present and Future Factsheet

National Center for Biotechnology Information - The Politics of Birth Control , 1920-1940

Museum of Menstruation and Women’s Health - Ad for Hickory Sanitary Napkin Belts, 1920s

Duke University Libraries - Feminine Hygiene: 1920s Ads

Vintage Beauty and Hygiene Ads of the 1920s

Vintage Shaving Ads of the 1920s

Law Enforcement & Crime

1920’s Law and Order: Criminal gangs the Legacy of Prohibition

Crime Library - Harlem Gangs from the 1920s and 1930s

New Jersey State Police - History in 1920s

Trenton Police Museum - 1920-1939

Gothamist - 16 Grisliest Crime Scene Photos From 1920s New York

Huffingtonpost - Crime Scene Photographs From The 1920s-1960s Give A Glimpse Into America’s Dark Past

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) - New York History

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) - The FBI and the American Gangster, 1924-1938

Anaheim Police Department History: 1920

New York State Police - History: 1917 - 1929

Los Angeles Police Department - The LAPD in 1900-1925

Gothamist - Photo: In 1920s NYC, Police Stopped Traffic For Crossing Cats

NPR - Eerily Beautiful Mug Shots From 1920s Australia

HiConsumption - Dapper Criminals in 1920s Police Mugshots

Palm Beach Daily News - Police Ledgers from 1920s Capture Unvarnished Details of Palm Beach Life

University at Albany, The State University of New York - Laws ad Major Events of the 1920s

University at Albany, The State University of New York - Organized Crime and Prohibition

About.com - The United States Prohibition of Alcohol: 1920-1933

Office of the Historian - The Immigration Act of 1924 (The Johnson-Reed Act)

About.com - Prohibition

University of Michigan - Organized Crime: How it Was Changed by Prohibition

The Finer Times - Organized Crime in the 1920’s and Prohibition

BBC - Was the 1920s a Decade of Organized Crime and Corruption?

Encyclopedia of Chicago - Organized Crime in 1920s Chicago

HISTORY.com - Mafia in the United States

Australian National University - Melbourne Crime: From War to Depression, 1919-1929

Cato Institute - Alcohol Prohibition Was A Failure

Prezi - Crime and Punishment in the 1920s

Death Penalty Information Center - Part 1: History of the Death Penalty

Wikipedia - 1920s Crimes

History Today - Hitler and the Law, 1920-1945

Crime & Investigation Network - London Gangs

The Guardian - Girl Gang’s Grip on London Underworld Revealed

Prezi - We So Gangsta’: Canadian Organized Crime in the 1920’s and 1930’s

Prezi - Mafia Weapons of the 1920’s

The Guardian - Did American Gangsters in the 1920s and 1930s really carry guns in violin cases, or was that characteristic invented by movie script writers?

NY Daily Times - As many as 20 boys in Wineville, Calif., die at the hands of sadistic sex manic Gordon Stewart Northcott in the late 1920s

Baltimore City Police History - 1920 to 1940

Australian Police - Uniforms of the NSW Police 

Metropolitan Women Police Association - History of Women Police Officers

Ohio State University - Women’s National Committee for Law Enforcement: Temperance & Prohibition

National Center for Women & Policy - A History of Women in Policing

Reddit: AskHistorians - Was cocaine legal during the 1920s in Germany?

Texas State Historical Association - Prostitution

Prezi - Prostitution in the 1920’s

University of Michigan - Organized Crime: The Status before Prohibition

University of Michigan - The Corrupt City

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) - FBI Versus the Klan, Part 2

PBS - The Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s

Oklahoma State University - Ku Klux Klan

San Diego History Center - Ku Klux Klan 1920-1980

University of Washington - Ku Klux Klan in Washington State, 1920s

Encyclopedia Virginia: Racial Integrity Laws of the 1920s

[ancwritingresources]

Hi! I love your blog! I am trying to write a story where the main character's family has just died, and she's angry at pretty much everything. Is that a realistic reaction? Do you have any tips on how I can make her angry, yet still likable? Many thanks in advance!

