Damn it Procrastination!

[whicheverwarrior]

I’m hoping some of my writblr friends can help this break containment but I have questions.

I’m doing publishing research and looking at self publishing. Can anybody who has self published talk about your experiences? Does your book get to the demographic you want it to? Do any self published books go into print or is it mainly online? It seems like a lot of people are for it over trad publishing but I think it still scares me a little.

[ashen-crest]

I’m fairly new to self-publishing but I’m happy to answer any questions you have!

Re: demographic- I think so? I’m not a marketing expert, but I think I’ve been able to attract the right folks by spotlighting the themes and tropes they’d like most in the books. There are many other indie authors who are great at marketing, though.

Re: print vs digital- you can certainly do both with self-publishing. KDP offers both print and ebook distro, along with IngramSpark and Draft2Digital. (Though no one recommends IngramSpark’s ebook distro.) If you want to set up your own store, however, digital-only will be much easier. 

Self vs Trad- with trad publishing, you get support in marketing, printing, formatting, distro, etc. however, with trad publishing, you’re also beholden to external deadlines, publisher feedback/creative control, and the publisher gets most of the profits. (you also need to slog through the query, agent, and editor trenches, which is time-consuming and often unsuccessful.)

I love talking about this stuff, so hit me up with any other questions/concerns you have!

[brynwrites]

I’ve been doing this for a little while, to WILDLY varying success, so here’s some extra two-cents:

Demographic: It’s easiest to reach your demographic with self pub if you’re publishing either romance or very purposefully into a small but vibrant niche (aka, you write steampunk books that look and act exactly like steampunk books). Trad pub relies on you having a short and attractive tagline that will grab in readers if you want an easy time selling your book... and unfortunately so does self pub x_x (This is not to say you can’t sell anything else, it’s just harder.)

Print vs digital: Exactly as stated above! I will add that I sell about equal parts ebooks to paperbacks. My unpopular books very rarely make it into physical bookstores, but my popular ones are in a bunch of them (with no effort on my part), which is people thought was impossible for self pub books just five years ago.

Scary! All publishing is scary! Whatever path you take, it requires a lot of unpaid effort upfront, facing a terrifying amount of rejection, and relying on luck more often then we’d like to admit. There’s rarely a linear path towards success for either of them, and while there are pros and cons to both, they’re not nearly as cut and dry as a lot of people make it seem.

The big thing you’ll face with self pub is that you’ll need to get your editing and cover art and formatting all done yourself, on your own money, and using your own time, and then you’ll have to do all your own marketing after, and continue doing it for as long as you want the book to keep selling (though, if you’re mid-list in trad pub, you’ll also probably have to do most of your own marketing). Some people find they absolutely can’t stand these aspects, and that’s valid! They take a lot of time though, so if you’re not going to feel alright sacrificing your writing time in order to go all the publishing and marketing stuff, then it might not be a good fit for you!

[marlynnofmany]

Traditional publishing isn’t the sure shot that it used to be, while self-publishing is becoming more professional with each passing day. (I could go into detail, but that would be quite a ramble!) 

Self-publishing does involve more work on the writer’s part, since you’ll need to handle more than just the writing part, but in my personal experience, it’s absolutely worth it.

If you have money to spare, you can pay people to help with cover art, formatting, editing, etc.

If you have time to spare, you can learn to do everything yourself.

If you have self-publishing friends (which I can’t recommend highly enough), then you can swap assistance, and share tips, and amplify each other’s marketing efforts tenfold. 

And for what it’s worth, I’ve looked into several different avenues of self-publishing, and I’ll recommend Draft2Digital to anyone who asks. They do ebooks and print both (print is new), and unlike certain other options (*cough* Ingram *cough*), they’re delightfully user-friendly. Organized by writers who wanted something like it to exist in the world. 

If I had to boil it down to one tip, though, it’s to do like you’re already doing: talk to people. Network. Make those writer friends, and travel off into the stars together. Best of luck!

