Captain Swan Fic Exchange

Welcome to the Captain Swan Fic Exchange!  This is the place for you to find CS fics (and maybe some others thrown in) which are all written by prompts.  New prompts + fic requirements are posted bi-weekly!  Banner and icon by @artistic-writer

[faficowrimo]

The Challenge: Comment on every fanfic you read and enjoy in the month of January.

Every chapter. Every one shot. Every drabble. Every ficlet. Whether it’s on a personal website, a blog, or an archive. Whether you’ve read it a hundred times before or you’re reading it for the first time. Whether the fic was posted years ago or minutes ago. Whether you sign your name or leave your thoughts anonymously. Whether your comment is paragraphs in length or a few short words. Comment on every fanfic you read and enjoy in the month of January.

The Philosophy: Comments are what keep a fandom thriving and growing.

We don’t see comments as a transaction. They’re not a price paid for reading a fic. We see comments as an interaction, a way of building relationships. Comments are a courtesy, not a currency. [x]

Fandom is a relationship between dozens,hundreds, thousands, maybe millions of fans, and the only way for the greater fandom relationship to function, is for those fans to interact. One way to interact is by writing and reading fanfic. A writer prompts an interaction by posting their work; it is up to the reader to then acknowledge (or not acknowledge).

As one of our favorite blogs, @ao3commentoftheday​, said: [x]

“Comment if you can, but don’t be bullied or pressured into it. A comment should be written in the same spirit as the fic itself: wanting to reach out to other people who love the same fandom as you do. It’s not easy to do that, I know, and I don’t hold it against you at all if you can’t.”

The Only Rule: Be kind.

Be kind to your fandoms’ writers.

Please note that this challenge is to “comment on every fanfic you read and enjoy in the month of January.” As our fandom forebears were fond of saying, “Don’t like, don’t read.” For FaFiCoWriMo, we have taken that one step further by saying, “Don’t like, don’t comment.”

No matter how well-intentioned, critique is useless unless it comes from a place of trust. Unless you know an author personally and they have specifically asked for your critique, please keep it to yourself.

It costs zero of your currency and zero of your time to not be a jerk.

Be kind to yourself.

If you do find yourself unable to comment on every fic (for whatever reason), remember this: we forgive you, zero judgement. [x]

[distant-rose]

Just a Casual Writing PSA

NOTES: Hey there, it’s your friendly neighborhood Ro with some writing advice in regard to international travel. International travel is fun and exciting and can make a story really interesting, however, if you’re writing about international travel and you’ve never done so yourself, you may over look a few things when you’re writing. Here’s just a list of things to consider coming from my own experience as an international traveler who has done more transatlantic flights than she can count and has been to twenty-five different countries (and counting.)

TIMEZONES

* Timezones matter and they matter a lot, especially when you’re crossing oceans or even crossing the United States for that matter, considering the country has FOUR different times. The difference between EST and GMT is five hours. This matters.

* Think about the time zone you’re traveling to, most airlines are reasonable and land during reasonable travel hours (5am-11pm), so if you’re going to London from New York, it’s unlikely for you to have a direct flight in the afternoon since you would be landing at 1am-3am in the morning. If you want someone to leave in the afternoon, it’s not impossible, but if you’re doing that, there is a 90% chance that there’s a layover involved somewhere. You’ll probably have a layover in Philadelphia, Boston, Reykjavik and Dublin. Think about that.

* Exception to this rule, of course, is Ryanair and budget airlines. I’m speaking from experience here. I once took a flight from London to Athens and got to Greece at 3am and it was the fucking worst. Only Ryanair is ballsy enough to pull this bullshit, but Delta or American Airlines wouldn’t.

JET LAG

* It’s real and it’s horrible and you feel like death. Your brain is literally mush. I’m not normally a coherent person after doing a seven hour flight and dealing with people when I should be in bed

* Jet lag can be somewhat combatted with sleeping on your flight, but it isn’t fool proof. Also, people with high anxiety might not be able to sleep on planes due to the motion of the plane. Some people can sleep after taking medication, but there are some people medication does not work on. This is me. Hi, I’m an anxious flyer and it sucks.

* It takes some people time to acclimate, the bigger the time difference, the longer it takes. Jet lag can linger for more than a day. This doesn’t necessarily mean you’re not functional, but you’re definitely not your best.

* A common practice if you’re traveling to a different time is to force yourself to stay awake until it’s appropriate to fall asleep (roughly around 8-9pm), so travelers might find themselves awake for more than 24 hours and it’s exhausting

CUSTOMS/BOARDER PATROL

* They’re annoying and time-consuming, especially if you’re traveling to countries where you need a visa or if you’re going to the United States or United Kingdom with or without a visa. Customs takes an annoying amount of time, especially if you have to fill out customs forms, which you definitely do if you’re traveling to the US, the UK and sometimes even Canada.

* If you’re non-EU or UK, it’s going to take you roughly 40 minutes to get through British customs. Sadly enough, it’s the same way on the way back into the United States IF you’re a citizen. Note, however, if you’re dealing with a citizen and they’re returning to a country, some countries (the UK and most European countries) have what is called E-Gates, which is why you scan your passport without seeing a boarder agent. It’s fucking cool.

* When you have to deal with a customs officer, they generally ask you questions about where you’re coming from, how long you’re in the country and where you’re staying. Some countries will request a finger print, which is something that will be on file if you have a long-term visa.

* Oh! If you’re using Eurostar to get to around Europe, your passport will be checked and stamped BEFORE you get on the train. This is not always the case in some instances, but it is especially true when traveling to and from the United Kingdom via train.

TRANSPORT FROM AIRPORT

* From personal experience, most airports I’ve encountered are on the outskirts or a good trek away from the city center. An average transit time I’ve found to be almost universal from airport to city center is generally from 30 minutes to 1 hour.

* If you’re writing about coming and going from New York - JFK and LaGuardia are in Queens, which seems not too far from Manhattan but if you’re traveling from Queens to Manhattan, it’s exhausting and annoyingly longer than it should. It can take you a good 40 minutes to an hour regardless of car, train or bus. Don’t let Google Maps fool you. Your ass will sit in traffic. It’s going to be at least 40 minutes. That’s if you’re lucky.

