i would love to carpe diem but i also have anxiety
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@byriamallo
i would love to carpe diem but i also have anxiety
What really gets me is when you're reading a book and the chapter labels have, like, vines or floral details around them or something. it makes me so soft - just- the fact that someone was like 'ooh we can add beauty here, we totally should' and they did it
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Iâve been trying this out and itâs been quite helpful đ€
The big secret to finishing stories is sitting down and doing it. Thatâs it. A lot of people will only write when theyâre inspired, and thatâs setting yourself up to fail. Nobody can be inspired 100% of the time. You can be inspired 10%, 20%, maybe even 50% of the time. The rest of it is discipline and itâs essential you teach yourself that if writing finished stories is a long-term goal.
The reader: I canât wait to find out what happens next!
The writer: neither can I, my friend. Neither can I
I post writing advice and writing memes. Follow me if you want more
Your First 5 Pages
When you send a novel to an agent or publisher, they normally ask for the first five or ten pages, just so that they can gauge your writing skill. If those pages donât grab the reader, it wonât sell.
As an editor, I read thousands of stories a year, and it would be difficult to tell you all of the ways that you can go wrong, or all of the things that you can do right. But letâs hit some main points:
1) Â Â From the very first sentence, I want to see that youâre not just a competent writer, but a skillful one. I want to see that you have a way with words, so that I feel as if Iâm in the hands of a professional storyteller. That means that I wonât feel confused, and I wonât get tripped up by typos or beginnerâs mistakes. Indeed, I want to see that youâre talented right from the first sentence. Half of the editors and agents say that they look for a great voice right out the gate, whether it be the voice of the narrating character or of the author.
2) Â Â I want to know (or at least have some great hints) where and when the story is taking place. It helps if the setting is intriguing and beautifully drawn. Of course, when you bring that setting to life, you should appeal to most of the senses quicklyâsight, sound, smell, touch, taste.
3) Â Â I want to know who the protagonist is and I want to see you handling the viewpoint properly. This means that the protagonist moves, has an emotional state, and thinks, so that we arenât seeing the tale from a cameraâs point of view, but from a real personâs. More than that, it is often helpful if the character is likeable or interesting or even both.
4) Â Â In the opening five pages, I must see a hint of an intriguing conflict, one that is already building toward a climax. To get that in quickly, this means that you almost need to start the story in media res.
5) Â Â In my business as a science fiction and fantasy editor, I want to see some noveltyâsomething that tells me that your work is original, that youâre capable of coming up with something new.
Now, thatâs my short list. I could go on and suggest that I want to see that you know how to construct a scene, that you can dazzle the reader in subtle ways that most pros know, that you know how to construct a plot, that you tastefully insert the emotional draws your audience is hoping for, that you are a pro at constructing believable dialogâand a dozen other little things.
But as you can see, for the first five pages, I can only hope for so much. All that I really want is to be convinced that youâre one of the greatest discoveries that Iâve ever made. If you think that an agent or editor wants anything less, youâre mistaken. The truth is that every editor and every agent who reads your manuscript is hoping that your tale demands to be published
5 frustrating workshop rules that made me a better writer
Throughout the 15 workshops I joined in college and grad school, I encountered two types of writing rules.
First, there were the best-practice guidelines weâve all heard, like âshow donât tell.â And then there were workshop rules, which the professor put in place not because theyâre universal, but because they help you grow within the context of the workshop.
My collegeâs intro writing course had 5 such rules:
No fantasy, supernatural, or sci-fi elements.
No guns.
No characters crying.
No conflict resolution through deus ex machina.
No deaths.
When I first saw the rules, I was baffled. They felt weirdly specific, and a bit unfair. But when our professor, Vinny, explained their purpose (and assured us he only wanted us to follow the rules during this intro workshop, not the others to come), I realized what I could learn from them.
1. No fantasy, supernatural, or sci-fi elements.
Writers need to be able to craft round characters, with clear arcs. While you can hone those skills writing any type of story, it can be more difficult when juggling fantastical elements, because itâs easy to get caught up in the world, or the magic, or the technology, and to make that the focus instead of the characters. So Vinny encouraged us to exclude such elements for the time being, to keep us fully focused on developing strong, dynamic characters.
2. No guns.
Weapons have a place in many stories, but when writers include a gun, they often use it to escalate the plot outside of the realm of personal experience and into what Vinny called âHollywood experience.â He wanted us to learn how to draw from our own observations and perceptions of life, rather than the unrealistic action, violence, and drama weâd seen in movies, so he made this rule to keep us better grounded in our own experiences.