Of course, that’s a realistic reaction. In fact, any reaction your character has is realistic, and that’s probably the biggest regret many writers find in literary criticism: your character isn’t sad enough, your character isn’t happy enough, your character isn’t likable enough. Pain affects everyone differently–some people laugh at funerals, and some people sob uncontrollably, and some people, like your character, lash out at everything and everyone around them: there is no wrong way to grieve, only a human way to grieve. It couldn’t be better timing, I suppose, that I set down my book long enough to answer some questions, but as I just finished an essay I think is relevant to your question, I’m going to ahead and link it to you here: Not Here to Make Friends (or an essay by Roxanne Gay that illustrates why your character does not need to be likable, why likability is not necessary or even, perhaps, desired in literature, and how to let your characters be human instead). 

With that said, many authors still want their characters to be likable, and that’s fair too–writing what you want and who you want in the way you want is the secret freedom of being a writer that we too often erase from our lives, thinking their are “standards” or “right” or “wrong” ways. Here are some resources I hope will help:

37 Ways To Write About Anger

Emotional Roller Coaster: Writing Anger

How To Write Character Emotion: Anger

How to Make a Character sound Angry

Character Development: The Angry Character

Character Development: Make Them Angry

The best advice I can give for making them likable is to not make the anger the focus of their characterization. Don’t label them the “angry character,” make them the character who is angry. I read an article recently that spoke of how Monk, the TV show with an OCD detective, was better when the show focused on the cases, on the detective work, on his skill, and the OCD was second; once the show became about the OCD and nothing else, the show, according to this writer, suffered for it. Personal opinions about Monk aside, it’s a good way to approach any characterization; each emotion, each trait, only makes up a part of who they are. As long as you take us into your character’s head, give us motivations and a past, a clear voice, we’ll look past the anger and appreciate them as human. 

[princess-peachie]

Steven Universe ask prompts~

Steven: What makes you starry-eyed? Garnet: What are your relationship goals? Amethyst: How do you compare to people’s expectations of you? Pearl: What’s been your lifelong obsession? Rose Quartz: What traits from your parents do you see in yourself? Greg: The most supportive person in your life just now? Connie: A series you’re super passionate about? Lion: If you had infinite pockets, what would you carry with you at all times? Sadie: What’s your relationship with your workmates like? Lars: Name a few of your insecurities. Ronaldo: Favourite conspiracy theory? Lapis Lazuli: Which element would you control? Peridot: Describe a day where everything went wrong. Jasper: What brings out a mean streak in you? Mayor Dewey: What’s your position on the political compass? Onion: If you could replicate anything 100 times, what would you make copies of? Cookie Cat: Do you miss any discontinued products? Dogcopter: Ever enjoyed a movie adaption of a book you like? Ruby: Describe a person who would be the polar opposite to yourself. Sapphire: Your trademark feature that people recognise you by? Opal: Something you’ve been anticipating for a long time? Sugilite: The most reckless thing you’ve ever done? Alexandrite: What do you think you’d be like/are like as a parent? Malochite: A toxic relationship you’ve been in? Rainbow Quartz: Something you love to show off? Stevonnie: What do you and your best friend totally bond over? Centipeedle: Have you ever helped/rescued a wild animal in trouble? Sour Cream: Invent a new food-related nickname for yourself. Jenny: Favourite pizza topping? Peedee: The moment you realized you weren’t a kid anymore? Jamie: The most romantic thing someone’s done for you? Buck Dewey: Share the last picture that made you laugh. Mr Smiley: Favourite type of donut? Kofi: Ever had an item special to you that got broken? Nanefua: What do you think you’ll be like when you’re much older? Kevin: Last person who made you uncomfortable? Frybo: The scariest thing you’ve ever seen? Purple Puma: What would your alter ego be? Tiger Millionaire: Describe the backstory for a character you’ve created. Cat Fingers: What’s something you have too much of? Archimicarus: Top 10 fav fictional characters? Dave Guy: Something totally average about yourself? Mr Queasy: What’s the sickest you’ve ever been? Tiny Floating Whale: If you could poof anything into existence right now, what would it be? Crying Breakfast Friends: Last time you cried watching a tv show/movie?

[tamorapierce]

Why does publishing take so long?

This seems to be a recurring question - both one of general curiosity and, specifically, one that has been asked about the Numair books.

First, please remember that while machines are involved in publishing, those involved in publishing are not machines. Every single person involved in the process has a life with complications, setbacks, personal concerns–not to mention other books they’re working on–and every one of those things can drag out or disrupt the process. Because it is a process. Even at the best of times, a book typically takes a year to go from finished draft to bookstore shelf - finished final draft.