* With London, London has six airports. The most popular are Heathrow and Gatwick. If you’re traveling from either one to Zone 1 (the heart of the city), it’s going to take you at least 40 minutes whether by train (Tube or Eastern Rail). However, if memory serves correctly, it takes about 20 minutes for the Heathrow Express to go to and from Paddington Station, but I wouldn’t say that’s close to the city center (I’m talking King’s Cross, Liverpool Station and London Bridge here)

Anyway, I hoped this helped. Happy writing!

[skullwrites-deactivated20181105]

my writer-dudes, if planning a plot outline on your own is too daunting, find a plot worksheet! if one is too detailed, try another. here are some at different levels of detail:

Novel-Factory — The Premise

Novel-Factory — The Skeleton

Writer’s Digest — At-A-Glance Outline

Save the Cat by Blake Snyder — Beat Sheet

Story Engineering by Larry Brooks — Story Structure

Jami Gold — Basic Beat Sheet

Annie Neugebauer — Novel Plotting Worksheet

happy plotting!

[20th-centuryghost]

HEY ARTISTS!

Do you design a lot of characters living in not-modern eras and you’re tired of combing through google for the perfect outfit references? Well I got good news for you kiddo, this website has you covered! Originally @modmad made a post about it, but her link stopped working and I managed to fix it, so here’s a new post. Basically, this is a costume rental website for plays and stage shows and what not, they have outfits for several different decades from medieval to the 1980s. LOOK AT THIS SELECTION:

OPEN ANY CATEGORY AND OH LORDY–

There’s a lot of really specific stuff in here, I design a lot of 1930s characters for my ask blog and with more chapters on the way for the game it belongs to I’m gonna be designing more, and this website is going to be an invaluable reference. I hope this can be useful to my other fellow artists as well! :)

[magicallygrimmwiccan]

I NEED THIS

[the-newsies-justice-for-zas-blog]

Also helpful for writers!

[ao3tagoftheday]

Charity fic exchange to support detained migrants and asylum seekers

This morning, I noticed that the transcedently wonderful @attackfish decided to offer to write 100 words of AtLA fic for every $1 donated to one of two organizations providing legal and humanitarian aid to detained migrants and asylum seekers at the US southern border. This seemed to me to be an amazing idea, and, with their permission, I’ve decided to expand this project.

So! AO3tagoftheday will be hosting and managing a charity fic exchange! This exchange is open to all, regardless of fandom, so please spread this post around through your individual fandoms to get the word out.

For right now, I need y'all to do the following:

If you are an author who’s willing to participate, please fill out this form. This will allow me to compile a list of writers, their fandoms, and what they’re willing to write.

If you are an artist who’s willing to participate, please fill out this form. This will allow me to compile a list of artist, their fandoms, and what they’re willing to draw

If you are interested in donating or supporting this exchange, please reblog to spread the word to others who might want to participate.

attackfish’s original post offered fic in exchange for donations to the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services (RAICES) and the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS). These are both great organizations, but I want to offer more donation options for this broader exchange. So, if you know of good organizations providing legal and/or humanitarian assistance, please provide a suggestion here.

Given that some people don’t have extra money to donate, and that volunteers are also needed, please especially let me know if you know of organizations working on the ground to on either side of the border which might need volunteers. There’s an option on the writer sign up form to offer fic in exchange for volunteer hours rather than dollars.

Again, writers sign up here! Artists sign up here! Suggestions for organizations to donate to go here! I’ve got 95,000 followers on this blog! Between the lot of us, I’m pretty sure we can do some damn good! Who’s with me?

[thatdisasterauthor]

WHY DID NO ONE TELL ME ABOUT PRO WRITING AID BEFORE?! THIS THING IS FUCKING GLORIOUS. HOLY SHIT. LOOK AT THIS.

IT GIVES YOU A WHOLE DAMN REPORT ON YOUR WRITING AND WALKS YOU THROUGH HOW TO MAKE IT BETTER AND WHY IT IS SUGGESTING CHANGES. THIS IS JUST A TINY CHUNK OF THE HUGE REPORT IT GAVE ME ON THE FIRST CHAPTER OF ONE OF MY PROJECTS. I AM IN LOVE.

AND IT WORKS WITH SCRIVENER. AND IT IS AFFORDABLE.

WHY DID NO ONE TELL ME?!

[thatdisasterauthor]

Seriously, a couple hours with this and my first chapter is so much better. It helped me see problems I KNEW I had (passive voice, showing vs. telling, adverbs) but was having a hard time sussing out. It has made editing so much more fun and easy because now I know what the hell I’m doing and what to look for instead of stumbling around blind shouting “adverbs? adverbs?” like a town crier. I can already tell I’m getting better at seeing things without the program having to show me too.

I officially worship this thing.

[caainhurst]

it’s ProWritingAid in case anyone missed it

[coramo]

Does it do essays?

[thatdisasterauthor]

It does have an academic mode, yes!

[skullwrites-deactivated20181105]

my writer-dudes, if planning a plot outline on your own is too daunting, find a plot worksheet! if one is too detailed, try another. here are some at different levels of detail:

Novel-Factory — The Premise

Novel-Factory — The Skeleton

Writer’s Digest — At-A-Glance Outline

Save the Cat by Blake Snyder — Beat Sheet

Story Engineering by Larry Brooks — Story Structure

Jami Gold — Basic Beat Sheet

Annie Neugebauer — Novel Plotting Worksheet

happy plotting!

[transmutetheblankpage]

GUIDE: NAMING A TOWN OR CITY

This post was originally from a FAQ, but since the original link is now defunct, I am re-posting it here.