3. No characters crying.
When trying to depict sadness, writers often default to making characters cry. While thereâs nothing inherently wrong with that, tears are just one way to show grief, and they arenât always the most subtle or emotionally compelling. Thatâs why Vinny challenged us to find other ways to convey sadness â through little gestures, strained words, fragile interactions, and more. It was difficult, but opened us up to depicting whole new gradients of grief and pain.
4. No conflict resolution through deus ex machina.
This is the only one of the rules Iâd say is generally universal. Meaning âGod from the machine,â deus ex machina is a plot device where a characterâs seemingly insurmountable problem is abruptly resolved by an outside force, rather than their own efforts. These endings are bad for various reasons, but Vinny discouraged them because he wanted us to understand how important it was for our characters to confront their struggle and its consequences.
5. No deaths.
Death is inherently dramatic and can be used to good effect, but many writers use death as a crutch to create drama and impact. Writers should be able to craft engaging, meaningful stories, even without killing off their characters, so this rule challenged us to find other methods of giving weight to our stories (such as through internal conflict).
How these rules helped me grow as a writer
First things first, Iâll say it again: apart from #4 (deus ex machina), these rules were never meant to be universally applied. Instead, their purpose was to create temporary barriers and challenges to help us develop key skills and write in new, unfamiliar ways.
For me, the experience was invaluable. I liked the way the rules challenged and stretched my abilities, driving me to write stories Iâd have never otherwise attempted. They made me more flexible as a writer, and while I donât follow the rules anymore (I LOVE me some fantasy), Iâll always be thankful for how they shaped my writing.
My recommendation to you?
Give some of these rules a shot! Follow them temporarily while writing 2-4 short stories â but remember to always keep their purpose in mind, because the rules themselves will only help if you understand what theyâre trying to achieve.
Write with purpose, and youâll always be growing.
â â â
For more tips on how to craft meaning, build character-driven plots, and grow as a writer, follow my blog.
Writing ship-able couples
Here are some tips for writing relationships your readers can get behind:
1. Give them reasons to click
The two characters must have things in common - a hobby, a philosophy, a background. There has to be some element that connects them.
Your readers will root for relationships in which the characters fit together better than they would with others.
Also, make their traits compatible. Have them share some characteristics or have their strengths and weaknesses be complementary. Is the one hotheaded? Maybe the other keeps their cool well in situations of conflict.
There are endless possibilities. Just make sure thereâs a reason these two people like/love each other.
2. Have them be vulnerable in front of each other
Personally, this is the best way to get me to love a couple.
Have them share secrets, open up about their feelings and tell each other things they havenât told anyone. Have them cry in front of each other and comfort each other.
This can be taken to a whole new level by having them understand the otherâs emotions even without speaking and already offer comfort. Keep in mind that this will probably only be possible with long-established couples.
And having them open up is also a great way for them to discover all the things they have in common/love about each other.
3. Build up the tension
I cannot emphasise this enough: DO NOT MAKE YOUR COUPLES GET TOGETHER TOO QUICKLY.
One of the best elements of a romantic subplot (or even main plot) is the tension. Your readers want to see the pining! They want the build-up.
And no, Iâm not saying that you should introduce endless, petty obstacles. That can become tedious and appear forced.
Just give your characters time to sort through their feelings. Make them fall in love slowly. Have them be unsure. Insert SOME obstacles/conflicts.
Have them almost kiss a few times. Not all the time. Too many almost-kisses can become frustrating. But you should throw a few in there.
And, if you feel comfortable with it, add some sexual tension. Have them notice each otherâs bodies and imagine what theyâd like to do to each other (that sounds more explicit than I intended :) )
4. Write a healthy relationship
This could just be me and my rejection of unhealthy romances, but I will not root for abusive relationships.
Have your characters be kind to each other, support each other and truly care for each other.
If your characters are constantly putting each other down, physically/emotionally abusing each other or going against the otherâs wishes, theyâre not in a healthy relationship.
A great way to write a healthy relationship whilst still maintaining the tension, is to have the conflict in the relationship be external. Instead of having the conflict be due to internal struggles between the two characters, have obstacles enter from outside.
Your readers should want them to be together and for that, they should be good for each other.
5. Have their friends/family see their chemistry
I find it beyond adorable when two characters are still figuring out their feelings for each other, but the fact that theyâre perfect for each other is crystal clear to everyone around them.