[orlissa]

How Not to Commit a Crime Against Historical Fashion–A Basic Guide for Writers

I have been reading a lot (mostly YA) (pseudo)historical (fantasy) novels (and let’s not even get started on what’s going on TV), and I’m stunned and horrified by the complete lack of basic understanding of historical fashion most authors display (not you, Rebecca Ross, darling, you didn’t do anything wrong). So here is a little guide from a miffed little gremlin who knows just a tad bit more about what people wore in the ye olden days than the average person (really, I’m no expert), so YOU don’t commit these heinous crimes:

Keep reading

[inky-duchess]

Fantasy Guide to A Great House (19th-20th Century) - Anatomy of the House

When we think of the Victorians, the grand old Gilded Age or the Edwardians, we all think of those big mansions and manors where some of our favourite stories take place. But what did a great house look like?

Layout

All great houses are different and some, being built in different eras, may adhere to different styles. But the layout of certain rooms usually stayed somewhat the same.

The highest floors including the attic were reserved the children's rooms/nursery and the servants quarters.

The next floor would be reserved for bedrooms. On the first/ground floor, there will be the dining room, drawing room, library etc.

The basement/cellar would be where the kitchens and other food related rooms would be. Servants halls and boot rooms may also be down here too along scullery, where sometimes a maid would clean.

Rooms used by Servants

Boot Room: The Boot Room is where the valets, ladies maids, hallboys and sometimes footmen clean off shoes and certain items of clothing.

Kitchen: The Kitchen was usually either in the basement or the first floor of the house, connected to a garden where the house's vegetables were grown.

Butler's Pantry: A butler's pantry was where the serving items are stored. This is where the silver is cleaned, stored and counted. The butler would keep the wine log and other account books here. The butler and footmen would use this room.

Pantry: The Pantry would be connected to the kitchen. It is a room where the kitchens stock (food and beverages) would be kept.

Larder: The larder was cool area in the kitchen or a room connected to it where food is stored. Raw meat was often left here before cooking but pastry, milk, cooked meat, bread and butter can also be stored here.

Servants Hall: The Servant's Hall was where the staff ate their meals and spent their down time. They would write letters, take tea, sew and darn clothes. The servants Hall would usually have a fireplace, a large table for meals, be where the servant's cutlery and plates would be kept and where the bell board hung. (these bells were the way servants where summoned)

Wine Cellar: The wine cellar was where the wine was melt, usually in the basement. Only the butler would be permitted down there and everything would be catalogued by him too.

Butler's/Housekeeper's sitting rooms: In some houses, both the butler and the housekeeper had sitting rooms/offices downstairs. This was were they held meetings with staff, took their tea and dealt with accounts.

Scullery: The scullery was were the cleaning equipment was cleaned and stored. The scullery may even also double as a bedroom for the scullery maid.

Servery: The Servery connected to the dinning room. It was where the wine was left before the butler carried it out to be served. Some of the food would be delivered here to be carried out as well.

Servant's Sleeping Quarters: All servants excepting perhaps the kitchen maid and outside staff slept in the attics. Men and unmarried women would be kept at seperate sides of the house with the interconnecting doors locked and bolted every night by the butler and housekeeper. If the quarters were small, some servants may have to share rooms. Servants' bathrooms and washrooms would also be up there, supplied with hot water from the kitchens.

Rooms used by the Family

Dining room: The dining room was where the family ate their breakfast, lunch and dinner. It was also where the gentlemen took their after dinner drink before joking the ladies in the drawing room.

Drawing room: The Drawing Room was sort of a living/sitting room. It was mainly used in the evenings after dinner where the ladies would take their tea and coffee before being joined by the men. It could also be used for tea by the ladies during the day. The drawing room was seen as more of a women's room but any of the family could use it. The drawing room was a formal room but could also be used for more casual activities.

Library: The library is of course where the books are kept. The family would use this room for writing letters, reading, doing business with tenants and taking tea in the afternoons.

Bedrooms: The bedrooms would take up most of the upper floors. The unmarried women would sleep in one wing with bachelors at the furthest wing away. Married couples often had adjoining rooms with their own bedrooms in each and equipped with a boudoir or a sitting room.