There are many things to keep in mind when naming the town or city in your novel:

1) Genre/Theme/Tone

It’s very important to consider the genre and theme of your story when choosing a town name. Take these names for example, each of which indicates the genre or theme of the story: King’s Landing (sounds fantastical) Cloud City (sounds futuristic) Silent Hill (sounds scary) Sweet Valley (sounds happy and upbeat) Bikini Bottom (sounds funny) Radiator Springs (sounds car-related) Halloween Town (sounds Halloween-related) Storybrooke (sounds fairytale-related) 2) Time/Place It’s also important to consider the time and place where your story takes place. For example, you wouldn’t use “Vista Gulch” as a name for a town in Victorian England. You probably wouldn’t use it for a town in modern day North Carolina, either. Vista is a Spanish word and would normally be found in places where Spanish names are common, like Spain, Central and South America, the southwest United States (including southern California), Cuba, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, and Florida. 3) Size/Settlement Type An isolated town of 300 people probably won’t be Valley City, but a sprawling metropolis of 30 million could be called Windyville, because it could have started out as a small town and grew into a large city. 4) Geography Words like gulch, butte,and bayou tend to be regional terms. You probably wouldn’t find Berle’s Bayou in Idaho, or Windy Butte in Rhode Island. Words like mount, cape, and valley are dependent upon terrain. Most of the time, you won’t have a town named “mount” something unless there are hills or mountains nearby. You wouldn’t use “cape” unless the town was on a cape, which requires a large body of water. 5) History Is there a historical person or event that your town might be named after? The Simpsons’ hometown of Springfield is ironically named after its founder, Jebediah Springfield. Chattanooga, Tennessee is named after the Cherokee town that was there first. Nargothrond, in The Lord of the Rings, is an Elvish town with an Elvish name. 6) Combination of Words

person name + geographical term = Smithfield, Smith Creek

group name + geographical term = Pioneer Valley, Settlers’ Ridge

descriptive word + geographical term = Mystic Falls, Smoky Hill

person name + settlement type = Smithton, Claraville

landmark + settlement type = Bridgton, Beaconville

Word Lists

Types of Settlements

Geographical Features

Place Words

Common Suffixes

Other Descriptors

[nerds-are-cool]

if you’re struggling for AU ideas take a look-see at this list i wrote for my friend who dubbed it “better than the 10 commandments" 

1)     Coffee shop AU

i)       Barista and person who has a ridiculous coffee order

ii)      I’m worried about your coffee dependency

iii)     you accidentally poured boiling hot coffee over me so you’re responsible for taking me to A&E

iv)     you give me a different fake name every time you come into starbucks and I just want to know your real name bc ur cute but here I am scrawling “batman” onto your stupid cappuccino

2)      Flower shop AU

i)       You buy a weird amount of flowers and I’m concerned as to why

ii)      I’m allergic to flowers but I work in a flower shop – you’re a customer who’s very confused as to why I’d do that

iii)     (this is also a good way to incorporate flower meanings eg, buying certain colours/types for person to represent feelings etc.)

3)      Library AU

i)       You’re overdue on this book and I want it so I’m tracking u the fuck down

ii)      I work in the library and I’m a little concerned for your health bc you never stop studying

iii)     The library’s pretty empty save for you and me and OH that couple making out loudly in the shelves somewhere

4)      Awful first time meeting

i)       I accidentally punched you in the face when I was too overexcited about something

ii)      I thought you were my friend who’s just done something awful to me (read: cut my hair while I slept, dyed all of my clothes pink, etc. etc.) because you look similar from behind so I stormed up to you and shoved you from behind while calling you an asshole

iii)     You get the gist to this one

iv)     Oooh when you told me your name I thought you were joking because it’s fucking awful and I made a joke about it and things got awkward real fucking fast (perfect for a Hannibal au just saying)

5)      Weird places to meet/awkward meetings in general

i)       We live in the same block of flats but haven’t ever talked and Sunday morning we were both doing the walk of shame and had to stand in the lift together

ii)      “okay I know that being in the woods at 2am is a weird thing to be doing but my friend called me and- wait, why are you in the woods at 2am, fuck I’m going to die aren’t I?”

iii)     A personal favourite of mine – first day at a new job and oh fuck my boss is the person I drunkenly hooked up with last weekend/night

iv)     We keep accidentally running into each other I’m not a stalker I swear

v)      You live across from me in our apartments and we smile when we see each other but we don’t really know each other and oh you’re the stripper at my friend’s stag do/hen night fuck this is really uncomfortable

vi)     “My shower’s broken but I’ve got a date tonight could I possibly use your shower please?” “Oh sure (neighbour that I’ve been crushing on for the past six months) of course you can use my shower to get ready for your date (fuck fuck fuck)”

6)      Friends to romance – pining and all that wonderful shit

i)       You’ve got a date tonight and you asked for advice on what to wear but I’m so in love with you and damn you look good in the outfit I picked out for you

ii)      I really like you but you’re my best friend’s ex

iii)     You’ve liked me for ages and were really obvious about it and I didn’t like all the attention but now you’re over me I really miss it and fuck I think I like you too?

iv)     Somewhere along the way of getting into bar fights together, staying up all night with movie marathons, other friendship things, I’ve fallen in love with you but oh my god this could ruin EVERYTHING

v)      Friends with benefits oh wait I like you

7)      FAKE DATING HOLY SHIT I LIVE FOR THIS

i)       It’s my highschool reunion and I need a hot date so I can rub it in the faces of the people who hated me

ii)      My homophobic parents are coming to visit will you pretend to date me as an extra “fuck you”?

iii)     There’s a person who won’t stop bugging me will you pretend to be my partner so that they’ll fuck off?

iv)     I told my sister I have a boyfriend so she’d stop trying to set me up with people but now she’s coming to visit and I’m in too deep I need a fake boyf ASAP

8)      Soulmate aus

i)       The first words your true love(s) will say to you are tattooed on you and why the fuck are their first words something really ridiculous like ‘I’ll pay you a tenner to punch me in the face’ or ‘quick what’s your favourite animal’ or ‘fucking shit hell holy fuck wow oh my god jesus h Christ fuck me’ etc. or even worse a really ridiculous song lyric like  the opening lines of uptown funk or a high school musical song or smthing did you have to serenade me the first time you saw me asshole?