Have their friends tease them about the relationship. Have family members ask after the them. Have their loved ones conspire to get them to admit their feelings.
If your other characters are rooting for them, your readers will probably do so as well.
Plus, this means that the chemistry between the two characters is so strong that itâs obvious, which is always good for an exciting romance.
Thatâs all Iâve got for now. If you have any further questions about writing OTPs or any other aspect of writing, feel free to message me or pop me an ask.
Reblog if you found any of this useful. Comment with your own tips. Follow me for similar content.
Plot This: Structure Guide
Alright so if youâre a writer then youâve probably familiarized yourself with plotâŠand the structure it provides to a novel. There are countless articles online on âhow to plot a novelâ or the like. Which is fantastic for you writers because itâs at a fingers reach from us. Not so great when thereâs aboutâŠa billion ways one can go about plotting a novel. It can seem daunting and overwhelming and more important confusing!Â
I want to break down this massive task bit by bit. Starting with the very bare bones and working into more detailed parts. Making it more manageable.
 Now, I know some of you might roll your eyes and say I know all there is to know about plot. I was you. I went into every workshop and craft class thinking the same thing. And yet, when I started plotting my recent WIP ( The Cost of Defeat ) I realized I didnât know jack. I thought every story I ever wrote would adhere to my system of structure because of sheer will and blunt force. Yeah wrong.
It wasnât until just recently I started diving into the structure ( because I like pretty diagrams and being organized way more than I should) that I discovered there are a lot of different Plot Structures out there. No one bothered to ever teach me let alone discuss these things. My mind was blown.Â
Some worked better for me than others. Some mesh better together than others. Itâs all about experimenting and figuring out what works for you. And Iâm hoping that this will also help others, or at least give a jumping off point. Now itâs not a whole list ( thereâs a lot of elements that I could probably talk about by themselves) but itâs a good overview of the popular ones that reoccur a lot.
1) Freytagâs Pyramid
Freytagâs pyramid is the most basic plot structure I know. Itâs the one weâve all seen in school when we start learning about story structure and analysis.
This bad boy is the simplest plot structure used to dissect and understand Greek and Shakespearean Plays.Â
Pros   x Simplistic. Makes it easy to understand   x Great for those just starting ( or those who want to understand film and literature analysis.   x Great for AP Literature/Comp papers
Cons   x It creates simple stories   x Not super awesome for modern novels or anything longer than about 25K words
Uses   x Childrenâs Literature. Picture books mostly. Children are still learning to understand things like conflict effect on characters and having such a long falling action allows for that.   x Short Stories. Since short stories are compact for punch, this structure allows you to get the most done without boring the reader in 25K words or less.  x Analysis. This structure is the easiest and most common to apply to plays, film, tv and even in classic literature. Itâs a great way to dissect plot and events in order to better understand the pieces working partsÂ
Examples: Shakespeare's Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet           Sophoclesâs Antigone           Henrik Ibsen A Doll House
2) Three-Act Structure
The Three-Act Structure is probably the most known. We all know this intuitively as storytellers. Everything needs a beginning middle and end, after all.
This structure is very similar to Freytagâs Pyramid but adds elements that beef up and create points of interest. Obstacles, for example, add conflict and build up suspense for the climax. Itâs also important to note that the falling action and resolution is much more compact.
Pros   x basic building block for all good stories   x Roadmap-like so you can be systematic about things   x Good âbig-pictureâ visual
Cons   x Pacing is super important for this   x Bit rigid and formulaic
Uses   x Literally anything. Because itâs versatile it works on a plethera of stuff, let your imagineation run wild.   x Film analysis. This struccture is like the holy grail in almost any film class ( sometimes they call it the four act structure)
Examples: Sir Arthur Conan Doyle Sherlock Holmes           Alfred Hitchcockâs Vertigo           Jane Austinâs Pride and Prejudice
3) The Fichtean Curve
The Fichten Curve Is really unique in that it starts right with the rising action. There ainât no time to build up or nice slow introductions, youâre dumping the readers right where it hurts. But you make up that lost time with the small bits of exposition
This is one of the most popular plot structures for modern novels.
