This Is Seven-Tenths Water

Professional Sea-Cucumber Herdsman. If we do become acquainted, your choice of typeface may put that relationship in quite serious jeopardy.

[camusjr]

Yes, but what actually happened in ‘Mulholland Drive’?

[fictionwritingtips]

Writing References

I decided to make a reference post on most of the writing topics I’ve covered so far. If you’re looking for something specific, this might make it easier. Hope this helps!

General writing posts—

Ideas Worth Your Time

Antagonists

How to Keep a Deadline

How Anthropology Relates to Writing

Incorporating Flashbacks

When to Use Bad Language

How to Write What You Know

Is Your Novel Working

Introduction to Screenwriting

Writing with Others

Working on Multiple Projects Simultaneously 

Picking Up an Old Story

Developing a Well Paced Novel

When to Include a Prologue

Dialogue Writing

Embarrassing Writing Habits

Developing Good Writing Habits

World Building 101

The Opening Hook

Developing Your Style

Types of Endings

Plotting Failures

Forging Friendships

Editing posts—

Easy to Miss Writing Mistakes

Staying Motivated During the Editing Process

Is Your Story Too Telly?

Editing: Who Should You Trust?

When to Begin Editing

On Editing

Easy Editing

Content Editing

Character posts—

My Character is Drunk

Writing the Significant Other

Writing the Best Friend

Writing the Best Antagonist

Introducing Your Characters

Character Trait Cheat Sheet

Characters You Need to Stop Writing (Or Reinvent)

Making Your Characters Likeable

Prewriting Characters

Writing a Young Character

The Importance of Characters

Is Your Character a Mary Sue?

Character Development Exercises

Strong Characters

Too Many Characters

Genre posts—

The Space Opera

Historical Fiction

What is High Fantasy?

Figuring Out Your Genre

The New Adult Genre

Different Types of Science Fiction

Writing Horror Novels

Teen Sick-Lit

Fantasy Clichés

Motivation—

Keep Being Weird

Important Writing Lessons

My Favorite Writing Quotes

You’re Not Perfect

Where to Write

Negative People to Avoid

Quick Motivation Tips

Using Rejection to Motivate

Finding the Courage to Share Your Writing

Staying Motivated

How to Stay Motivated Over the Weekend

Publishing—

Writing a Blurb

How to Make Sure Your Novel Won’t Get Published

Full Querying Guide

What is a Crossover Novel?

Body Language—

The Importance of Body Language

Further Understanding Body Language

Random posts—

Why Everyone Should Continue Writing Love Stories

Why Writer’s Are Insane

Don’t Preach to Your YA Readers

Overused Situations in Fiction Writing

Male Readers and Female Protagonists

The Power of Silence

Studying People

Trends I’m Sick of in YA Fiction

Virginity as an Identity

Sorry I couldn’t replace the link with the title of the post. CAN’T FIGURE OUT HOW TO DO THINGS ON TUMBLR NOW. Also, you can obviously follow my blog for more writing tips or suggest topics for me to cover. Thank you!

-Kris Noel

[writeworld-blog]

We’ve reblogged a lot of these already, but this is an awesome resource!

[the-library-and-step-on-it]

Dan Harmon’s Story Cicle (as inspired by Joseph Campbell’s The Hero’s Journey)

1. You (a character is in a zone of comfort)

ESTABLISH A PROTAGONIST… Who are we? A squirrel? The sun? A red blood cell? America?

2. Need (but they want something)

SOMETHING AIN’T QUITE RIGHT… Something is wrong, the world is out of balance. This is the reason why a story is going to take place. The “you” from (1) is an alcoholic. There’s a dead body on the floor. A motorcycle gang rolls into town.

3. Go (they enter an unfamiliar situation)

CROSSING THE THRESHOLD… For (1) and (2), the “you” was in a certain situation, and now that situation changes. A hiker heads into the woods. Pearl Harbor’s been bombed. A mafia boss enters therapy.

4. Search (adapt to it)

THE ROAD OF TRIALS… Adapting, experimenting, getting shit together, being broken down. A detective questions suspects. A cowboy gathers his posse. A cheerleader takes a nerd shopping.

