let’s show them how to live

ao3: fauhnas

[unwomanly-deactivated20201108]

Apparently Dean had been quiet for a few months; now the angel had arrived and he was going mad again.

Jack Kerouac, On the Road

[tlbodine]

For the last goddamn time...

"Kill your darlings" means "if something is holding you back, get rid of it, even if it sounds pretty."

That's it! That's all it means! It means if you're stuck and stalled out on your story and you could fix the whole block by removing something but you're avoiding removing that thing because it's good, you remove that thing. That's the darling.

It does NOT mean

That you have to get rid of your self-indulgent writing

That you should delete something just because you like it (?wtf?)

That you need to kill off characters (??? what)

That you have to pare your story down to the absolute bare bones

That you have to delete anything whatsoever if you don't want to

The POINT is that you STOP FEELING GUILTY for throwing out good writing that isn't SERVING THE STORY.

The POINT is that you don't get so HUNG UP on the details that you lose sight of the BIG PICTURE.

Good grief....

[prof-grace-aspen]

Also, you don't have to like, delete it from existence. Keep a second document full of the Darlings. You never know when you'll need it later.

[so-many-ocs]

practical writing advice part 2

part 1

get used to carrying a notebook around with you. or get used to writing on your phone. you will not always have access to your computer, but it’s much easier to take something compact with you to quickly jot down ideas. also i have chronic illness and sometimes my bones feel like lead and going upstairs to get my laptop is a herculean task, BUT i can write on my phone lying down instead of just scrolling through my camera roll and being miserable. which brings me to my next point:

if you have to choose between writing unconventionally or even unproductively and not writing at all, choose the writing. i’ve said before not to create a habit of writing in bed, but if it comes down to writing in bed or not writing whatsoever, i’ll write in bed. i just try to stretch before and after (which you should also do!!!).

you’re not wasting time or being silly by making playlists or moodboards or memes of your characters and environments. having fun with your stories outside of writing them is a good way to stay motivated.

i like to stop my writing sessions in a place where i know exactly what i want to write next, so when i pick back up i won’t be left hemming and hawing over where to begin. HOWEVER, if you’re absolutely locked in, don’t interrupt that flow state. it’ll be harder to find it again later—instead, wait until you find a natural place to stop where you haven’t run out of ideas.

“why do i have a headache 3 hours into my writing session?” because the last time you had a sip of water was 4 hours ago, you dingus! keep your drinks near your workspace while you write. and i do mean, like, a full bottle of water at least. if you’re like me, things stop existing when they leave your line of sight, so keep these beverages where you can see them and refill during bathroom breaks.

uhhh try not to think negatively about your writing while you’re doing it because when i do that i just get bummed out. “this scene is terrible” -> “oh yeah fuck it up oh yeah fuck it up” (positive reframing)

ok thanks bye

[zackprincebooks]

Me waking up: I want to write

Me eating breakfast: I want to write

Me getting ready for work: I want to write

Me at work: I want to write

Me eating lunch: I want to write

Me driving home: I want to write

Me at home, sitting in front of my laptop:

[deception-united]

Let's talk about story structure.

Fabricating the narrative structure of your story can be difficult, and it can be helpful to use already known and well-established story structures as a sort of blueprint to guide you along the way. Before we delve into a few of the more popular ones, however, what exactly does this term entail?

Story structure refers to the framework or organization of a narrative. It is typically divided into key elements such as exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution, and serves as the skeleton upon which the plot, characters, and themes are built. It provides a roadmap of sorts for the progression of events and emotional arcs within a story.

Freytag's Pyramid:

Also known as a five-act structure, this is pretty much your standard story structure that you likely learned in English class at some point. It looks something like this:

Exposition: Introduces the characters, setting, and basic situation of the story.

Inciting Incident: The event that sets the main conflict of the story in motion, often disrupting the status quo for the protagonist.

Rising Action: Series of events that build tension and escalate the conflict, leading toward the story's climax.

Climax: The highest point of tension or the turning point in the story, where the conflict reaches its peak and the outcome is decided.

Falling Action: Events that occur as a result of the climax, leading towards the resolution and tying up loose ends.

Resolution (or Denouement): The final outcome of the story, where the conflict is resolved, and any remaining questions or conflicts are addressed, providing closure for the audience.