Pros   x A lot of opportunities to ramp up the stakes, bit after bit   x Good for pacing   x Great for Overcoming Monster & Quest stories   x Translate over almost any genre
Cons   x Not a lot of time to slow down, breathe   x Not suited for Voyage and Return, Comedy or Rebirth stories
Uses   x Thrillers/Mystery novels. You need something to keep readers in the story, chomping at the bit. hereâs the plot structure for you.  Â
Examples: Max Brooksâs World War Z Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
4) Plot Embryo/Heroâs Journey
The Heroâs Journey is also super common in the literature (namely western literature) With this plot the protagonist ( the hero of heroâs journey) undergoes a literal or figurative death-like transformation that changes him.Â
The protagonist must venture from one state into another. To take it a step further thereâs a variation called the Ploy Embyro. Dan Harmon takes the heroâs journey a bit deeper and modernizes. [ hereâa great video on it by youtuber Rachel Stephen x]Â
As you can see, the Heroâs Journey and Ploy Embyro are both cyclical. This baby comes full circle in both plot and character. They have similar plot points. But if I were to gush about this the post would be waaay longer than it already is. This is one of my preferred methods because it just makes sense for me and allows me to have some freedom and wiggle room while still adhering to the 3 acts.
Pros   x Character development holla, cause this is where itâs at.   x Visually appealing   x Simple 8 point outline ( for those who might not enjoy long-winded outlines)   x Works alongside A beat sheet ( if you use that sort of thing)   x The holy grail for myths.
Cons   x Overdone ( but it doesnât have to be a bad thing)   x Not suited for those who really detailed outlines
Uses   x Adventure Stories. It is all about the adventure and journey with this   x Myth Retellings. I mean itâs based on the myth structure of the Odyssey and the like so it makes sense
Examples: Harper Leeâs To Kill a Mockingbird           Rick Riordanâs The Lightning Thief           J. R R. Tolktienâs The Hobbit
5) In Media Res
A literal translation to âIn the Middleâ. This plot structure dumps you right in the middle of the story. Think if you were to open a story on the second of third crisis/pinch point. thereâs still a lot of upward trajectory to go before the climax.
Donât confuse this with simply opening a story mid fight/action. Media Res starts well deep into the story itself, close to the climax but with enough room you can still build up to it.
Pros   x High Actions   x Simple and fun to play with   x A good use for flashbacks   x Hell of a hook for readers
Cons   x Can be confusing for readerâs if not done right   x No build up   x takes some finessing to get just right
Uses    x Mysteries. This is a great plot if you want to start a story perhaps where the killer has already committed the murder.   x Epic Poems. Maybe you wanna write the next epic poem, this is great for that.    Examples John Miltonâs Paradise Lost           Homerâs Illiad           George Lucasâs Star WarsÂ
Now I could go on and on but this monster of a post has carried on long enough. If thereâs a certain structure youâd like me to go into more detail about feel free to leave a comment on this post and Iâll be sure to add it to my line up!! As always happy writing/creating!
    XO Morgan
60 Awesome Search Engines for Serious Writers
Finding the information you need as a writer shouldnât 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.
Publisherâs 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 FAQâs 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.
Writerâs Cafe: Check out this online writerâs 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, youâll only get reliable, academic results for your searches.
WorldCat: If you need a book from the library, try out this tool. Itâll search and find the closest location.
Scirus: Find great scientific articles and publications through this search engine.
OpenLibrary: If you donât 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 youâre searching for a topic to write on, this search engine with clustered results can help get your creative juices flowing.
Intute: Here youâll 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.
Writerâs Web Search Engine: This search engine is a great place to find reference information on how to write well.
Bloomsbury Magazine Research Centre: Youâll find numerous resources on publications, authors and more through this search engine.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary and Thesaurus: Make sure youâre 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 youâre 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: Youâll 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 youâre looking for youâre 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 whatâs out there.
OpinMind: Try out this blog search tool to find opinion focused blogs.
IceRocket: Here youâll find a real-time blog search engine so youâll 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.
How to write a novel
I was talking to a girl at ComicCon, the kind of person who has a million creative projects at the same time. As many people do, she has a story she wants to write, with amazing characters she wants to share with the world, but writing is hard and a first novel can be daunting. Hereâs what I told her.
Now, this applies to the people who REALLY want to see their story done. These are the main pillars of the cathedral that is your story. Letâs begin.
1- YOUR GOAL IS TO WRITE A COMPLETE FIRST DRAFT. It will be shit. But it will be complete. You can build on it and rewrite, but the most important thing is to WRITE TILL THE END OF THE STORY.
2- SIT DOWN AND WORK. Thatâs the difference between writers and the million people who say they have a story that theyâll write someday.