5. Find (find what they wanted)

MEETING WITH THE GODDESS… Whether it was the direct, conscious goal or not, the “need” from (2) is fulfilled. We found the princess. The suspect gives the location of the meth lab. A nerd achieves popularity.

6. Take (pay its price)

MEET YOUR MAKER… The hardest part (both for the characters and for anyone trying to describe it). On one hand, the price of the journey. The shark eats the boat. Jesus is crucified. The nice old man has a stroke. On the other hand, a goal achieved that we never even knew we had. The shark now has an oxygen tank in his mouth. Jesus is dead- oh, I get it, flesh doesn’t matter. The nice old man had a stroke, but before he died, he wanted you to take this belt buckle. Now go win that rodeo.

7. Return (and go back to where they started)

BRINGING IT HOME… It’s not a journey if you never come back. The car chase. The big rescue. Coming home to your girlfriend with a rose. Leaping off the roof as the skyscraper explodes.

8. Change (now capable of change)

MASTER OF BOTH WORLDS… The “you” from (1) is in charge of their situation again, but has now become a situation-changer. Life will never be the same. The Death Star is blown up. The couple is in love. Dr. Bloom’s Time Belt is completed. Lorraine Bracco heads into the jungle with Sean Connery to “find some of those ants.”

[nimblesnotebook-blog]

1) Risus Monkey Fantasy Language Cypher

This is amazing!!!!!!!!!!

Are you creating a fictional language? Do you need help coming up with words that sound like they fit with what you’ve come up with so far?

Just put your fictional language in the model text, type some words in the translation text, and click “translate”. It’ll “translate” whatever words you put in using patterns from your sample text.

2) Speed Distance Calculator

These calculators aren’t perfect, but they can help you figure out:

How long it will take your characters to get somewhere based on how fast they’re going,

how far your characters moved based on how fast they were going and on how long they were moving,

how fast your characters need to move to reach a certain distance in a specified time

The calculator was meant for cyclists, but you can use it to get estimates for other things too.

3) Fantasy Calendar Generator

Another amazing resource!

This can create a random calendar for you or you can input the year, the number of months, the name of the months, the number of moons, the number of days in a week, the names of each day, and more.

You can even save the data for your calendar so that when you go back to the generator, all you have to do to get to your calendar is paste the data.

4) Inkarnate Map Maker

This is a new resource that’s still in beta, so it’ll probably be updated in the coming months.

This map maker is easy to use and free. You can add different climates, mountains, trees, towns, cities, text, and notes. For an example of these maps, look at the quick map I made for this post’s header.

[createwithwriting]

World Building

Sometimes writers find it necessary to add more depth to the world surrounding their characters. Here, I’ve collected a few links that should be helpful in this process. Some of these are better for a fantasy stories but could prove useful for all writers in one way or another.

MAP GENERATION If you have decided to create your own land mass for the sake of your story, you may be grateful to have this link. Users should read the description below before using, but it is easy to use and helpful for anyone unsure of how to go about creating a new island or continent. I prefer using this tool over any others I’ve seen online. This is just the demo, the full version has more ways to edit the map, but getting the full version requires downloading and having proper software. It’s linked to on the page so you can get it if you understand how to and want it. However the demo on its own should be enough for anyone who can’t get the full version for one reason or another.

WEATHER AROUND THE WORLD Knowing weather details of areas can be helpful when writing about an area, especially if it’s one your don’t live in. This website has the weather of pretty much everywhere on earth recorded, and even provides averages for the past year in specific areas. It’s great for writers who want an understanding of how the weather in their story might affect the characters. For instance if the summer heat is consistently over 100 degrees, the characters might be less willing to go outside, and in need of constant hydration.

FANTASY JOBS THAT AREN’T KNIGHT OR PEASANT Alright so anyone who is writing a story that takes place in a less developed civilization, be it medieval times, or a fantasy world that hasn’t quite hit its industrial revolution, should probably have this list. Its a simple list of a 100 jobs that you might consider giving to the people in your story to make them seem like real people. The creator of the list even adds a few at the end for younger characters. Choosing any of them for your story may take some added research but it will be worth the depth added to your story.