Nursery: Was where the children slept, usually all together until old enough to move into bedrooms. They would be attended to be nannies and nursemaids round the clock.

Study: The study was a sort of home office where family could do paperwork, chill and write letters.

Dressing room: Dressing Rooms where usually attached to bedrooms where the family would be dressed and their clothes would be stored. The valets and ladies maids would have control of the room.

Hall: The hall was where large parties would gather for dancing or music or to be greeted before parties.

Furnishings and Decor

Most of these Great Houses were inherited which means, they came with a lot of other people's crap. Ornaments from anniversaries, paintings bought on holiday, furniture picked out by newly weds, all of it comes with the house. So most of the time everything seems rather cluttered.

As for Servant's Quarters, most of the furnishings may have been donated by the family as gifts. Most servants' halls would have a portrait of the sovereign or sometimes a religious figure to install a sense of morality into them.

[prokopetz]

How to plan a long-term creative project for serial publication:

1. Make a firm decision about how big a single update is going to be, and estimate your sustainable update frequency based on that. This estimate should be based solely on your own demonstrated performance; you may anticipate that future productivity will exceed past productivity, but never make long-range plans on the assumption that future productivity will exceed past productivity. That is called the Planning Fallacy, and it will eat you alive.

2. Estimate how often you’re likely to miss updates. As a rough guideline, if you’re physically and mentally healthy and have no major commitments that would interfere with your ability to work on the project, figure that you’ll miss about 10% of your updates for various reasons. If you have health issues or frequent Real Life commitments, make it 20%. If 20% sounds low to you, you weren’t being honest with yourself about your sustainable update frequency; return to step 1 and re-assess.

3. Figure that you’ve got about two years before you lose interest in the project, gain some new commitment that will preclude continuing to work on it, or your art style evolves enough to make creative continuity impractical. If there’s some upcoming major life change that you’re able to anticipate – like, say, graduating from school – use either two years or that event as your soft deadline, whichever is less.

4. Use the figures from steps 1-3 to estimate how many updates you’re likely to be able to squeeze into this project, and write your outline/script based on that. You don’t need to wrap up every tiny little loose thread by that point, but ideally it needs to reach a point where you could stop and be satisfied with whatever conclusion has been reached. If you get there and you’re still enthusiastic about continuing, fantastic – return to step 1 and re-assess.

So, as a simple example: if you’re planning a webcomic, you figure you can reasonably manage about 1 page a week, and you’ve got a lot going on that’s likely to get in your way, that’s (2 years * 52 weeks/year * 1 update/week * 80% success rate on updates) = around 83 pages to work with, or about the length of a four-issue miniseries. What kind of story can you tell in 80-odd pages?

(Hint: it’s not a story that involves fifty-page combat scenes!)

[kagcomix]

This is great advice.

When I was making Lunar Maladies (my 464 page webcomic–I will never make a comic that long ever again, it truly could have been a tight 250 if I’d know anything about editing at the time… but what can I say I started it when I was 19) I knew I could reliably take 3 pages from thumbnails to final art every week. So I only updated the comic with 1 page a week. I had over a year of buffer at one point. Because I had built in that security for myself. I know I’m a fallible human & I try to set up my workflow in such a way that I don’t feel bad/guilty/beat myself up about being a normal person with normal obligations that sometimes eclipse drawing comics.

Anyways, working within your limitations is great & allows you to create for longer without having a disastrous level of burnout.

[thatwritergirlsblog]

Advice for Creating a Magic System

As a fantasy author, I thought I'd share my 5 tips for creating a captivating magic system.

1. Are you writing low fantasy or high fantasy?

Firstly, it's good to know from the get-go whether you're creating a magic system for a low fantasy or high fantasy story.

Low fantasy doesn't necessarily mean there are less fantastical elements or that the story has to take place in a version of the real world. Low fantasy simply indicates that the fantasy elements/magic is not commonplace in that world. Magic and other fantasy elements exist, but only a privy few know about it.