Alright, letâs get technical, and start by the end.Â
3- Art is about causing your public to have emotions. Decide right now what emotion you want to leave your readers with when they close your book. Is it happy, sad, bittersweet, hopeful? Pick one. (This can be changed later if you rewrite and find some other ending, but we are working on the first draft.)
â Maybe you have a nice gimmick, a cool idea for a story, like idk, âWhat if you cloned yourself and that clone took over your lifeâ. This is interesting, but itâs not a story in itself. A story needs emotions. If you donât pick the emotions you want your reader to feel, your idea is just a gimmick.Â
4- Now that you have the final emotion, decide your ending in accordance to said emotion. Are characters dying? Is the bad guy defeated? Is everyone splitting up or leaving together as a found family?Â
Then we go back to the beginning.
5- You probably have a million characters you all want to write. Pick one to be your protagonist. Yes, just one. Multi-characters stories are harder to write and demand experience and time. We want this novel to exist, and not be stuck in limbo forever. Anyway, people tend to always prefer side characters. Who has heard of someone having a protagonist as a fave?? Your side characters will be loved, no worry.Â
How to find your protagonist: Itâs the person who makes decisions and makes the plot advance. Simple as that. Not to be mistaken for the leader of a group. Â
6- Now that you have your protagonist, you decide what is normal for them. That is your beginning.Â
7- And then, you break that normality in some horrible way that will prevent your protagonist to come back to it. That is your inciting incident.Â
Then we write the middle
8- You google Three-Act-Structure and get one of these babies.Â
(But TalhĂ, I hear you say, why should I follow this? Itâs been overdone, and my story doesnât follow this, and I have more to write than this⊠Well, thatâs your choice. Iâm not the boss of you. Iâm just saying that this is a solid model for western storytelling and itâs been proven to work time and time again. You can create outside of this, but again, the main goal here is to get your novel on paper. This is a solid template.)
9- You probably have a general idea of events you want to happen in the story. Place these scenes where you feel they should go on the structure. Like, a confrontation with the main bad guy goes in climax of act three, and the confrontation with the main henchman goes to climax of act two, etc. Be mindful of the rising action and tension: a cute misadventure in the woods would probably go earlier in the story than a fight to the death.
10- Now, a secret: What separates bad writing from good writing? Bad writing is adding a bunch of events in the middle and have the characters go through them like a checklist of scenes. You can often see this in movies. But good writing links the events. Each and every event that happens has to be a result of your character making a decision. Then, an obstacle happens, and your character makes another decision, that leads to your next event/obstacle.Â
11- Another secret: A character will gain power, money, weapons and allies through the story. In videogames, this is useful to defeat the bad guy. But storytelling is not videogames. Having a superpowerful hero at the end is boring. What we want is keeping the reader in suspense. So youâll have to take everything from them. Leave them powerless and alone. And then, break their leg. I mean, not literally, although you can do that too, but have them super disadvantaged. And then they can use the personal growth they got in the adventure to prevail. (What is more interesting: a character fleeing from a facility but with weapons and kickass moves, or a character fleeing the same facility without weapons or shoes and with a broken arm? Who do you root for?)
Other tricks
The rest of the crew: I go with what Pixar does for characters: Main character gets three or more characteristics. Thatâs your Woody. Second tier character gets two characteristics. Thatâs your Buzz. Third tier characters get one characteristic, like Rex and Mister Potato Head. Keep control of your character tiers and never give too much time to the lower tiers ones, it doesnât help your story. Â
Herd your cats: Characters will want to wander in every direction, and youâll want to follow them. Keep them in groups, and even though you can follow a side character for a scene or two, focus 80 to 90% of your story on your protagonist.Â
DND is not a novel: Iâm pretty sure your campaign is super fun, but you canât just put it on paper and call it a novel. It needs a narrative arc and serious editing. You can use a campaign as a base, but it needs to be worked as a novel, because youâre changing mediums, and a novel has different requirements.Â
Thatâs pretty much what I can remember for now. This should help you with the bones of your novel, and you can add the meat on that. I hope it helps. But honestly, the best advice I can give you isÂ
SIT DOWN AND DO THE THING.Â
and suddenly i felt self-doubt
Bro, We Are Rivals . Its Ok To Pin Me Up Against A Wall . Im Ur Nemesis . I Hate You . ... Bro, We Are Kiss ing Now . . No Dont Stop Bro .. Bro ...
via pinterest.
âA word after a word after a word is powerâ
â Margaret Atwood