We’re talking about the post-author-sale process, here - you have an agent, you have an editor. You’ve given the editor the manuscript you’ve labored over to get to this point. And now the first round of waiting. Once your editor is finished reading and making notations on your manuscript, they’ll send you an editorial letter that sums up the “big picture” changes suggested, as well as any major plot holes or character inconsistencies. They’ll also mark up the manuscript pages with more minor questions and corrections, requests for clarity, or recommendations of areas to cut or tighten up.

Initial rewrites can be more or less severe. Sometimes there are plot holes that require a huge amount of correction, sometimes things are pretty decent and only need a round or two of polishing. Sometimes the editor will suggest changes to make the story stronger, to bring out what seems to be your central theme, or to make your characters and setting shine.

The editor is not your enemy. You don’t have to take every suggestion that they make, of course, but they aren’t trying to undermine the integrity of your work, claim it for their own, or force you to rewrite until your story is unrecognizable. If they paid you for your manuscript, it’s because they saw a good story and they want to help you make it better.

Once you’ve worked through that first round of feedback and made the suggested changes (or discussed with your editor why you don’t want to make them), congratulations! You have your first draft.

Yes, your first draft.

Doesn’t matter how many versions of the story you’ve written before this point. As far as the publishing process is concerned, that there is your first.

Then comes another round of editorial commentary, more discussion, more ideas, blood, sweat, tears, rewrites. And at the end of all of that, you have draft number two.

Lather, rinse, possibly repeat. Tammy usually goes through 2-3 drafts before the editor sends their final round of commentary. Along with the editor’s final commentary comes the copyeditor’s notes. They’ll check for spelling, grammar, and inconsistencies (Like Pounce sitting on the window sill at the beginning of a scene and reclining on the desk at the end of it). You can accept the changes, tweak things yourself, or deny the changes. Tammy frequently rejects spelling and grammatical changes to her dialogue. If someone uses slang, local colloqualisms, and bad grammar while they talk, she intends it!

While the editing, editing, editing goes on, the marketing and sales people are working on jacket flap copy, an author bio for the back of the book (often they ask for these), and cover/promotional art. Unless you’re a Big Deal author, you probably won’t see the cover until it’s been finalized. Unless you’re a Huge Deal author, you’ll get little to no input on what the cover looks like. Sorry!

Right around when they’re finishing the cover designs, you’ll receive a typeset manuscript. This typically has two pages to a sheet, and looks as it will on the bound pages of your future book. This is your last chance to go over it for typos and minor mistakes and to make small changes. The editor and copyeditor will also go over this to check for the same things. The more eyes, the fewer typos get through. And some will still get through.

Then comes the sales meetings. You get to go in to a team of people who want to sell your book and talk about all the reasons you loved it when you started writing it! Try to remember what they were. They’ll be there, somewhere, buried in the deep recesses of your mind, beyond the desire to throw the entire manuscript into the air and take a flamethrower to it.

Engage the sales people! They’re nice, enthusiastic, and they want your work to succeed. The better they get to know you, and the more they like you, the harder they’ll push to get your work on the shelves. That’s the next phase: the publicity circuit, book fairs, catalogues sent to stores and libraries.

Then, at some point, you will get a box. Inside that box will be shiny new author copies of your work. It will be surreal. Bask in it.

About a month later, your books will hit the shelves.

To recap: it’s about a year from final draft to bookstore shelves. Tammy has at this point written three entirely new first drafts of the Numair books, backing up and adding material as it expanded from one volume into a three-book series. This is when she’s not doing author visits, down with a cold or a migraine, dealing with unexpected life events…. You get the picture. So hopefully that answers the question of why there has been such a stretch of time between when she started work and when the books will hit shelves! She really appreciates the excitement and the patience you’ve had, and is doing her best to get things done as quickly and as well as possible.

[komekoro]

@kogiopsis NUMAIR’S BOOK IS NOW A THREE BOOK SERIES. IM SO EXCITED.

[brother-sebastian-vael]

Writing Realistic Injuries - By Leia Fee, with additions by Susannah Shepherd

Another useful reference for writing realistic Injuries can be foudn here: [x]

This page gives useful information about the following content:

Reactions to injury - including emotional reactions, fainting and shock.

Minor injuries - such as bruises, grazes and sprains

Head injuries - from  black eyes to severe concussions

Broken bones

Dislocated joints

Cutting and Piercing - for various locations, including blood loss

symptoms and figures.

Blunt trauma - getting hit, internal injuries.