FAMILY TREE TOOL If you’ve ever read Lord of the Rings you may know that pretty much everyone in the books has a long list of ancestors. I would never suggest such an endeavor, however, if you feel inclined to come up with a lineage for your character, this is a tool you could use. Its easy to use and allows for adding information beyond name and year of birth/death. Your able to change what information shows up on the table and when finished you can even print it out.

HOME DESIGNER So this is pretty much only good for if you have time to kill and wanna do some in depth building. That said, this tool will let you designer the home of your characters. You’ll get out what you put into it, so it your character lives in a three story 10 bedroom home, you may have to put in a bit more effort to make this worth anything to you. You could also just create individual rooms if that’s more what you want to do. Over all this tool may take a bit of time to learn, but isn’t very complicated. I suggest it to everyone who wants to explore how the home of their characters looks.

LANGUAGE CREATION This link will cause you to either decide you are going to create your own language, or give up on the idea entirely. It’s a long process but is complete spelled out in this link and the additional pages it links too. You could also buy the book this writer wrote for $0.99, but all the information is available for free. Either way it should be an easy choice to make after reading through what he has to offer. I think creating a language is for people with more time, patience, and understanding of their own language than me, but it is certainly fun to think about. This is by far the best resource for creating a language in my opinion, since he even discusses different methods people use to create languages and what is wrong with those methods.

For more information on my blog please visit my ABOUT PAGE

[writerswritecompany]

Writers can use these 12 Archetypes to create characters

The 12 Common Archetypes by Carl Golden

The twelve archetypes are divided into ego types, self types, and soul types. 