Examples of low fantasy stories include Harry Potter by She Who Shall Not be Named, the Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare, Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo, Twilight by Stephenie Meyer and my book To Wear A Crown.

High fantasy, on the other hand, indicates that the fantastical elements and magic are known about and commonplace in that world. The people of the world know that magic exists, that there are fantastical beings, other races etc.

Examples of high fantasy stories include Eragon by Christopher Paolini, Crescent City by Sarah J Maas, The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R Tolkien, and Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard.

2. Hard magic systems vs soft magic systems

The next thing that's vital to decide is whether you're creating a hard or soft magic system.

A hard magic system has built-in limitations. There are certain things that magic can do and that's it. Examples of stories with hard magic systems include Avatar: The Last Airbender and Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo.

A soft magic system doesn't have inherent limitations in relation to what it can achieve. Examples of soft magic systems include Eragon, Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings.

3. What can magic do?

Now that you know whether you're writing low or high fantasy, and whether you're working with a hard or soft magic system, it's time to create some magic!

This is the part where I can't give you too much guidance, because it's all about your creativity.

What do you want magic to look like in your story? What do you want magic to be able to achieve? How big of a role do you want magic to play in the story and your characters' lives?

Do you want different classes of magic wielders, each with mastery over their own element? Do you want magic to be a flexible tool that can be used to achieve almost anything? Do you want your magic to be limited to telepathic actions or creating portals? Do you want different people to have power over different aspects of nature or different magical disciplines?

Can wielders use magic without any tools, or do they need spells, runes or rituals?

The possibilities are endless, but it's important to establish exactly what magic is capable of in your world.

4. How does it work and where does it come from?

Now we know what the magic can do. Next up is why it can do those things. Where does the power of the magic come from and how do wielders command it?

Does the power/force of magic come from within the wielder? Does it draw from inner life force and energy? Does it draw on energy from another realm or dimension? Does it pull from the surrounding natural elements? Does the power come from a deity or from demonic forces?

Identify the source/origin of the magic.

From there, elaborate on how it works. How does a wielder access the source of the magic? Is it through strength of will, incantations, selling their soul etc.?

For example, let's say that the power of your world's magic comes from the cosmic energy of another dimension. In order for wielders to access that energy, they draw specific sigils on their skin and these sigils act as portals to that world. Once the sigil is complete, the cosmic power flows into the wielder and they can now command it.

5. The limitations

Very importantly, you have to be clear on the limitations of your magic system. Fantasy magic systems often fall flat because they don't have clear confines.

If you're writing a hard magic system, this step is a bit easier, since there are inherent restrictions on what magic can do. With soft magic systems, you have to decide just how much magic is capable of.

But whether you're writing a hard or soft magic system, you need to consider the cost of using magic.

Does the use of magic drain the wielder's energy? Does each instance of using magic darken the wielder's soul or deteriorate their body further? Does using magic damage the natural world around the wielder or drain others of their life force?

Magic without a cost, limitations or consequences just isn't as captivating.

Reblog if you liked these tips. Comment with your own advice. Follow me for similar content.

[writingquestionsanswered]

Hi there! Hope your day is good!

I'm a fanfic writer for Overwatch. I have a ship I'm really interested in but it's a rarepair. Like- REALLY rarepair (not illegal, promise). I want to write this ship in a way so people who read aren't like "Ugh, seriously..? Why are they shipping this?" And more in a "Huh, I've never thought of them like that, that's pretty interesting" way. How can I depict the ship in a good and attention-grabbing way? What are some good qualities of writing romance and how do I add them in?

Fan-Fiction: Writing a Compelling Rarepair

I would suggest starting by doing a little journaling about what made you ship this pair in the first place. What stuck out to you about their chemistry and relationship (or potential chemistry and potential relationship?) What are some non-canonical situations where you think this existing or potential chemistry would really shine? If this pair has interacted canonically, what would you consider to be the moments that really cemented their actual or potential chemistry/relationship to you? What are some non-canonical situations where you think this pair could strengthen their bond? And what are some existing or potential challenges to their relationship? These are going to be the selling points for the reader, where you convince them of the merit you see in this pairing.