Though the overuse of this story structure may be seen as a downside, it's used so much for a reason. Its intuitive structure provides a reliable framework for writers to build upon, ensuring clear progression and emotional resonance in their stories and drawing everything to a resolution that is satisfactory for the readers.

The Fichtean Curve:

The Fichtean Curve is characterised by a gradual rise in tension and conflict, leading to a climactic peak, followed by a swift resolution. It emphasises the building of suspense and intensity throughout the narrative, following a pattern of escalating crises leading to a climax representing the peak of the protagonist's struggle, then a swift resolution.

Initial Crisis: The story begins with a significant event or problem that immediately grabs the audience's attention, setting the plot in motion.

Escalating Crises: Additional challenges or complications arise, intensifying the protagonist's struggles and increasing the stakes.

Climax: The tension reaches its peak as the protagonist confronts the central obstacle or makes a crucial decision.

Swift Resolution: Following the climax, conflicts are rapidly resolved, often with a sudden shift or revelation, bringing closure to the narrative. Note that all loose ends may not be tied by the end, and that's completely fine as long as it works in your story—leaving some room for speculation or suspense can be intriguing.

The Hero’s Journey:

The Hero's Journey follows a protagonist through a transformative adventure. It outlines their journey from ordinary life into the unknown, encountering challenges, allies, and adversaries along the way, ultimately leading to personal growth and a return to the familiar world with newfound wisdom or treasures.

Call to Adventure: The hero receives a summons or challenge that disrupts their ordinary life.

Refusal of the Call: Initially, the hero may resist or hesitate in accepting the adventure.

Meeting the Mentor: The hero encounters a wise mentor who provides guidance and assistance.

Crossing the Threshold: The hero leaves their familiar world and enters the unknown, facing the challenges of the journey.

Trials and Tests: Along the journey, the hero faces various obstacles and adversaries that test their skills and resolve.

Approach to the Inmost Cave: The hero approaches the central conflict or their deepest fears.

The Ordeal: The hero faces their greatest challenge, often confronting the main antagonist or undergoing a significant transformation.

Reward: After overcoming the ordeal, the hero receives a reward, such as treasure, knowledge, or inner growth.

The Road Back: The hero begins the journey back to their ordinary world, encountering final obstacles or confrontations.

Resurrection: The hero faces one final test or ordeal that solidifies their transformation.

Return with the Elixir: The hero returns to the ordinary world, bringing back the lessons learned or treasures gained to benefit themselves or others.

Exploring these different story structures reveals the intricate paths characters traverse in their journeys. Each framework provides a blueprint for crafting engaging narratives that captivate audiences. Understanding these underlying structures can help gain an array of tools to create unforgettable tales that resonate with audiences of all kind.

Happy writing! Hope this was helpful ❤

[writingwithfolklore]

Words to Limit in your Final Draft

(None of this advice really applies to dialogue. If it’s in your character’s voice, they can use whatever words they like!)

Suddenly

                This one usually makes people’s list for things to cut. “Suddenly, the door opened.” Turns into, “The door slammed open.”

                As always, we want to make the readers think wow that was sudden! Instead of just telling them so.

Saw/Heard + Felt

                I already explained this in my post here!

Seemed

                There’s a use for seemed in writing when your character is surprised, assuming, or guessing at something. “It seemed impossible.” “The noise seemed to travel for miles.” Etc.

                However, when guessing at someone’s emotions—or a group of people—it’s better to just describe what those people look like. So “He seemed happy” turns into, “he grinned, bouncing on his feet.”

Really/Very

                Instead of “The really big house” try, “the huge house.” Or “His hair was very dark.” Turns into “His hair was inky black.”

That

                If you can take ‘that’ out of a sentence, it usually is stronger than if you don’t. “It was the best cake that she’d ever had!” turns into “It was the best cake she’d ever had!” It reads a bit less clunky.

Then

                Then can be used sometimes, but it’s one of those words that’s easy to overuse. To cut out a lot of your ‘thens’ you can replace them with “and” such as, “He left the house, then got into the car.” Turns into, “He left the house and got into the car.”

Down/Up

                “He sat down” is redundant. “He sat” means the same thing. Same with “She stood up.”

I chose the ones I find the most important, but there’s tons of other words that can be unnecessary or bog down your prose. Let me know which ones I missed! Good luck!