1) The Four Ego Types   1. The Innocent Motto: Free to be you and me Core desire: to get to paradise Goal: to be happy Greatest fear: to be punished for doing something bad or wrong Strategy: to do things right Weakness: boring for all their naive innocence Talent: faith and optimism The Innocent is also known as: Utopian, traditionalist, naive, mystic, saint, romantic, dreamer.   2. The Orphan/Regular Guy or Gal Motto: All men and women are created equal Core Desire: connecting with others Goal: to belong Greatest fear: to be left out or to stand out from the crowd Strategy: develop ordinary solid virtues, be down to earth, the common touch Weakness: losing one’s own self in an effort to blend in or for the sake of superficial relationships Talent: realism, empathy, lack of pretence The Regular Person is also known as: The good old boy, everyman, the person next door, the realist, the working stiff, the solid citizen, the good neighbour, the silent majority.   3. The Hero Motto: Where there’s a will, there’s a way Core desire: to prove one’s worth through courageous acts Goal: expert mastery in a way that improves the world Greatest fear: weakness, vulnerability, being a “chicken” Strategy: to be as strong and competent as possible Weakness: arrogance, always needing another battle to fight Talent: competence and courage The Hero is also known as: The warrior, crusader, rescuer, superhero, the soldier, dragon slayer, the winner and the team player.   4. The Caregiver Motto: Love your neighbour as yourself Core desire: to protect and care for others Goal: to help others Greatest fear: selfishness and ingratitude Strategy: doing things for others Weakness: martyrdom and being exploited Talent: compassion, generosity The Caregiver is also known as: The saint, altruist, parent, helper, supporter.   2) The Four Soul Types           5. The Explorer Motto: Don’t fence me in Core desire: the freedom to find out who you are through exploring the world Goal: to experience a better, more authentic, more fulfilling life Biggest fear: getting trapped, conformity, and inner emptiness Strategy: journey, seeking out and experiencing new things, escape from boredom Weakness: aimless wandering, becoming a misfit Talent: autonomy, ambition, being true to one’s soul The explorer is also known as: The seeker, iconoclast, wanderer, individualist, pilgrim.   6. The Rebel Motto: Rules are made to be broken Core desire: revenge or revolution Goal: to overturn what isn’t working Greatest fear: to be powerless or ineffectual Strategy: disrupt, destroy, or shock Weakness: crossing over to the dark side, crime Talent: outrageousness, radical freedom The Outlaw is also known as: The rebel, revolutionary, wild man, the misfit, or iconoclast.   7. The Lover Motto: You’re the only one Core desire: intimacy and experience Goal: being in a relationship with the people, work and surroundings they love Greatest fear: being alone, a wallflower, unwanted, unloved Strategy: to become more and more physically and emotionally attractive Weakness: outward-directed desire to please others at risk of losing own identity Talent: passion, gratitude, appreciation, and commitment The Lover is also known as: The partner, friend, intimate, enthusiast, sensualist, spouse, team-builder.   8. The Creator Motto: If you can imagine it, it can be done Core desire: to create things of enduring value Goal: to realize a vision Greatest fear: mediocre vision or execution Strategy: develop artistic control and skill Task: to create culture, express own vision Weakness: perfectionism, bad solutions Talent: creativity and imagination The Creator is also known as: The artist, inventor, innovator, musician, writer or dreamer.   3) The Four Self Types   9. The Jester Motto: You only live once Core desire: to live in the moment with full enjoyment Goal: to have a great time and lighten up the world Greatest fear: being bored or boring others Strategy: play, make jokes, be funny Weakness: frivolity, wasting time Talent: joy The Jester is also known as: The fool, trickster, joker, practical joker or comedian.   10. The Sage Motto: The truth will set you free Core desire: to find the truth. Goal: to use intelligence and analysis to understand the world. Biggest fear: being duped, misled—or ignorance. Strategy: seeking out information and knowledge; self-reflection and understanding thought processes. Weakness: can study details forever and never act. Talent: wisdom, intelligence. The Sage is also known as: The expert, scholar, detective, advisor, thinker, philosopher, academic, researcher, thinker, planner, professional, mentor, teacher, contemplative.   11. The Magician Motto: I make things happen. Core desire: understanding the fundamental laws of the universe Goal: to make dreams come true Greatest fear: unintended negative consequences Strategy: develop a vision and live by it Weakness: becoming manipulative Talent: finding win-win solutions The Magician is also known as: The visionary, catalyst, inventor, charismatic leader, shaman, healer, medicine man.   12. The Ruler Motto: Power isn’t everything, it’s the only thing. Core desire: control Goal: create a prosperous, successful family or community Strategy: exercise power Greatest fear: chaos, being overthrown Weakness: being authoritarian, unable to delegate Talent: responsibility, leadership The Ruler is also known as: The boss, leader, aristocrat, king, queen, politician, role model, manager or administrator.

Note: There are four cardinal orientations: freedom, social, ego, order. The types have a place on these orientations.

Article via soulcraft.co

[camusjr]

An Internet Virus

Like the halcyon days of nostalgia-filtered childhood, I have been tagged, this time by an atypical-teen, so that she can get to know me, and eight other people, a little bit better. Onwards and downwards.

Time and Date: 1800 on Friday, 12th June.

Average Hours of Sleep: Considering the forgotten hours one spends awake during the night, I’d reckon anywhere between five and seven.

Nicknames: ‘That schmuck over there’ seems particularly popular.

Gender: Male.

Sexual Orientation: Let’s find out.

Height: 183cm.

Favourite colour: The water’s horizon at my sunset.

One Place That Makes Me Happy: The rain.

What I Am Wearing Right Now: A t-shirt flitting between variants of grey: seems amorphous when distant, but reveals its subtleties up close. While some may draw a tortured metaphor, I leave that in the reader’s capable hands. There are some trousers too, you’ll be pleased to know. Oh, and skin.

Last Book I Read: 'Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid’ - Douglas R. Hofstadter.

Favourite Beverage: That is water.

Last Movie I Watched: ‘Englar Alheimsins’ or ‘Angels of the Universe’ by Friðrik Þór Friðriksson.

Dream Holiday: Not far from the city, nor from the country.

Dream Wedding: Small and simple, nothing to excess.

Dream Pet: Balerion, the Black Dread.

