Free To Write

A blog all about writing! Promps, tips, help, and ink. Wait, no. There is no ink. Sorry.

[inspiration-and-motivation]

[bunney]

why do teenage boys go through that phase where they just imitate female moaning noises

[aviculor]

it’s the only way they can hear it

[toast-ranger-to-a-stranger]

[the-fox-burrow]

[my-place-of-recovery]

♡

[theworldisworthagif]

[theliteraryarchitect-deactivate]

How to Make Your Descriptions Less Boring

We’ve all been warned about the dangers of using too much description. Readers don’t want to read three paragraphs about a sunset, we’re told. Description slows down a story; it’s boring and self-indulgent. You should keep your description as short and simple as possible. For those who take a more scientific approach to writing fiction, arbitrary rules abound: One sentence per paragraph. One paragraph per page. And, for god’s sake, “Never open a book with weather” (Elmore Leonard).

But what this conventional wedding wisdom fails to take into account is the difference between static and dynamic description. Static description is usually boring. It exists almost like a painted backdrop to a play. As the name suggests, it doesn’t move, doesn’t interact or get interacted with.

There were clouds in the sky. Her hair was red with hints of orange. The house had brown carpeting and yellow countertops.

In moderation, there’s nothing wrong with static description. Sometimes, facts are facts, and you need to communicate them to the reader in a straightforward manner.

But too much static description, and readers will start to skim forward. They don’t want to read about what the house looks like or the stormy weather or the hair color of each of your protagonist’s seventeen cousins.

Why? Because they can tell it’s not important. They can afford to skip all of your description because their understanding of the story will not be impacted.

That’s where dynamic description comes in. Dynamic description is a living entity. It’s interactive, it’s relevant. It takes on the voices of your narrators and characters. In short, it gives us important information about the story, and it can’t be skimmed over.

So how do you make your description more dynamic so that it engages your readers and adds color and excitement to your story? Here are a few tips.

(I have a TON more tips about setting and description. These are just a few. But I’m trying to keep this short, so if you have any questions or want more advice about this, please feel free to ask me.)

Keep reading

[jay-eddy]

As some of you may know I’ve been studying Professional and Creative Writing for three years now, and I’m heading into a fourth year of study for Honours, and one thing that has really stuck out for me over the past few years is how much pressure people put on you to write a story with some kind of important meaning.

This needs to stop.

There’s nothing wrong with writing a story with purpose and meaning, but when you limit yourself to writing a story around those morals, then you restrict what you can write.

Write what you want to write. 

Write stories for fun. 

Write stories with no moral messages and see what meaning other people read into it.

Write a story by focusing on the characters, the plot, the narrative, whatever; just write the story you want to tell, becasue if you limit yourself to writing around that moral message then you lose the possibility to open your text up and create depth to it by having multiple meanings and moral messages, contradictions and ideologies that your readers will hold onto and literature students will gush over.

Write what you want to write.

[lizard-is-writing]

Writing Love/Hate Relationships

“Hey Lizard. How can you do a love/hate relationship? Not romantic, but friendship.”

So I want to start this by saying there isn’t just one kind of love/hate relationship. 

Keep reading

[fictionwritingtips]

NaNoWriMo Prep: How to Decide on a Project

There’s only a few days left until the start of NaNoWriMo and you still haven’t decided on a project? Don’t panic. Let’s work this through together.

Here are a few ways to get started:

Brainstorm

Start with a notebook. Write down scenes from books you like. Jot down all of the ideas you have. Use these remaining days to add to this list. It doesn’t need to have direction at this point, but make sure you get as many ideas as you can down in this notebook. It can be ANYTHING. Always wanted to write that space opera? WRITE IT DOWN. I promise you—nothing is stupid.

Pick ONE idea

Now’s the time to focus on one thing. Grab that notebook and pick one idea that sticks out to you. What excites you the most? The hardest part of NaNoWriMo is staying enthusiastic about your idea. Once writing feels like a grind and boring to the writer, it’ll feel like that to the reader. What’s something that’ll have your attention for the month of November? What would you love to see written? Visualize your story and focus on what you love the most.

Focus on characters

If you’re having a hard time pinning down a plot, focus on the characters instead. Stories draw their action from the character motivations. Stephen King, for example, often focuses on “what if” scenarios. What if a girl with telekinetic powers was in high school? Explore what that scenario would mean for the main character and those close to them. What type of life would they have? How would their loved ones treat them? What could be a possible outcome? If you focus on developing characters first, you might be able to find a great story buried within them.