[doyouwanttoseeabug]

Genuinely I think one of the best things you can do to build characters in your story is give them a kink. You do not have to put that kink in the story. You do not have to tell anyone but yourself. But thinking about their wants and needs and what would bring them comfort or desire, about whether they crave power or crave a situation where they're blessedly free from any power, about which taboo they might kind of want to cross, is really useful for getting inside their head. Also "what situation would make my character stupid horny enough to make a terrible mistake?" is a good plotting device. "It's a plot hole that they made that dumb decision" no they were just whistling like a lustful kettle and forgot to turn their brain on.

[fauhnas]

stream but in your dreams, whatever they be

[bruciemilf]

Did I daydream this, or was there a website for writers with like. A ridiculous quantity of descriptive aid. Like I remember clicking on " inside a cinema " or something like that. Then, BAM. Here's a list of smell and sounds. I can't remember it for the life of me, but if someone else can, help a bitch out <3

[bruciemilf]

I FOUND IT BITCHES

[dramono]

This is going to save me so much trouble in the future.

[skribblegurl]

some people think writers are so eloquent and good with words, but the reality is that we can sit there with our fingers on the keyboard going, “what’s the word for non-sunlight lighting? Like, fake lighting?” and for ten minutes, all our brain will supply is “unofficial”, and we know that’s not the right word, but it’s the only word we can come up with…until finally it’s like our face got smashed into a brick wall and we remember the word we want is “artificial”.

[heywriters]

I couldn't remember the word "doorknob" ten minutes ago.

[bumblewyn]

ok but the onelook thesaurus will save your life, i literally could not live without this website

[breelandwalker]

REBLOG TO SAVE A WRITER'S LIFE

[illesigns]

Pixars 22 Rules of Story Telling

[duamuteffe]

9 is worth the price of admission, holy crap.

[pantheonbooks]

This is genius. So many great writing tips!

[froggy-horntail-archive]

And this is why Pixar is a master in their field.

Why do I feel so weird reblogging this… this is the weekend dammit!  Anyway, great advice.

[cranky-crustaceans]

Pixar you have no idea how much this actually helps me.

[darklittlestory]

These are all fantastic pieces of advice.

[leareth-svraiel]

For reference

[ingridverse]

For great reference

[flapjackd-deactivated20200118]

@letsbloom

[cherryaire]

Admire characters for attempting more than what their successes have been.

Keep in mind what’s interesting to you as an audience, not what’s fun to do as a writer

Trying for theme is important, however you won’t see what the story is about until you’re at the end of the story. Got it? Now rewrite.

Once upon a time there was ____. Every day, ____. One day, _____. Because of that, _____. Because of that, _____. Until finally, ____.

Simplify. Focus. Combine characters. Hop over detours. You’ll feel like you’re losing valuable stuff but it sets you free.

What is your character good at or comfortable with? Throw the polar opposite at him. Challenge him. How does he deal with it?

Come up with your ending before you figure out your middle. Seriously. Endings are hard. Get yours working up front.

Finish your story. Let go even if it’s not perfect. In an ideal world you have both, but move on. Do better next time.

When you’re stuck, make a list of what wouldn’t happen next. More often than not, the material that gets you unstuck appears.

Pull apart the stories you like. What you like in there is a part of you. Recognize it before you use it.

Why must you tell this story in particular? What’s the belief burning within you that your story feeds off of? That’s the heart of it.

Discount the first thing that comes to mind. And the second, third, fourth, fifth—get the obvious out of the way. Surprise yourself.

Give your characters opinions. A character being passive or malleable is easy for you as a writer, but it’s poison to your audience.

What’s the essence of your story? What’s the most economical way of telling it? If you know that, you can build out from there.

If you were your character, in this situation, how would you feel? Honesty leads credibility to unbelievable situations.

What are the stakes? Give a reason to root for the character. What happens if he doesn’t succeed? Stack the odds against him.

No work is ever wasted. And if it’s not working, let go and move on — if it’s useful, it’ll show up again.

You have to know yourself, and know the difference between doing your best and being fussy. Story is testing, not refining.

Coincidences that get characters into trouble are great. Coincidences that get them out of it is cheating.

Excercise. Take the building blocks of a movie you dislike. How would you rearrange them into what you DO like?