Burns - including electrical burns

Hostile environments - such as extreme cold and heat, oxygen

deprivation and exposure to vacuum.

References - useful websites.

[writingwithcolor]

Is this a good way to point out that a character is not white without being super obvious; "The white snow provides a high contrast against her russet skin." ?

It’s not that I don’t want people to notice, but I want to describe characters without just putting their description out there. I wanted a good way without going, “They’re not white.”

Ways to Indicate Race

Noting skin color by contrast is perfectly fine, though describing skin color is not necessarily enough to “lock in” the notion that your character is a Person of Color, especially if they happen to be light, white passing, or otherwise.

Even then some people might “miss” or ignore descriptions of even dark brown and tell themselves it’s a White person so that alone tells you extra efforts are at times called for.

Physical descriptions: Along with describing skin color, you can note facial features and/or any cultural or religious garment worn by themselves or family members. Obviously not to say PoC look the same, but there are common features to a race, such as afro hair to Black people, though there’s incredible diversity even within Black hair.

Engage in their culture: If a character and their family is celebrating the Chinese New Year, going into their early memories with the holiday and what it means (or doesn’t mean) to them, we’re likely gonna assume they’re Chinese.

Associations/Club: Maybe they’re in a Black Student Union, or someone attempts to recruit them to a school, club, program or organization that pertains to their race, or even a friend/family member encourages them to join.

Use another character(s) to state it. A younger or older character might boldly note the differences in their skin or looks to the character. Someone might make a funny, awkward, exoticizing, racist or insensitive comment or joke.

Use character “voice”: The character might make a quirky or casual statement related to their race.

Racial Grievance: A character making note of a racial grievance and/or facing racism or micro-aggressions can indicate their race.

Just state it. There’s honestly no shame in just stating a character is Black, Indian etc. But it’s like with any story detail; it should fit naturally as it’s odd to just blurt it without cause.

Threading indicators like these, at least early once and then throughout the story at your discretion, should be effective for letting us know the character is x race.

I’d also like to add that only stopping to describe your Characters of Color implies White = default so be sure to describe your White characters as well within your writing.

Hope this was helpful!

~Mod Colette

[shackleboltrps-deactivated20191]

Filipino Mythology, Ghost Stories, Folktales and Superstitions

Because Filipino stories are scary and just yes. 

Filipino Mythological Creatures

Philippine Urban Legends

Philippine mythical creatures

Philippines Legends and Myths

Top 10 Scariest Filipino Monsters

Filipino Ghost Stories

Ghosts in Filipino culture

Ghosts in Filipino culture

Eerie Tales From Philippines

Ghost stories from Philippines

Multo: Ghosts of story, myth or anywhere else

The Boogie Men of the Philippines: Aswang, White Lady, Witches, Batibat, Spirits, Ghosts, And Demons!

Filipino Folktales

Philippine Folk Tales

Philippine Folk Tales

Filipino Superstitions

Superstitious beliefs of Filipinos

Philippine Beliefs and Superstitions

[hsiao-kang]

*resurfaces from the dead* dID SOMEONE SAY FOLK TALES???? (i have readings on philippine folklore if anyone’s interested lol im dying to share them)

[rnahal]

@tothesunrise

[thisisnotpilipinx]

nice nice. just in time for halloweenie!!!!!

[legit-writing-tips]

Legit Tip #147

Love is love is love, right? Well, not quite. Love changes over time, and different things are happening during these different stages of love. So today, in honor of Valentine’s Day, here’s a look at what’s going on in the different stages of love so you can craft even more realistic relationships! 

First Meeting - The first meeting isn’t necessarily the “first” time the two characters interact with one another, but it’s the first time they really take notice of each other. Whether there’s an instant attraction, an instant hatred, or a mutual feeling of interest between them, this first major moment will serve to define much of the way the first portion of the relationship unfolds. 

Getting to Know You - This isn’t about getting to know the intimate details of the other person’s psyche. This is about learning the basics - where the other person came from, what they’ve been through, what interests them, and what they want out of their life. Depending on how perceptive a partner is, they may be able to start making guesses about the inner workings of their partner’s mind by the time this phase starts to wrap up. 

Learning to Be a Couple - Once they know each other fairly well and (either consciously or subconsciously) begin to build a relationship, they enter a phase where they begin to learn to be a couple. This stage of the relationship requires them to start making concessions (such as opening up with their feelings) or requires them to find ways to fit their new partner into their life. 