ii)      You get an ‘impression’ of your soulmate when you turn 18 or something but all I got was a strong smell of bananas or an overwhelming feeling that Thatcher was a good prime minister or an image in my mind of a fucking unicorn

iii)     The more ridiculous the better actually

iv)     Something like whenever your soulmate sings a duet you can’t help but join in and my fucking soulmate is in a goddamn band but I can’t sing for shit

v)      Or maybe something like soulmates always sneeze at the same time and I cant be sure but me and this kid in my French class just sneezed at the same time are we soulmates or was it a coincidence (proceed w character trying to make themselves sneeze around said person to see what’s what)

9)      Alternate universes for real

i)       Mermaids

ii)      Siren and asexual pirate who doesn’t understand why all his crew are losing their shit that person has a nice voice sure but what the fuck is happening

iii)     Hogwarts

iv)     We live in a world where the greek gods are real and you went and got yourself cursed and now I have to go on a fucking quest to sort this shit out why do I love you again?

v)      Pacific rim au (either they’re drift compatible or one of them is a ranger and the other stresses constantly bc what if they die yes I have read a fic like this no I didn’t come up with this one but it’s fucking good) (also if you haven’t seen that film go watch it now)

vi)     Literally any movie or book universe you like tbh just go for it

10)   Other aus that I like

i)       I wanted to go on the ferris wheel but there has to be two people to a cart come on random person let’s go oh wait are we stuck at the top? Fuck

ii)      We work in the same office and you have a goddamn squeaky chair and you wONT FUCKING STOP SQUEAKING IT BECAUSE YOU KNOW IT ANNOYS ME

iii)     Our mutual friend set us up on a blind date and I thought I’d hate it but you’re actually… kind of funny? But because I expected to hate it in no way am I going to let you change my mind just because you’re gorgeous and funny and intelligent oh no my friend is not winning this

iv)     It started to snow and I’m the only one of our friends who would go outside with you – I soon found out why none of the others would go out in the snow with you (this works best if they’re new friends who don’t know each other all that well) when you shoved a handful of snow down my back and declared snow war

v)      It’s nowhere near Christmas it’s literally still November would you calm down about Christmas wait no why are you getting the tree out no stop please stop (if you do this pre-relationship you can have the grouchy one secretly finding the other’s excitement endearing and falling in love with them actually that works for established relationship too)

vi)     Current partner got a new job in America (or other country far away) and we’re getting by on skype calls and emails but it’s not easy and then I met someone new (can be poly or can be finding the OTP person)

vii)   You want us both to get in shape and I hate working out/running but your ass looks really good in shorts oh the things I do for my friends and their nice asses

viii)  Carrying on from 10.vii. you’ve caught me checking you out in what I thought was a subtle way too many times and now you’re calling me out on it what do I do???

ix)     You’re an actor/other famous person that I really admire and I just saw you in the street and as I was debating whether or not to say hi you came up to me and started flirting what do I do??

x)      You were waving at your friend behind me but I got confused and waved back at you and now I’m dying of embarrassment but you think it’s cute

xi)     I sat down in the wrong class and I’m panicking but don’t want to get up and leave because the class has started and you think it’s hilarious and shut up you dumb fuck you don’t know me aahhh

xii)   I’m a waiter at this wedding and you’re a drunk guest who will not stop hitting on me please I’m trying to work no I can’t dance with you omg let me find you some water

xiii)  Our best friends are that awful ‘cute’ couple that make-out in public and call each other “sweetie” and “sugar” and “babe” and god they’re awful let’s talk about how awful they are – develops into “shit we’re the awful couple now”

xiv)  You pissed me off in class so I threw a book at your head and now I’m in detention and jesus fuck I hate you so much and the teacher made me apologise and wait you’re cuter up close and the way you talk is kind of nice actually oh fuck no

Okay I could go on forever but this is over 1,500 words of auing already I have too many ideas christ

send me some to @theskyis-forever with a pairing for me to write :)

[patientno7]

the suffering never ends

[sinksanksockie2]

This is the real process

[thewritingbeast-blog]

Resources for you!

Character Ideas:

Character creation masterpost

Character Alignment Chart

More character alignment descriptions

Muslim Character questions

Characters with magical powers

Building a new character advice

How to create a character for an online or tabletop RPG (also a good guide on creating characters in general)

Royalty/nobility TV Tropes page

Basic character profile

OC masterpost

Random character generators - (1), (2), (3), (4)

D&D Character Building Tool

Character Design Ideas:

How clothing affects a character’s personality

Character Design Inspiration blog

Concept art, fan art, cool art to be inspired by

Character design references and inspiration

Sources for POC character design ideas and models

Create your own character model using HeroForge

For horned characters

Body and hair types guide

Random outfit generator

Naming Help:

Amazing site with an endless amount of naming resources

General advice on avoiding naming appropriation

Hispanic Surnames

Gothic Victorian names

Huge master list for character things in general

Masterlist of names of all types - including but not limited to ancient/old world names, Celtic, African, Northern European, Southern and Central American Native names, Japanese, Chinese, Mongolian, Polynesian, and more

Another name masterlist

How to pick a character name guide

Yet another names masterlist

Creating Background/backstory:

Character Sheet/Development Sheet

Another character development list

In-depth character personality, motivations and traits sheet

320 talents and passions for characters

On writing likes and dislikes that aren’t frivolous

Why you should write non-human characters non-conforming to the gender binary

Stereotypes, tropes, and archetypes

Random backstory generator

Assassin and thief character tropes to avoid

Character Interactions and putting your character into your world/story:

Comparing character height/height references

Characters who are scientists and writing about them doing science

Describing what different voices sound like

Describing skin tones

Writing friendship interactions that are platonic

Why having one character knock their friend unconscious to prevent them from doing something is a bad idea

Advice on shipping OCs with canon characters and what to avoid doing

Sweet Polly Oliver and Sweet on Polly Oliver situations (think of Disney’s Mulan for an example)

How to write multiple viewpoints/juggling a main cast of more than 4 to 6 characters

How to make readers care about your morally gray hero/anti-hero

On platonic OC and canon character relationships

How to avoid Godmodding in RPs

When it’s cheap to kill off a character

Writing dialogue

Things you shouldn’t do to canon characters

Avoiding purple prose in writing and RPs

Slang resources

Dialogue tips

Websites to chart your story/plot/character relationships

Bonus art masterlist!