Draw from something you love

Listen to your favorite music. Watch your favorite movies. Read your favorite books. What do you love about them? What inspires you? What are your favorite types of stories? If you focus in on what excites you about the media you consume, you should be able to draw from that.

Google docs is your friend

Organize your ideas and save possible story threads on Google Docs whenever you can. That way, you’ll be able to access your ideas without having to worry about finding them in your notebook or accidentally losing them. You can even download the app on your phone, so you can add to your ideas if you’re not by your computer. STAY ORGANIZED!

-Kris Noel

[fictionwritingtips]

REPOST for the late-night #NaNoWriMo planners.

[the-moon-dust-writings]

OC Questions - Random

How do they sneeze?

What do they do when they are nervous?

Are they superstitious?

Do they believe in luck?

Have they ever had ice cream before?

Do they know how to cook?

Do they believe in killing others?

How do they deal with stress?

What would make them loose hope?

Where do they live?

What are their hobbies?

Do they believe in ghosts?

What would they change about their past?

What are their thoughts on wolves?

Do they have a thick skin?

When was the last time they cried?

Would they ever kill someone?

Do they have good intuition?

What is their favourite food?

What is their full name?

Have they ever been in a plane?

Do they like to socialize?

What are some of their traits?

Where do they like visit?

What is something they like that others wouldn’t suspect?

Have they ever been in love? With who?

Can they handle their feelings in a healthy way?

Are they better with their words or fists?

What makes them smile?

If they were going on a month long vacation, where would they go?

[theliteraryarchitect-deactivate]

Quick Editing Tip: “That”

Rule of thumb about the word “that”: If the sentence still makes sense without it, delete it. This is subjective, of course. But you might be surprised how often you’re using “that” unnecessarily, cluttering up your writing.

Example: After Clayton left the kitchen, Iris told me that he hated onions. I wondered if that meant that he never wanted to eat pizza with us again. Later, I told him that his distaste for onions was understandable, but that he should’ve just kept his mouth shut about it.

[quinnedleson]

Writing a historical novel means knowing how far they can travel on a horse, This is good info right here.

(via Pinterest)

[theowlisthelimit]

antique-symbolism

[aquestionofcharacter]

But how long does it take on a dragon?

[fuckyeahcharacterdevelopment]

I double checked the maximum horse speeds, and while doing 100 miles in a day is totally possible for fit endurance horses and endurance riders, 40mph is a flat sprint, and a horse and rider just can’t maintain that for more than a couple miles. (What I’m saying is; 100 miles is doable and 40mph is doable, but trying to do a hundred miles at that speed would kill the horse and/or rider). 

-Evvy 

[mabylc]

me: not today, satan 

satan: you’ve been canceling our plans for weeks now. if it’s something i said, please just tell me

[inspiration-and-motivation]

[writeblrconnections]

NaNo Character Week: Character Personality, Arcs and Relationships Resources

NaNoPlanMo Resource Masterpost Navigation

Welcome to day fourteen of WC’s NaNoPlanMo! Today’s focus is on personality development, character arcs and character relationships!

Personality Development Through Character Traits

Creating Unique Characters from @lets-get-fictional

The 10 Elements of a Main Character from @thatkatiecooney

Design A Personality: Building Rock Solid Character Traits

Virtue and Vice Development Method from @writeworld

Building a Balanced Character

Character Trait Lists

36 Core Values for Building Character

Neutral Character Traits from @macklinassists

123 Ideas for Character Flaws

350 Character Traits

List of Character Traits

Another List of Character Traits

Character Arcs

K.M. Weiland: Writing Character Arcs

K.M. Weliand: Creating Stunning Character Arcs (Series)

Creating Character Arcs

How to Plot a Character Arc via @silvokrent

Why Character Arcs Make Readers Care

The Three Types of Character Arcs

Planning Character Arcs in a Nutshell

How to Figure Out Your Character’s Arc

Character Arcs and Motivations

Character Motivations: 7 Tips for Writing Better Portraits

How to Create Character Motivations

Motivate Your Characters Like a Pro

Six Emotional Motives for Your Characters

Inner Drives: What’s My Character’s Motivation?

Rethinking Motivation for Character Arcs

Character Relationships

Writing Healthy Couples in Fiction from @oliviapaigewrites

8 Secrets to Writing Strong Character Relationships

Character Relationships: 6 Tips for Crafting Real Connections

Why Character Relationships Make or Break Your Story

K.M. Weiland: What’s the Most Important Relationship in Your Story?