For those who are entering their first relationship, this part of the process typically involves coming to learn/understand what it actually means to be a couple. For characters with a lot of other duties or responsibilities, this may mean learning to make time for their partner or learning how to give their partner strength.

The Relationship Has Landed - Your couple is finally a couple (whether they acknowledge it or not). Now what? Well, at this point they begin facing challenges together, as partners. Before thinking through a problem on their own, they may go directly to their partner to talk something over. Or they won’t make any major decisions about their own life without consulting their partner first. At this point, your characters may reach a new level of intimacy in which they don’t need to show their affection through lovey-dovey displays but through more intimate, tender displays. 

Continual Challenges - Whether they’re real-life challenges (such as a new baby or an affair) or fantastical challenges (like the rise of the warlock king), your couple is going to face continual challenges in their relationship. Bear in mind that people change over time, and as your characters develop, their relationship will have to change in order to accommodate the ways in which they have developed. If you start a story with a couple already in a relationship or jump forward in time, remember to show your characters facing continual challenges as they grow, and the relationship grows with them. 

So Over Love - Unfortunately, even the best relationships can end. A lot of writers have a surprisingly difficult time writing about exes, either cloaking everything in a veil of resentment or making them still secretly in love with each other. Nothing wrong with that, of course. However, do keep in mind that plenty of exes can - and do - end relationships amicably and manage to remain if not close friends, at the very least people who still care about one another. Do remember that even once a relationship ends, the feelings that the characters had for each other do not usually go anywhere. They may turn to anger, but they typically don’t dissipate into the ether. Writing about exes can be interesting, but be sure to examine the relationship realistically and don’t fall into the same traps so many writers do. 

(Note - If you do write exes who get back together, don’t neglect to have them take the time to relearn to be a couple. They’ve changed since they were apart - otherwise they wouldn’t be getting back together, right? So that means they need to take time to figure each other out again). 

((These stages are just a basic look at how love and relationships develop, and is by no means indicative of every relationship. It’s a starting point for looking at how relationships start, develop, grow and change, so think of it that way.)

[mancuniansplendor]

In Your Face Jam: Star Wars: The Empathy Awakens

In Your Face Jam: Star Wars: The Empathy Awakens - Things are pretty great for Star Wars fans lately, but Brett White has words for those that want to ruin things with hate.

[vaureos-inactive-deactivated202]

fam jam AUS

aus for a group of friends aka family who probably all live together in a ridiculously cramped apartment and all love one another way too much

“uh oh we ran out of chips and instant noodle time for an emergency trip to the grocery store at 1AM IN THE MORNING. and only one of us gets to sit in the shopping cart ”

EVERYBODY CRAMMED INTO THE TINY PURIKURA PHOTO BOOTH and whoever is adding all those sparkly heart decorations needs to stop!!

horror movie night and there is only one blanket so everyone crowds around sharing the sides and corners, limbs all tangled.

water park au?? “dont you dare point that sprinkler at me dont you fucking dare–” 

the weekly super smash bros/mario kart house tournament and how come it’s always those two battling for the top spot.

“alright who ate the last piece of chocolate cake i thought we all agreed to share it?!”

taking up an ENTIRE SECTION of tables at the restaurant and ends up getting kicked out for “disrupting the public” (aka laughing way too loud at jokes and possibly playing with their food)

EVERYONE PILED ONTO THE BUS TO PICK UP MISSING MEMBER FROM THE AIRPORT.  loud hugging and chattering when said member shows up at the ‘arrivals’ gate. 

[bookgathering]

Uncommon OC questions!

1. A little-known talent of your OC?

2. What trait does your OC like best about themself? (Eyes, guitar skills, random bird facts, etc)

3. How many pillows does your OC sleep with?

4. Is your OC good at keeping secrets?

5. Your OC's worst habit?

6. Does your OC prefer tennis shoes/sneakers or flip flops?

7. What is your OC's opinion on body modifications?

8. Your OC is given a full-ride scholarship to any college they could want to go to. Where do they go and what do they major in?