[brucewayneright]

BLESS EVERYONE IN THIS POST.

[startripperhq]

COOL.

[prompts-and-ideas]

@write-it-motherfuckers

Bless this post. Bless it and all that it brings.

[write-it-motherfuckers]

Oooh~ Thank you Darling.

[ambientwriting]

What sort of questions should I be asking my beta readers?

QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR BETA READERS:

When I send out my chapter to be read over by my beta readers, I always include a set of questions typed out at the bottom, grouped into different categories such as: plot, pacing, character, setting, etc. 

You might want to tailor the questions depending on the genre or which chapter it is. For example, if it’s the first chapter you’ll want to ask them about how well your story managed to hook them, or if they managed to easily get an idea of the world you’ve introduced them to. If it’s the climax you might want to ask if the action scenes are fluid, and if the plot twist/s were predictable or surprising. 

Here’s some example questions that you could use:

Opening Chapter:

What is your first impression of the main character? Do you find them likable? Annoying? Boring?

After reading it for the first time, what is your first impression? Was it cohesive and compelling? Boring and confusing?

Did the first sentence/paragraph/page efficiently grab your attention and hook you in?

If you were to read this chapter in a bookstore/library would you be convinced to buy it? Or would you need to read further before deciding? Why or why not?

Did you get oriented fairly quickly at the beginning as to whose story it is, what’s going on, and where and when it’s taking place? If not, what were you confused about at the beginning?

Does the first chapter establish the main character efficiently? Do they feel believable?

Characters:

Could you clearly imagine what the characters looked like? If not, who?

Who was your favourite character and why? Has your favourite character changed? (if this hasn’t changed feel free to skip this question) 

Are there any characters that you do not like? Why do you not like them? (Boring, annoying, problematic, etc.) 

Was there ever a moment when you found yourself annoyed or frustrated by a character? 

Could you relate to the main character? Did you empathise with their motivation or find yourself indifferent? 

Were the characters goals/motivations clear and understandable? 

Did you get confused about who’s who? Are there too many characters to keep track of? Are any of the names or characters too similar?

Do the characters feel three-dimensional or like cardboard cutouts? 

How familiar have you become with the main characters? Without cheating could you name the four main characters? Can you remember their appearance? Can you remember their goal or motivation? 

Dialogue:

Did the dialogue seem natural to you?

Was there ever a moment where you didn’t know who was talking?

Setting/world-building:

Were you able to visualize where and when the story is taking place?

Is the setting realistic and believable? 

How well do you remember the setting? Without cheating, can you name four important settings?

Genre:

Did anything about the story seem cliche or tired to you? How so? 

Did anything you read (character, setting, etc.) remind you of any others works? (Books, movies, etc.) 

Plot/pacing/scenes:

Do you feel there were any unnecessary scenes/moments that deserved to be deleted or cut back?

Do the scenes flow naturally and comprehensively at an appropriate pace? Did you ever feel like they were jumping around the place? 

Was there ever a moment where you attention started to lag, or the chapter begun to drag? Particular paragraph numbers would be very helpful. 

Did you ever come across a sentence that took you out of the moment, or you had to reread to understand fully? 

Was the writing style fluid and easy to read? Stilted? Purple prose-y? Awkward?

Did you notice any discrepancies or inconsistencies in facts, places, character details, plot, etc.?

Additional questions:

What three things did you like? What three things did you not like? 

Can you try predicting any upcoming plot twists or outcomes? 

Was there ever a moment when your suspension of disbelief was tested? 

Is there anything you’d personally change about the story? 

Was the twist expected or surprising? Do you feel that the foreshadowing was almost nonexistent, or heavy handed? 

Feel free to tailor these to your needs or ignore some of them if you don’t think they’re useful. Basically, your questions are about finding out the information about how others perceive your own writing and how you can improve your story.

-Lana

[wingedbyday-blog-blog-blog]

//Absurdly helpful for people writing royal characters and/or characters who interact with royalty and members of the nobility.

[x]

[stalinistqueens]

Citizen is simpler and more beautiful~ but just in case anyone needs this.

[toadpile]

DUDE BUT THIS IS WHAT I’VE BEEN TRYING TO TELL PEOPLE

in medieval times you ONLY addressed a king/queen with “Your Majesty”, NEVER “Your Highness”.  To address a king/queen with “Your Highness” was considered an insult.

[disclaymore-deactivated20230920]

Here’s a more extensive list of titles and what you would call a person/their wife/their mother/their children

[sharkfinsoap]

@novafoster !!!

[runningracingdancingchasing]

Also, “royal highness” was only for the crown prince or princess. Ones who were not next in line were just “highness”.

[shuubunni]

Of note, “Your Majesty” wasn’t even used until about the mid 16th century for the King/Queen, they we’re addressed the same as a Duke/Dutchess as “Your Grace” until then. “Your Majesty” was mostly reserved for Emperors or Empresses until then.

[thewritershandbook]

List of Elemental Abilities

Air/Wind

Aerokinesis -manipulate the air, wind, and gas.

Aeroportation - teleport using air/wind currents.

Air Mimicry - transform into a cloud of gas, fog, or mist.

Atmokinesis - manipulate the weather by mixing water, fire, earth, air, and lightning/electricity.

Deoxygenation - suck up all the oxygen from a place.

Lung Adaptation - breath anywhere

Wind Generation - create blasts of air.

Divine Winds Manipulation - create and control heavenly winds.

Dark Wind Manipulation - create and control eerie winds.

Earth

Geokinesis - control, manipulate, and reshape the earth at will.