The qualities of romance really depend on the type of romance you want to write, but whether you're getting the pair together for the first time or writing about an established pairing, one of the most important things you can do is illustrate existing and growing chemistry through the "subtle signs of love." I'll put a link in below, but these would be things like making eye contact from across the room, sharing smiles or "knowing looks," finding excuses to touch or be near one another, etc. Another important element is to illustrate the ways in which they establish and grow their bond or strengthen their existing bond. This includes things like confiding in one another, sharing past memories, and going through tough or strenuous situations together where they have to rely on one another.

Here are some links!

Guide: Creating Romantic Chemistry Guide: Characters Falling in Love Guide: Writing a Slow Burn Romance The Subtle Signs of Romantic Interest and Love Transitioning Through Levels of Affection Friendship Turns to Romance Romance Started to Build Before Story Began Showing Feelings Developed Pre-Story Through Recall

Have fun with your story!

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

Learn more about WQA

Visit my Master List of Top Posts

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[ettawritesnstudies]

Etta's Guide to Writeblr (March 2023)

So you fled here from Twitter/TikTok... Where to start?

Welcome to Writeblr! Pull up a chair, open those documents, and pour yourself a cup of your favorite tea, coffee, or cocoa. The first thing you'll want to do is start following other writers. Check out this post for recommendations! Search through the notes to find hundreds more. Since I made that post, a bunch of people mentioned they're lurking and still trying to figure out tumblr, so I thought I'd make this post to help people get settled.

How to set up your blog

Make your blog name something not resembling a pornbot - it can be whatever you want, anything fun goes, just not [name###]. If you include "writer" or "author" somewhere in the url it makes it easier to spot writeblrs at a glance but it's not a requirement

Change your profile to something that's not the default, Make sure you have a blog title, and add a little description in your blog header if you feel like it!

Make a pinned post introducing yourself (pls don't use your real name or any IDing information for privacy's sake, this isn't facebook), a short summary of your WIPs, and links if you have an author's website/newsletter/ao3/etc. You can check my pinned post for an example

Make intro posts for each WIP! You can spruce these up with graphics (canva and unsplash are both great free resources to make edits/moodboards), excerpts, lists of tropes, character intros, etc. Link to the WIP intro in your pinned post so it's easy to find! You can update these as often as needed

If you want to make character intros, go wild. If you can't draw, piccrew is a great option. Just start talking about your WIP!

Come up with a tagging system to keep your blog organized. I recommend individual wip tags or at least one for your original writing in general so it's easy to search for your work on your blog

Keep track of Taglists for your WIPs. Whenever you post a new thing about your story, tag the people who asked to be notified to make sure they see it! Only tag people who ask to join the taglist, but it's a good way to keep track of interest. It's normal to have multiple taglists for each story+ one general writing taglist.

How to make writer friends

Reblog their work and add nice comments, either in the tags, comments, or the reblog itself People notice regulars in their notes and appreciate the attention. I promise it's not weird to compliment a total stranger

If that's too intimidating, community events are your friend!

Weekly Ask Games: These are weekly events that are loosely themed where writers send each other asks about their WIPs! The most common are Storyteller Saturday (about the writing process), Blorbsday (aka Blorbo Thursday about characters), and Worldbuilding Wednesday (about the setting of your story). If you answer these late, nobody really cares, but it's a fun way to receive prompts and learn more about other people's stories.

Ask Games/Memes: These are posts with lists of questions you can reblog from other people, sometimes themed or listed with emojis. It's common courtesy to send an ask from the list to the person you reblog it from, then people can send you questions as well, so you can talk about your stories! You can search for dozens of them

Tag games: There's a ton of different types of tag games, but basically someone @s you with a challenge/question, you reblog with your answer, and then @ a bunch of other people to continue the chain. Some common ones are Heads Up 7s Up (share the last 7 lines of your WIP), Last Line Tag (share the last line you wrote), and Find the Words (ctrl+f the given words in your doc and share the results, then give new words).