9. What chore does your OC hate the most?

10. Would your OC prefer to live in the city, the suburbs, or the country?

11. Is your OC a blanket hog?

12. Would your OC play by the rules in a fight or take cheap shots?

13. Does your OC have a widow 's peak?

14. Happy birthday! What kind of present would your OC want?

15. Something that grosses your OC out?

16. Your OC is suddenly on an adventure! Where do they go and what do they do?

17. Is there a real person that looks like your OC?

18. Something that makes your OC laugh without fail?

19. Something that makes your OC cry without fail?

20. A obscure/ridiculous fear your OC has?

21. Does your OC have any type of disability, whether it be mental, physical, etc?

22. Does your OC get frustrated when people forget to close the door behind themselves?

23. What is your OC's first memory?

24. Something you like that your OC would hate?

25. Your OC is going into battle/on a mission! What song is their anthem?

26. Does your OC have good or bad posture?

27. Most despicable thing your OC has ever done?

28. Is your OC a conspiracy theorist?

29. Someone does something awful in front of your OC. How do they handle it?

30. What is your OC's favorite drink?

31. Does your OC prefer to sleep in a warm or cool area?

32. Would your OC like you if they met you?

33. A song that reminds you of your OC?

34. Is your OC a nail biter?

35. What is your OC's favorite quote?

36. Your OC's favorite fashion era? (20's, 70's, etc)

37. Does your OC get excited when they get mail?

38. Random thunderstorm! How does your OC react?

39. A strange talent of your OC?

40. Assuming your OC doesn't have them already, what superpower would they want? If they do already, would they change it, keep it, or get rid of it?

41. Does your OC like/make puns?

42. What kind of shampoo does your OC use?

43. Your OC wakes up with a coin super glued to their forehead. How do they react?

44. Can your OC sleep if there's any kind of light?

45. What kind of self-esteem does your OC have?

46. A word that your OC can't stand?

47. Does your OC fold their clothes, hang them up, or just leave them in the basket/dryer?

48. Would society call your OC a good guy or a bad guy? What would they say they are?

49. Your OC's most prized possession?

50. What is your OC's happy place?

[queerbookclub]

[image: ten book covers arranged in two rows. a turquoise banner in the center bears the text: “epic reads: queer books > 400 pages”]

Recently, I wrote about queer novels under two hundred pages - those satisfying short reads that you might be able to finish in an afternoon or two. Today, I bring you a list of looong queer books which provide an entirely different kind of satisfaction.

Lengthier narratives allow writers to carefully construct a tapestry of details, to spin a web of complex characters, and to create a rich sense of a time and place. Lingering over a long novel can give you the opportunity to immerse yourself, to explore broadly or to dive deep, and to build a relationship with a character or a world.

Here are ten queer novels over 400 pages:

She Rises by Kate Worsley (432 pages): In this historical novel, romance and the open ocean beckon two protagonists towards the unknown. A young maid named Louise finds herself falling for her upper-class mistress while a young man named Luke tries to survive a new life aboard a warship and make his way back to his lost love.

Dhalgren by Samuel R. Delany (801 pages): By far the longest on this list, some editions of Delany’s seminal 1970s spec-fic epic stretch over 900 pages. Within these dense pages, a protagonist who cannot remember his own name wanders through the landscape of Bellona, an isolated city in the center of the United States, where he has a series of unsettling and erotic encounters.

The Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon (639 pages): This Pulitzer Prize winner set in New York during the pre-WWII “Golden Age” of comics stars two Jewish teenagers who together create a hero called The Escapist. But like their real-life counterparts of the era, their ideas are exploited, and the runaway success of their character can’t offer relief from their personal struggles.

At Swim Two Boys by Jamie O’Neill (562 pages): Another thick historical novel - this one set in Ireland in 1915, the year preceding the Easter Uprising. Doyler Doyle, a tough and outspoken son of a soldier, promises to teach Jim Mack, a shy intellectual, how to swim. As their relationship deepens, they find themselves swept into the revolution and rocked by the tides of history.

Valmiki’s Daughter by Shani Mootoo (408 pages): Rich with sensory details that place the reader in Trinidad, this novel tells the story of a wealthy but troubled family. Valmiki and his eldest daughter Viveka, both stifled by heteronormative expectations, must decide to conform or struggle towards an authentic life.

Fingersmith by Sarah Waters (582 pages): A con man called The Gentleman arrives at a household of petty thieves - fingersmiths - to offer an orphan named Sue the chance to make a fortune by inserting herself into the life of a noblewoman. In the pages of this tome, Waters weaves a Dickensian tale of intrigue, seduction, and deception.