Atmokinesis - control and manipulate the weather by mixing water, fire, earth, air, and lightning/electricity.

Crystallokinesis - manipulate minerals and crystals.

Ferrokinesis… manipulate metal at will.

Fraxikinesis - manipulate burnt matter.

Geo-Thermokinesis - manipulate, control, and create lava, magma and volcanoes.

Golem Creation - make golems out of inanimate materials like rocks, wood, plants, magma, etc.

Granulation… can turn things into sand.

Halokinesis - control and manipulate salt.

Hyalokinesis - control and manipulate glass.

Koniokinesis - manipulate and control dust particles.

Plassikinesis - manipulate and control all forms of plastic.

Psammokinesis - can control and manipulate sand.

Terrakinesis - control, manipulate and alter/reshape the surrounding terrain and landscape at will.

Terraportation - teleport via the earth and earth-based materials.

Sacred Earth Manipulation - Create, manipulate, control, reshape divine earth minerals.

Black Earth Manipulation - Create, manipulate and control tainted and evil earth minerals.

Fire

Pyrokinesis - create, control and manipulate fire, flame and heat.

Atmokinesis - control and manipulate the weather by mixing water, fire, earth, air, and lightning/electricity.

Fire Breath - breathe out flames.

Geo-Thermokinesis - manipulate lava, magma and volcanoes.

Heliokinesis - manipulate and control the sun and sunlight.

Hell-Fire Manipulation - Generate and control flames of hell.

Holy Fire Manipulation - Generate and control flames of Heaven.

Inflammation - burn things.

Melting - heat molecules to melt things.

Plasmakinesis - can control plasma.

Pyrotechnics - create fireworks.

Self-Detonation - explode self and reform.

Thermokinesis - create, control and manipulate heat.

Water

Hydrokinesis - manipulate and control liquid water and mold it into any desired shape or form.

Aquatic Adaptation - adapted to underwater living.

Aquatic Respiration - breathe underwater.

Atmokinesis- control and manipulate the various aspects of the weather by mixing water, fire, earth, air, and lightning/electricity.

Dehydration - absorb water.

Hydroportation - teleport across short or long distances through liquid water.

Water Mimicry - turn into liquid water.

Holy Water Manipulation - create, manipulate and control graceful waters.

Dark Water Manipulation - create, manipulate and control evil and dangerous waters.

Darkness

Umbrakinesis - can manipulate and control darkness or shadows.

Animated Shadow - Animate one’s shadow.

Light Absorption - block out light in an area.

Night Vision - see in the dark.

Sacred Darkness - create holy darkness.

Shadow Camouflage - be unseen in shadows.

Shadow Mimicry - become a shadow.

Umbrageous Teleportation - teleport via the shadows and darkness.

Electricity/Lightning

Quintessence Force -Can generate whitish-blue lightning that also contains pure life energy.

Electrokinesis - control, generate or absorb electric fields and shoot lightning bolts.

Activation & Deactivation - turn stuff on and off.

Positron Manipulation - control positrons, the antimatter counterpart to electrons.

Electrical Absorption - absorb electricity.

Electric Mimicry -transform entire body into a lightning-like being of pure electrical energy

Electrical Transportation - teleport with lightning.

Divine Lightning Manipulation - create and control the brightest lightning.

Black Lightning Manipulation - create and control the darkest lightning.

Energy

Dynamokinesis - manipulate existing energy.

Energy Blast - create blasts of energy.

Energy Emission - release energy.

Quintessence Force - create and manipulate unique form of electrical and life energy.

Mana Manipulation

Chi Manipulation

Electricity Manipulation

Energy Manipulation

Ice

Cryokinesis - control ice, snow and other forms of frozen water.

Freeze Breath - freeze things in solid ice.

Freezing - lower the temperature in kinetic atoms to freezing temperatures.

Frigokinesis - control snow either as precipitation or already on the ground.

Ice Beam - shoot beams of freezing energy.

Ice Generation

Light

Dark Light Manipulation - create the darkest light in existence.

White Light Manipulation- create sacred light from the divine.

Photokinesis - create and manipulate pure light.

Force-Field Generation - create protective shields of solid photons.

Invisibility - be unseen.

Laser Emission - bend light wavelengths to create lasers.

Light Absorption -absorb the light around you.

Light Generation - emit blinding light or glow in the dark.

Light Mimicry - take on the traits of light.

Photoportation - Teleport by using photons.

Projective Invisibility - turn other things invisible.

Evil Banish - Rid and banish all spirits of evil and black magic.

Light Manipulation

Weather

Atmokinesis - manipulate the various aspects of the weather by using water, fire, earth, air, and lightning/electricity.

Atmokinetic Resistance - immunity to all weather-based abilities and effects.

Atmokinetic Sensing - sense the future weather patterns.

Other

Aether Manipulation

Cosmic Manipulation

Gravity Manipulation

Nether Manipulation

Space-Time Manipulation

From Superpower Wikia. See their complete list of superpowers HERE.

[csficexchange]

@cssns

[iverna]

Tense in fiction

Okay, let’s go through this. I’m not overly concerned with all the grammar technicalities, there are plenty of sites out there that explain those better than I can.

You’ve probably heard that you should always stick to one tense in a story. If you hadn’t heard, you have now. And it’s true. I’ll go through what that means, and how you do it.

A brief run-down of tenses first. We generally divide time into three bits: past, present, and future. Tenses are the different forms a verb can take to situate it in time. So the role of tenses is to tell us at which point in time an action is happening.

“She walks to the bar. She orders a drink.” Those actions are all in present tense, so they are happening consecutively, one after the other.

“She walks to the bar. She orders a drink. She ran to get here.” That last sentence is in past tense, which places the running before the other actions. So we read that to mean that she ran to get here, and now she walks to the bar and orders a drink.

English has more than three tenses, so it can situate actions at more than three points in time. It differentiates between the perfect form, meaning a completed action, and the simple form, which could be complete or not, it’s not judging, it’s simple. Here’s how they’re arrayed on a timeline:

When writing a story, pick one tense and stick with it. Stories are usually written in present simple, or past simple.