Writing Romance? Avoid These 5 Mistakes

Stop by tomorrow for the kickoff to Setting Week!

[kelandry5]

#GiveTrexLoveToo2K17

Reblog to show T-rex’s you love them!

[brynwrites]

The Almighty Critique Partners

(And how to find them.)

I’ve been asked this a few times recently, so for all you looking for CPs or just plain wondering what a CP is, there’s a thorough explanation.

What’s a Critique Partner anyway?

A critique partner is another writer around your skill level with whom you exchange manuscripts with. Generally, critique partners offer both content feedback and line-by-line editing.

How do you find a Critique Partner?

You might come across CPs at random, through close writer friends, long time role play partners, or even family members, but there will also be seasons of your writing life where you need to seek out CPs on your own. 

There are numerous forums and match up systems designed to help you find your perfect critique partner. Googling ‘critique partner match up’ will give you an almost endless list of these places. (Using the built in google search tools to specify you’re looking for things from within the last year might help narrow it to what’s actually running at the moment.)

The major issue I’ve had when using these types of forums are (a) you’re trying to match yourself with a complete stranger, and (b) it takes a lot more social effort to stick yourself out there on a website you’re unfamiliar with.

You can adjust this forum searching method by advertising in your favorite writer community, such as here on tumblr. Things to include in your advertisement:

What you’re looking to get out of a CP.

What you’ll be offering your CP in return.

A blurb of your current wip.

An excerpt of your work (if you have none easily accessible on your blog.)

How they should contact you in order to request a trial chapter to critique.

Optional but recommended: A strict deadline.

When people contact you, send them the chapter, making it clear that this is just a trial run to see whether you work as CPs. (You should also offer to critique a chapter of theirs in return, should they have one ready.)

What criteria do you look for in a Critique Partner?

A writer around your skill level. This allows you to offer each other the same detail and thoroughness in your critiques. It works out nicely because your understanding of writing will always be higher then your ability to write, so you will both be able to pick out more flaws in the other person’s manuscript then you can in your own. 

Someone easy to communicate with and understand. This style of critiquing requires a lot of discussion, usually discussion about the things you did wrong. You need someone who explains their constructive criticism in a way you personally understand and who you can talk though complex plans with. The worst thing you can have is a CP who’s stressful or energy consuming to talk to. 

A fan of your writing. This isn’t the sort of fan who praises everything you do, but rather someone who enjoys both your writing style and your intention for your story. You absolutely need a CP who inherently understands your vision for your writing and will strive to help you reach that vision. 

You should never accept a critique partner you have doubts about. If you don’t feel as though you’re receiving a large amount of extremely helpful and honest feedback that will help you bring your manuscript to the next level without changing the things you love about it, then keep looking. 

CPs are not Beta Readers! If you’re interesting in knowing more about Beta Readers, please visit this post here. If you’d like a quick summary of the ways CPs and Betas differ, I will be linking to it via my FAQ once it’s been posted. 

I’m more than happy to  boost your CP advertisement on my side account, @brynprocrastinates.*

* I’ll boost most posts containing all the information specified in my list of things to include, though I reserve the right to ignore any post based on my own personal reasons or general over-whelmed-ness. ^^

[we-are-rogue]

Do you have a master post for your guides to the thieves' cant and lockpicking?

No, but that’s great idea, let’s make one!

Lock Picking Masterpost

What is Lock Picking? The Good, the Bad, and the Not So Ugly

How to Pick a Lock

Infographic: A Graphical Guide to Lock Picking

Infographic: Pick a pin-and-tumbler lock

What Is Binding Order?

Security Pins

What Are All Those Picks Used For?

Best Lock Picks for the Budgeted Picker

Zen and the Art of Lock Picking

How to Pick a Lock with a Bobby Pin

Video: How to pick a lock using hairpins

Video: Lock picking with office supplies

How to Pick a Lock with a Credit Card

How To Open A Lock With A Knife (lol)

Infographic: How to pick locks and padlocks with improvised tools

Video: How to open a padlock with a coke can

Transparent Padlock Educational Toy

How to Crack a Master Lock

Infographic: Cracking a Master Lock

How to Pick Handcuffs

Video: Escaping Handcuffs

The History and Future of Locks and Keys

Lock picking laws

[D&D 3.5] Open Lock optimisation

P.S. The best guides are from The Art of Lockpicking, which is a great site, give them some love. And I got the “open lock” tag, which includes all the above posts, plus relevant pictures, stuff from tabletop RPGs, stories, art, etc.

P.S.S. I’ll do the Thieves’ Cant Masterpost later.