Identify with your situation/characters. Don’t write ‘cool’. What would make YOU act that way?

Putting it on paper only allows you to start fixing it. If a perfect idea stays in your head, you’ll never share it with anyone.

[theliteraryarchitect]

How to Plot Your Story Using the But/Therefore Method

The but/therefore method* is an easy way to create your plot and test the cause-effect connections between your plot and character motivation.

If you don’t have a plot yet, it can help you create one. If you already have one, the method almost always reveals gaps that need to be addressed with new or stronger chapters/scenes. (For help with your character motivation, check out the PDF “Creating Character Arcs” in my Free Resource Library.)

Use this template for each scene or chapter:

[Main character] wants ______, but _______, therefore ______.

In the first blank, put the motivation for that chapter or scene.

In the second blank, the conflict or obstacle.

In the third blank, the result or action the character takes, which leads into the next goal, and so on, and so on.

Chapter-by-chapter it might look something like this:

Chapter 1: Julian wants to ask Matt to the dance, but he’s scared of being rejected, therefore he slips a cryptic note into Matt’s locker.

Chapter 2: Matt doesn’t see the note. Now Julian wants to get into his locker and retrieve it, but the principal sees him trying to jimmy open the lock, therefore Julian is given detention for a week.

You can also do this scene-by-scene. My suggestion would be to start with the chapter outline, see what it reveals, then move into the scenes. If you’ve already written a draft, you can outline your draft using the template, which should reveal holes in character motivation, plot, and cause/effect, all with one fell swoop!

Hope this helps!

*I adapted this method from South Park writer Trey Parker, who first introduced it in the documentary Six Days to Air.

[random-questions-fairy]

Oh my gosh. I just found this website that walks you though creating a believable society. It breaks each facet down into individual questions and makes it so simple! It seems really helpful for worldbuilding!

[theredscreech]

Heads up that this is a very extensive questionnaire and might be daunting to a lot of writers (myself included). That being said, it is also an amazing questionnaire and I will definitely be using it (or at the very least, some of it).

[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! :)

Did you find this helpful? If you’re able, maybe buy me a coffee please? :D

[nicterhorstreblogs]

This is the good shit

[fictionwritingtips]

Taking Steps to Strengthen Your Plot

So, you’ve finished your first draft. Congrats! You’ve taken a huge step, but there’s still a lot of work to do. It can be easy to point out grammatical or spelling errors, but understanding what’s fundamentally wrong with your story can take some time. If you liked what you’ve written, but you feel like something’s missing, here are a few ways to figure out if you need to strengthen your story’s plot:

Revisit character motivations

If you want to work on strengthening the plot of your novel, think hard about your protagonist’s motivations. What they want and how they plan on getting it will often shape the plot and give you some direction. Make sure the stakes are high enough to really drive your main character into action.

What are the obstacles?

There must be something standing in your protagonist’s way. Otherwise, your story won’t have much variation. Why does the antagonist want to stop the protagonist? What obstacles prevent your protagonist from getting what they want? Figure these things out and implement them in your next draft.

Take a look at tension

Your story needs tension or else it will fall flat. Your novel will feel directionless and there will be very little motivation from a reader to continue on. If your story feels dull and there doesn’t seem to be much to the plot, try focusing on tension. Throw something in to slow down your protagonist. Convince the reader that your main character might fail.

Define the story arc

In order to really understand plot on a deeper level, you need to learn about story arcs. There needs to be rising and falling action, ups and downs, etc. A story should not be a straight line from beginning to end. If you have trouble grasping the concept of a story arc, try reading more about them or studying your favorite stories/movies.

-Kris Noel

[fauhnas]

does anyone know where I can find a beta for a long(ish) destiel fic?

[danascullly]

to dream so sweet a dream | ao3

Dean rolls over in his bed, for once not sweaty or gasping. Brain still soft with sleep, he sits up and cracks open his eyes. "Cas?" His garbled voice fills the empty room. He blinks a few times, searching, suspended by sleep and confusion and want. The part of his consciousness still soaked in sleep tells him to wait. Any second now the distinct rap of knuckles will sound on the door, the handle will turn, and Cas will let himself into Dean's room. He doesn't. Or, three weeks after the Empty takes Castiel, Dean starts to dream.

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3