The tense you pick is your base, the “now” of the story, the moment the reader is engaged with. The reason for sticking with one tense is to make it clear when the actions are happening, and to keep them consecutive. As we read, we assume that things happen in the order we read them - but only if they’re in the same tense. What you don’t want is something like this:

She walks to the bar. She orders a drink. She smiles at the man next to her. He smiled back, and slid a bowl of peanuts over to her.

… because that’s confusing. The tenses tell me that he smiled and slid the bowl over before any of the other things happened, because past tense happens before present tense. But that doesn’t make sense. She needs to walk to the bar and smile at the man before he can smile back. So it should be:

She walks to the bar. She orders a drink. She smiles at the man next to her. He smiles back, and slides a bowl of peanuts over to her.

… because now, all of those things are happening one after the other, and that makes sense.

Picking a tense doesn’t mean you’re not allowed to use any other tenses. It just refers to your story’s “now” - all of the main events of the story happen in that tense.

Past: It was a dark and stormy night. She rose from her bed and knocked on the mirror. The wind answered, like it always did.

Present: It is a dark and stormy night. She rises from her bed and knocks on the mirror. The wind answers, like it always does.

You will use other tenses, to refer to things that happened before “now”, or things that will happen after “now” (such as when characters are thinking about what they intend to do next). But everything that is happening “now” in the story needs to be in the main tense you picked.

To figure out which other tenses you should use, you need to be aware of when the actions are happening. This is always relative to “now”, so, things may happen before “now”, or after “now”, or, well, “now”.

If the story is written in present tense, then your timeline and range looks like this:

… and to decide when individual actions are happening, you just slide along that range.

He sits down and takes a deep breath. He has thought (ie, right before the sitting and taking, so present perfect) about this for long enough now. He was up all night (ie, before the current action of sitting and taking, so past simple) with his thoughts. He will tell her how he feels (ie, after the current action, he’s planning for the future, so future simple). If she rejects him, well, at least he will have tried (ie, after “now”, and a completed action, so future perfect).

If the story is written in past tense, your timeline and range looks like this:

Don’t let the conditional scare you, I promise it’s straightforward. It’s not technically functioning as conditional, but English doesn’t have a dedicated tense for future-from-a-past-point-of-view. So if your story is in past tense, and your character is reflecting on her next moves, you use the conditional form. On the plus side, English also doesn’t have any tenses that go further back than past perfect, so that bit just got easier.

He sat down and took a deep breath. He had thought (ie, right before the sitting and taking, so past perfect) about this for long enough now. He had been up all night (ie, a more previous action, but we can’t go back further than past perfect, so, past perfect) with his thoughts. He would tell her how he feels (ie, after the current action, he’s planning for the future, so conditional simple). If she rejected him, well, at least he would have tried (ie, after “now”, and a completed action, so conditional perfect).

There are situations in which you might end up using two main tenses. One thing that can be useful for is if you want to alternate between current events and flashbacks. Writing the current events in present tense and the flashbacks in past tense is an easy way to differentiate. Just make sure to clearly separate the sections, whether by chapters or scene breaks, and keep the tense consistent within each sections.

And if your main events are happening in past simple, and you want to do flashbacks… do yourself and your readers a favour, and write the flashbacks in past tense as well. Don’t try to write entire sections in past perfect. It’ll be a headache to read and write if it’s all “There had been silence all around him. He had raised his head slowly. Birds had been singing in the distance” etc.

If you struggle with tense, probably the best way to really get the hang of it to the point where you no longer have to think about it every time, is to read published books and pay attention to tense. Maybe pick a book you’ve read before, and just go through it, try to identify what tenses the author is using when, and what that means for the timeline of events.

That’s pretty much it!

[jjkstit-deactivated20200521]

exes prompt list

@evasthoughtplace and I have been working for a while and we’ve finally finished. We decided to base the prompts around exes and weird scenarios we thought of as I don’t think either of us has seen a prompt list for it? (Correct me if I’m wrong or if it has been done before) 

So please everyone start requesting for us both and reblog if any of the prompts get you inspired?

; FLUFF

⋆ 1 ⌜Tried not to be awkward after seeing you again, but I accidentally bowed when you tried shaking my hand and you poked me in the eye⌟

⋆ 2 ⌜It’s late and we both still use the same laundromat and aren’t those the Danny Phantom pajamas I gave you for Christmas?⌟

⋆ 3 ⌜We’re supposed to be on a break but you won’t stop being cute so it’s getting really difficult to remember why I asked us to take it in the first place⌟

⋆ 4 ⌜Found that stupid little box I kept all the cute notes you passed me secretly in class after a clean out. So now I’m standing in front of your door sobbing over when you asked me what my favourite anime was⌟

⋆ 5  ⌜I think my dog is badly hurt and I don’t know what to do and I have no other option but to call you at this hour because you’re the only vet I know⌟

⋆ 6 ⌜My mum was so upset we broke up and is bugging me about it, so can you put me out of my misery and just say we’re back together for her sake⌟

⋆ 7 ⌜We’ve only been broken up for ten seconds and you just asked me if we’re still up for dinner tomorrow night⌟

⋆ 8 ⌜I was scrolling back through your old Instagram and accidentally liked a post from 2 years ago. To makes things worse, I have to see you tomorrow⌟

⋆ 9 ⌜Why did you have to call me when you’re drunk to talk about gibberish at 3 am?⌟

⋆ 10  ⌜You invite me over to babysit your baby brother/sister because I was the only one who managed to calm her down⌟

⋆ 11 ⌜you caught me at an all-time low, but you still manage to make me laugh as I cry hysterically⌟

⋆ 12 ⌜I go in for a regular blood donation but I forget you worked there and now you could see my pressure was a little too high around you, still⌟

⋆ 13 ⌜You remembered I wanted a pet for my birthday and you still got it for me besides our break up. Isn’t that strange for exes?⌟

⋆ 14 ⌜We find each other on the train and you wonder what I’m listening to, so I give you my second earbud. Weird how it still feels the same listening to that song⌟