Formal events: These are community wide participation challenges organized by certain blogs! @writeblrsummerfest is every July?? August? I think? It's run by @abalonetea a few years strong, and there are daily prompts and ask games! @inklings-challenge is a month-long short story entry for Christian writeblrs. I think there was a valentines event in February. @moon-and-seraph is hosting a pitch week soon! Since these are more organized, it's very easy to find similar blogs and support!

Misc. Notes on using Tumblr

Follow the tags #writeblr and #writeblr community to find other writers, as well as other tags that interest you like #fantasy for example

If you want to bookmark a post to read later, you can like it and/or save it to your drafts

The queue/schedule function is very useful if you want to space out posts or have a backlog to keep your blog running when you get busy. This is good for the community because it gives older posts a chance to be rediscovered! You can change the posting frequency in the settings.

REBLOG YOUR OWN STUFF. People aren't always on at the same times and so it's the best way to account for people with different schedules and timezones. If you're worried about being annoying, you can tag those #self reblog or something similar and other people can filter the tag, but otherwise it's a welcomed and accepted practice.

If your excerpt is pretty long, put it under a cut. On desktop you can do this by selecting the squiggly button on the far right when you make a new paragraph, on mobile type :readmore: then hit enter.

It's polite to add descriptions to images and videos for visually or auditory impaired people. If you don't know how to write descriptions, here's a good resource

In your dashboard settings, it's best to shut off the options "Best Stuff First" and "Based on your Likes". These function as the website algorithm and suppresses the blogs you actually follow, which defeats the purpose of the site, letting the dash be in reverse chronological order. Also turn off Tumblr Live because it's malware as far as anyone's concerned.

Curate your experience, block the trolls, and be nice

Again, welcome to the community! I hope you have a ton of fun!

[wordsnstuff]

Resources For Describing Emotion

Emotions

Without Making Your Character Feel Too Self Aware

Showing Emotion Without Telling About It

Emotions Associated With Body Language

Telling Readers What The Character Doesn’t Want To Show

Hiding Emotions

Expressing Cardinal Emotions: Masculine vs. Feminine

Writing Extreme Emotion Without Melodrama

Specific Emotions

Conveying Shock

Conveying Embarrassment

Conveying Disappointment

Conveying Love/Attraction

Conveying Annoyance

Conveying Relief

Conveying Uncertainty

Conveying Impatience

Conveying Shame

Conveying Resentment

Conveying Panic

Conveying Guilt

Conveying Desperation

Conveying Sarcasm & Verbal Disrespect

Conveying Confusion

Conveying Stubbornness

Conveying Frustration

Conveying Indifference

Conveying Indignation

Conveying Confidence & Pride

Conveying Smugness

Conveying Enthusiasm

Conveying Curiosity

Conveying Hopefulness

Conveying Unease

Conveying Reluctance

Conveying Worry

Conveying Humility & Meekness

Conveying Happiness & Joy

Conveying Amusement

Conveying Disgust

Conveying Resignation

Conveying Jealousy

Conveying Anticipation

Conveying Contentment

Conveying Defeat

Conveying Excitement

Conveying Fear

Conveying Hatred

Conveying Hurt

Conveying Being Overwhelmed

Conveying Sadness & Grief

Conveying Satisfaction

Conveying Somberness

Conveying Sympathy & Empathy

Conveying Wariness

Conveying Defensiveness

Conveying Desire

Conveying Doubt

Conveying Energy

Conveying Exhaustion

Conveying Hunger

Conveying Loneliness

Conveying Physical Pain

Emotional Wounds

A Role Model Who Disappoints

A Sibling’s Betrayal

A Speech Impediment

Becoming a Caregiver at an Early Age

Being Bullied

Being Fired or Laid Off

Being Held Captive

Being Mugged

Being Publicly Humiliated

Being Raised by Neglectful Parents

Being Raised by Overprotective Parents

Being So Beautiful It’s All People See

Being the Victim of a Vicious Rumor

Being Stalked

Being Trapped in a Collapsed Building

Being Unfairly Blamed For The Death of Another

Childhood Sexual Abuse (by a family member or known person)