The Miseducation of Cameron Post by emily m. danforth (470 pages): This mature and captivating young adult novel follows the life of a small-town girl named Cameron Post. Cam is shocked to feel relief when her parents die in a car accident - because at least they’ll never know she kissed a girl. Instead, she must contend with her conservative aunt and God’s Promise, a camp that intends to “fix” her.

Hild by Nicola Griffith (560 pages): The king’s niece has an intelligence and intuition that borders on supernatural. With war and conflict looming, Hild takes on the role of a seer and becomes a valuable adviser to the crown. Drawing from the life of the real St. Hild of Whitby, Griffith evokes the seventh century world that Hild must navigate as well as her burgeoning sexuality.

The Salt Roads by Nalo Hopkinson (416 pages): An African goddess connects the stories of Mer, a slave in Haiti, Jeanne, a biracial artist in Paris, and Thais, a prostitute in Egypt. History, sex, magic, and the divine spill from the pages of Nalo Hopkinson’s immersive novel about these women of different eras who all seek freedom.

Hero by Perry Moore (428 pages): Thom Creed is keeping two big secrets: One is that he’s gay. The other is that he has superpowers. Superhero stories often serve as metaphors for feeling like a misfit, but this young adult novel explores the stress of growing up without being able to be yourself through both the explicit pain of homophobia and the lens of capes and masks.

Prefer short reads? Check out these queer books under 200 pages!

[angelsanarchy]

♥ Send a ship and I'll give you who:

Gives nose/forehead kisses

Gets jealous the most

Picks the other up from the bar when they’re too drunk to drive

Takes care of on sick days

Drags the other person out into the water on beach day

Gives unprompted massages

Drives/rides shotgun

Brings the other lunch at work

Has the better parental relationship

Tries to start role-playing in bed

Embarrassingly drunk dancer

Still cries watching Titanic

Firmly believes in couples costumes

Breaks the expensive gift rule during Christmas

Makes the other eat breakfast

Remembers anniversaries

Brings up having kids

[bisexual-books]

I've seen a lot of people ask for pansexual and genderqueer characters, so I wrote a novel with characters who happen to identify with those terms. I am fortunate author in that my book is getting into people's hands through review blogs and giveaways. Based on recent book reviews I don't seem to be reaching the audience that wanted the LGBT cast in the first place. How might LGBT authors better connect with LGBT readers?

Without knowing exactly what you’ve tried, I’ll keep this a general overview. 

I’d start by looking at your queer book blogs and review sites.   Send them information about your book, including the title and if your publisher is down with it, offer them an ARC in paper or ebook form.  We would gladly take one here and I’d suggest reaching out to queerbookclub, queerbookrecs, fuckyeahlesbianliterature, and blogs like that.   Also ask those people who they would recommend you promote it to.  Also you should figure out the big book blogs for your genre or age group and send a brief description and offer of an ARC to them too.   Check out some of the book blogs in the tumblr spotlight and see if they seem like good fits.  

And you need to be specific.   You can’t just say ‘I have a book with pansexual and genderqueer characters’.   You need to say “My book, INSERT TITLE HERE, is about INSERT PLOT DESCRIPTION HERE and has pansexual and genderqueer characters like INSERT CHARACTERS HERE.   It will be available INSERT DATE HERE”.   Because if you just send me a vague ask that says “I have a book” then it puts the onus on me to play detective about your book.  And I probably don’t have time to hunt it down.   Likewise nothing drives me more crazy than “contact me if you want an ARC” because it puts the onus on me.  How do I know if I want an ARC?   Now I have to play detective to learn about your book an find out if I want one.  I’ve got a lot on my plate with this blog.    Authors and publishers need to be proactive and contact blogs to say “I want to send you an ARC of this book because INERT REASON HERE makes me think it would be a good fit for your readers, what is your preferred format?”. 

If you’re promoting on tumblr, getting the right tags is key.  Is your book a YA?  Use ya books.  Pansexual is used more often than pansexuality.   Never use the bisexual tag; it’s full of porn.  We use bisexuality.   Write something nice about your book, your writing process, etc once a week and tag it properly.   Ask some of those book blogs to reblog it.  Is your publisher on tumblr?  If they are, they should be writing about you or reblogging your content.   

Once your book is out, nominate it for Lambda Literary Award or make sure it is being considered for a Stonewall Book Award.  If it has bisexual characters, nominate it for a Bisexual Book Award.   

This is just a few things off the top of my head.   I know we have some queer authors who follow this blog, you guys have anything to add?

- Sarah