⋆ 15 ⌜I prank call you with my friends to cuss you out but you end up being a sweetheart⌟

; ANGST

⋆ 1 ⌜Secretly invited to a trip with you that I never thought was a good idea since you hate me, but our friends forced me anyway⌟

⋆ 2 ⌜I return home for a family gathering after walking out on you and I really hope you still aren’t close with my brother⌟

⋆ 3 ⌜I watch you shamelessly show off your new girlfriend at the coffee shop I work at. I also shamelessly watch as she breaks up with you in the middle of the coffee shop I work at⌟

⋆ 4 ⌜You get drunk on our ‘would be one year anniversary if we didn’t break up’ and show up at my brother’s birthday party. You start spilling everything whilst balling your eyes out⌟

⋆ 5 ⌜We try deciding who gets what after we move out, but the more we take, the more I can feel myself not coming to terms with the fact that I’ll never see that horrible painting you loved⌟

⋆ 6 ⌜After some recent awkward ‘breakup’ sex I show up at your door three weeks later with an unopened pregnancy test in my hand⌟

⋆ 7 ⌜I listen to your new song and find it an excuse to send you a congratulations text, just because your voice made me miss you even more⌟

⋆ 8 ⌜I was deleting our old messages but accidentally texted you and you see the message only a few seconds later⌟

⋆ 9 ⌜I was casually trying to play my game online but suddenly I hear your voice through my headphones and I jump, thankfully I was using a voice modifier⌟

⋆ 10 ⌜We got stuck in an elevator together for hours and I may or may not start crying if you keep bringing up what happened between us⌟

⋆ 11 ⌜After getting my phone repaired I get an avalanche of texts from you late at night telling me you missed me⌟

⋆ 12 ⌜It hurt when you told me you’d fallen for someone else, but it was like someone tore out my heart when I had to watch you be with them too⌟

⋆ 13 ⌜Taking a break, but realizing it should’ve been a breakup⌟

⋆ 14 ⌜One thing we always had in common was music. But did you really have to ask for a job at my dad’s record shop where I work too?⌟

⋆ 15 ⌜You are my boss and me getting fired feels a little too personal⌟

; SMUT

⋆ 1 ⌜The awkward moment when we spot one another at our best friend’s birthday party and a song we had the best sex to came on⌟

⋆ 2 ⌜You say I keep giving you blowjob eyes during class but I’m really just glaring at you, but let’s be honest, it’s not really that different⌟

⋆ 3 ⌜Our friends decided to play truth or dare and ask who was the best I’ve ever had. I can’t bear to look at the smug look on your face when I get too embarrassed to answer⌟

⋆ 4 ⌜I accidentally swipe right on your Tinder profile and freak at you joining it so recently after we’ve broken up. But there’s a small part of me that can’t stop looking at those gorgeous pictures you’ve posted⌟

⋆ 5 ⌜You were somehow entrusted with looking after me drunk at a party and I can’t seem to stop bringing up our previous sex life when I see you trying to restrain yourself⌟

⋆ 6 ⌜We both get locked in an ATM vestibule in a blackout and I can’t do anything but drool at the way you keep biting your lip⌟

⋆ 7 ⌜Who even decided that staying friends with your ex is a good idea when they send you nudes late at night because they’re horny?⌟

⋆ 8 ⌜You forgot to take back the shirts that you had given me, so you barge in and see me wearing one with nothing underneath. Can you not just stare and lick your lips?⌟

⋆ 9 ⌜We go out at a bar with our friends and make it a competition as to who can flirt with more people, but someone gets a little more jealous than they should⌟

⋆ 10 ⌜You talk about me in your new song and I get mad over it, so I’m standing outside your apartment door to argue, only to see you open the door half naked⌟

⋆ 11 ⌜We go on a double date with two of our friends because it’s their first and we don’t want them to be uncomfortable- what they don’t know is that we broke up, but seems as if you forgot it too with your hand on my thigh⌟

⋆ 12 ⌜I’ve been having a dry spell since we broke up so it’s technically not my fault I kissed you first⌟

⋆ 13 ⌜Why do we still have to work out at the same gym and why do you still have to do it in the least possible clothing ever?⌟

⋆ 14 ⌜I fake being drunk just so that I can come to your apartment and grab your shirt to kiss you⌟

⋆ 15 ⌜New Year’s kisses are so overrated. Yet I have a tradition and you’re the one I’m arguing with as the clock strikes 12⌟

[thecaffeinebookwarrior-deactiva]

Drug Addiction:  A Writers’ Masterpost

A question I get a lot is how to write about common addictions, so here you all go!  More to come! 

Cocaine Addiction

Signs and symptoms

Cocaine addiction statistics

Your brain on cocaine

Your brain on crack cocaine (video)

Cocaine withdrawal symptoms

Cocaine overdose

True stories about cocaine addiction

Heroin Addiction

Signs and symptoms

Heroin addiction statistics

Your brain on heroin

Heroin withdrawal symptoms

Heroin overdose

True stories about heroin addiction

Opioid  Addiction

Signs and symptoms 

Opioid addiction statistics

Your brain on opioids

Opioid withdrawal symptoms

Opioid overdose

True stories about opioid addiction

Meth addiction

Signs and symptoms

Meth addiction statistics

Your brain on meth

Meth withdrawal symptoms 

Meth overdose

True stories about meth addiction

Alcohol Addiction

Signs and symptoms

Alcohol addiction statistics

Your brain on alcohol (video one and two)

Alcohol withdrawal symptoms

Alcohol overdose

True stories about alcohol addiction

Happy writing, and don’t do drugs!

[the-reason-to-sail-home]

✨CS Fairy Tale Prompts✨

As promised, here is a collected list of (50+) fairy tale, fantasy, and mythology prompts. I’ve also included a handful of smutty prompts and hearty helping of dark fantasy prompts for CS Halloweek. Feel free to use any of these for anything, and if you do, I’d appreciate it if you link back to this list! Happy writing!

Keep reading