Discovering One’s Parent is a Monster

Discovering One’s Sibling was Abused

Experiencing a Miscarriage or Stillbirth

Failing At School

Failing To Do The Right Thing

Financial Ruin Due To A Spouse’s Irresponsibility

Finding Out One’s Child Was Abused

Finding Out One Was Adopted

Getting Lost In a Natural Environment

Growing Up In A Cult

Growing Up in a Dangerous Neighborhood

Growing Up In Foster Care

Growing Up In The Public Eye

Growing Up In The Shadow of a Successful Sibling

Growing Up with a Sibling Who Has a Chronic Disability or Illness

Having Parents Who Favored One Child Over Another

Having To Kill Another Person To Survive

Infertility

Infidelity (emotional or physical)

Losing a Limb

Losing a Loved One To A Random Act of Violence

Making a Very Public Mistake

Overly Critical or Strict Parents

Physical Disfigurement

Rejection By One’s Peers

Telling The Truth But Not Being Believed

The Death of a Child On One’s Watch

Victimization via Identity Theft

Watching A Loved One Die

Wrongful Imprisonment

Spending Time In Jail

Suffering From a Learning Disability

Motivation

Achieving Spiritual Enlightenment

Avoiding Certain Death

Avoiding Financial Ruin

Beating a Diagnosis or Condition

Being Acknowledged and Appreciated by Family

Being a Leader of Others

Being the Best At Something

Caring for an Aging Parent

Carrying on a Legacy

Catching The Bad Guy or Girl

Coming To Grips With Mental Illness

Discovering One’s True Self

Escaping a Dangerous Life one Doesn’t Want

Escaping a Killer

Escaping a Widespread Disaster

Escaping Confinement

Escaping Homelessness

Escaping Invaders

Finding Friendship or Companionship

Finding a Lifelong Partner

Having a Child

Helping a Loved One See They Are Hurting Themselves and Others

Obtaining Shelter From The Elements

Overcoming Abuse and Learning To Trust

Overcoming Addiction

Protecting One’s Home or Property

Pursuing Justice For Oneself or Others

Realizing a Dream

Reconciling with an Estranged Family Member

Rescuing a Loved One From a Captor

Restoring A Name or Reputation

Righting a Deep Wrong

Seeking Out One’s Biological Roots

Stopping an Event From Happening

Trying Again When One Has Previously Failed

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[sunderlorn]

FINALLY 👏 SOMEONE 👏 SAID 👏 IT. 👏 ALL OF IT.  👏ALL AT ONCE. 👏

(Thank you @fallingawkwardly​ for bringing this to my attention.)

[hsavinien]

A+ world-building challenges.

[indi-flying-with-dragons]

Might I interest the OP of the marvelous twitter rant in a book they may know (but just in case they don’t I’m recommending it to them and everybody else <3)?

It’s called “The Tough Guide to Fantasyland” by Diana Wynne Jones.

It tackles things like this and more within it’s pages, set up like a snarky travelogue guide to touristy places, and assume that all bad fantasy all takes place in the same nebulous land called “Fantasyland” and that this is your tour guide to surviving there. xD

Funny hint: It suggests horses are bred by pollination and therefore vegetables and that’s why they don’t need much food or water and can keep on going without fatigue. And why they don’t go into heat either. XD

I think y'all would get a GOOD laugh out of that. <3

[earlhamclassics]

Lost Languages Discovered in One of the World's Oldest Continuously Run Libraries

The centuries-old texts were erased, and then written over, by monks at Saint Catherine’s Monastery in Egypt

Since 2011, researchers have photographed 74 palimpsests, which boast 6,8000 pages between them. And the team’s results have been quite astonishing. Among the newly revealed texts, which date from the 4th to the 12th century, are 108 pages of previously unknown Greek poems and the oldest-known recipe attributed to the Greek physician Hippocrates.

[wondrousworldbuilding]

I will continue to build upon this list as time goes on. For now, I hope you find something useful!