Dream job: We’ll see how megalomaniacal dictator works out.

[writeworld-blog]

Writer’s Block

A picture says a thousand words. Write them.

Mission: Write a story, a description, a poem, a metaphor, a commentary, or a critique about this picture. Write something about this picture.

Be sure to tag writeworld in your block!

[camusjr]

Transcendent - writeworld

There was something other about the moment: when the world hung still at the height of the arc. And anything could happen: to them, for them, with them,  between them...

And when the last rays slipped from the sky, when the gloaming entered their eyes He looked at her and said: “How the fuck do we get down?”

[wordsnquotes]

I’m not very good at putting my feelings into words. That’s why people misunderstand me.

Haruki Murakami, Norwegian Wood  (via wordsnquotes)

[camusjr]

We shall meet in the place where there is no darkness.

1984 - George Orwell

[wordsnquotes]

I think maybe part of what got him into trouble was that he did too much thinking. Sometimes he tried too hard to make sense of the world, to figure out why people were bad to each other so often.

Jon Krakauer, Into the Wild (via wordsnquotes)

[observando]

The fear of an unknown never resolves, because the unknown expands infinitely outward, leaving you to cling pitifully to any small shelter of the known: a cracker has twelve calories; the skin, when cut, bleeds.

Caroline Kettlewell (via observando)

[observando]

If people can just love each other a little bit, they can be so happy.

Émile Zola (via observando)

[tengo-que-dejartee-ir]

[cali4nia]

this is so amazing look at how the fingertips are changing

[camusjr]

I would that I could, Tumblr.

[camusjr]

Self? Ish.

The condition of modern expression has always seemed to me to be one of intensity over variety. Thusly, the feeling of feeling is now regarded in and of itself as a feeling when, in fact, it should be considered semiotically as the framework, the meta-syntax, within which feelings themselves can be constructed and then explored without the condition of emotion being perverted by a kind of postmodern detachment. The total failure of such a paradigm has created a connection between the self and emotion along which anyone can become disconnected from what they are feeling simply by using the all-pervasive culture around them as a reference point which - in a world defined by information and its transfer - is necessarily necessary.

Since the advent of irony as the primary medium of emotional transfer, helped overwhelmingly by the the paradox of information - phenomenological ephemerality versus potential permanence - in the internet age, and the devaluation of sincerity, the panicked reaction of the general person seems to have been to create this double-layered simulacrum both as a mechanism of defence and as a sociological indicator of cultural viability: the deep-seated want to belong.

Thus, we find a million restless souls cast adrift without a reference point in the interior of their selves - id est, what is the value of my values when the meta-nature of value itself is deconstructed by the insincerity of my feeling? - or in the culture within which they have to evolve and construct themselves - id est, it is now dangerous for my own wellbeing to assume that culture means what it says and can back that up with an emotional truth?

This, I posit, is the true danger of a postmodern condition, a caustically selfish condition: to force continual self-reference and raped-by-psychic-Bedouins self-evaluation upon tortured minds predicated upon nothing more than a disjunct created by a society that fears the true sincerity that emotion brings upon a person in crashing, crushing waves of personal exposition and realisation.

After this ironic and attempted deconstruction of deconstruction the only remaining question is one of action, of what to do. There is nothing I can see outside of the self in this respect, the nature of change is a selfish one; but, if there was one glimmer, if there was one faint light, it would be the sudden and total realisation that every person you love and hate and deplore and revere has a skeleton within them.

[camusjr]

...in real life I always seem to have a hard time winding up a conversation or asking somebody to leave, and sometimes the moment becomes so delicate and fraught with social complexity that I'll get overwhelmed trying to sort out all the different possible ways of saying it and all the different implications of each option and will just sort of blank out and do it totally straight -- 'I want to terminate the conversation and not have you be in my apartment anymore' -- which evidently makes me look either as if I'm very rude and abrupt or as if I'm semi-autistic and have no sense of how to wind up a conversation gracefully...I've actually lost friends this way.”

David Foster Wallace - Consider the Lobster and Other Essays