Worldbuilding Prompt of the Day Tag

Brainstorming Series Posts

Magic Systems, Part One

Magic Systems, Part Two 

New Species

New Worlds 

New Cultures 

New Civilizations

Politics and Government 

Map Making 

Belief Systems & Religion

Guilds, Factions, Groups

War & Conflict

Science & Technology

Wildlife & Ecosystems

Species/Races

Creating long-lived species

Evolution of sexual reproduction in fictional species

Writing in a world without humans

Developing Fantastic Races (Link)

Creating Realistic Aliens and Their Worlds (Link)

Language

Languaging

Handling “Foreign” Language Within the Narrative

Developing Ancient Languages

Google Ngrams: tool for researching period-appropriate language

Astronomy/Planetary Physics

Multiple Moons Effect on Planet

Controlling the Biomes on your World (with Science!)

Controlling the Gravity on your World (also with Science!)

Giving Your World Fantastic Skies (Link)

Why Tatooine is Plausible: Orbitary Mechanics of Binary Star Systems (Link)

What if Earth Had Two Moons?

Geology/Land

Map Making Photoshop Brush Set

How to develop a country when you don’t know where to start

Useful Geography Descriptors 

Creating a World with Realistic Terrain

Forest types (aesthetic)

Laying out Villages and Towns

Specific Settings

Differentiating between Ancient Times and Medieval Times

Tips and Ideas for Writing Post-Apocalypse

Worldbuilding when there’s no “world” present

General Worldbuilding

Words for sections within a city

Using Characters as Worldbuilding Tools

Creating Unique Cultures

Prioritizing Worldbuilding Details In the Narrative

Filling in the Details

Weaving in the Details (Link)

Creating Realistic Cultures (Link)

Being a God of Your Own World (Link)

How to Create a Fantasy World (Link)

Creating Fictional Currency 

Writing Prophecies Without Making Eyes Roll

Logistics of Mega-Cities in Fantasy

Worldbuilding/Writing Quotes Tag

Random

My personal writing playlist

Writing Pregnancy, Labor, and Birth (Link)

Using Indexes and Guides in your Novel

Writing in Multiple Points of View

How to Edit Your Own Writing (Link)

The Ultimate Guide to Worldbuilding (Link)

Avoiding Deus Ex Machina

Helpful Generators 

Vulgar - Conlang generator

City Generator

Seventh Sanctum - expansive SpecFic generator

Deity Generator

Guild/Clan name generator

Planet name generator

Random map generator

More personalized map generator

Prophecy Generator 

Technobabble Generator

SciFi Corporation Generator

Fantasy Calendar Generator (Multiple Moons, etc)

[thewritershandbook]

[writerswritecompany]

[nordic-at-heart]

Today on “rules of English language I didn’t realise were a thing until someone pointed it out”

[yesterdaysprint]

El Paso Herald, Texas, January 6, 1928

[lizard-is-writing]

Similar Sounding Character Names

Anonymous said: “I’ve just realized that a several of my characters’ names end in the same letter. Should I not do this? I feel that it would be hard to change the names because the characters have grown into their names and they fit them, but…”

I can see why you’re concerned. Generally, I recommend that you make names sound particularly different from the other characters’ names. When I’m testing a name, I don’t just think “how well does this fit the character?” but also, “how does this name sound amongst the other characters?” I changed my protagonist’s name in a major project last week because it didn’t fit well enough into the story. I kept the sounds I like but the new name was more memorable and felt more distinct. 

Keep reading

[lizard-is-writing]

Plotting with Flawed Characters

Anonymous asked: “Do you have any tips for writing good and believable flaws for characters and making them effect the plot?” 

All good characters are flawed in some way. Even if they are good and kind people, no one is perfect and this rule is especially true for fictional characters. Flaws do not always have to be big and in your face. They can be smaller and relatable. 

Some people will say that the character’s flaws should work directly against him in his pursuit of his goal, but I don’t think that is necessarily true. It should however effect how he progresses to his goals. When trying to connect character flaws and plots, you can either know the plot and figure out how the character will get tripped up along the way or come up with the character and try to see how that could hinder him in working towards his goals. 

Keep reading