For some reason — I’m not sure why — I never made a post informing you all that I had officially moved blogs.
I am now on @hoewkeye.
The more-than-a-year-old requests I have here will be posted there. At least some of them because I’m not in the mood for certain fandoms and characters and stuff.
From now on, I’ll use this one to reblog random stuff, reblog fanfics and my own writing, liking stuff and, you know, being trashy. I’ll also send asks from this one because it is my primary blog and I have no choice — do something, Tumblr.
Anyways! Go follow me there, request stuff there, talk to me there. Just give ya girl some attention because I’m really excited with this fresh start!
Pinning this post so you all know!
And tagging lots of “x reader” so people can find me! Yay!
E.A. Deverell - FREE worksheets (characters, world building, narrator, etc.) and paid courses;
Hiveword - Helps to research any topic to write about (has other resources, too);
BetaBooks - Share your draft with your beta reader (can be more than one), and see where they stopped reading, their comments, etc.;
Charlotte Dillon - Research links;
Writing realistic injuries - The title is pretty self-explanatory: while writing about an injury, take a look at this useful website;
One Stop for Writers - You guys... this website has literally everything we need: a) Description thesaurus collection, b) Character builder, c) Story maps, d) Scene maps & timelines, e) World building surveys, f) Worksheets, f) Tutorials, and much more! Although it has a paid plan ($90/year | $50/6 months | $9/month), you can still get a 2-week FREE trial;
One Stop for Writers Roadmap - It has many tips for you, divided into three different topics: a) How to plan a story, b) How to write a story, c) How to revise a story. The best thing about this? It's FREE!
Story Structure Database - The Story Structure Database is an archive of books and movies, recording all their major plot points;
National Centre for Writing - FREE worksheets and writing courses. Has also paid courses;
Penguin Random House - Has some writing contests and great opportunities;
Crime Reads - Get inspired before writing a crime scene;
The Creative Academy for Writers - "Writers helping writers along every step of the path to publication." It's FREE and has ZOOM writing rooms;
Reedsy - "A trusted place to learn how to successfully publish your book" It has many tips, and tools (generators), contests, prompts lists, etc. FREE;
QueryTracker - Find agents for your books (personally, I've never used this before, but I thought I should feature it here);
Pacemaker - Track your goals (example: Write 50K words - then, everytime you write, you track the number of the words, and it will make a graphic for you with your progress). It's FREE but has a paid plan;
Save the Cat! - The blog of the most known storytelling method. You can find posts, sheets, a software (student discount - 70%), and other things;
rhi, congrats again on hitting 500! 💕 I love your work so much, you’re such a wonderful writer and I can’t get enough of your content. For your sleepover, may I have some smutty thots on being reunited with Anakin after a few weeks away from each other?
hiiii baby thank you so so so much <3333 you're so sweet and i am so grateful to be able to call you my friend!! writing ani is still so new to me so i'm gonna try my best hehehe but lets not pretend that i haven't played this scenario out a million times prior to getting this request xoxo
*editors note after writing this -- i HAD to include that last line in there i just HAD TO!!!! 😭
check out my 500 sleepover!
smut headcanons | reuniting with anakin after being away
ok we have established that anakin skywalker is a stage 5 clinger™ !!! so after being a few weeks away from you, dear god is he ready to smother you with all the attention and affection possible.
even though he was only stationed a couple systems away, doing a little bit of this and a little bit of that for the order (more recon and less fighting, to your relief), every goodbye is bittersweet, and every hello otherworldly.
he would keep his initial greeting with you as low-key as possible (well as low-key as anakin can be), saying something like "you were right, the flowers on onderon are as beautiful as you said, but not as beautiful as you... my lady."
and you'll blush as he takes your hand in his, electricity buzzing under the warmth of his leather glove, pulling it away quickly before his lips touch your skin. "not here, anakin."
later, he meets you in your quarters, where you've laid out on the bed, wearing something you think he'll like. it's this flimsy mess of black straps and pearl ornaments that cover barely anything, but with the way anakin's eyes glide over your body, gaze darkening to the point where you might think he has a thundercloud hanging over his head...
your name comes out in a half-whisper as he stops in front of you, jaw tensing as he grips your chin with one hand. "you look ravishing."
you chuckle. "i figured i could spare a couple credits to surprise you."
a growl catches in his throat. "did you miss me?"
"you know i did, anakin. can't you... search the Force and figure that one out for yourself?"
his grip tightens, causing you to squeak. "did you miss me."
"yes, anakin."
you swallow thickly, heat searing the back of your neck as you feel the cool brush of the Force against your body, making its way into your nerves, your bloodstream. it wraps you in an invisible blanket, but then shatters apart only to come back as a tidal wave of pressure that spreads your legs open.
"anakin!" you squirm, baring yourself to him.
he flashes you a wry smile. "now my lady, this is where the fun begins."
I C A N T with anakin skywalker-- i just CANT!!!! and he calling me “my lady” PLEASE i’m on my knees!!! ALSO i’d let him use the Force on me anytime... oh please. GIMME MOREEEEEEE!!!
Heeeey girl, congratulations on your followers!!! I gotta say that you write the besssst Mikey Kinsella and Matty fics!
I was wondering if you could do a little headcannon were there’s a concert of one of Matt’s favorites bands but he refuses to go because of the noise and the people and you just buy him earplugs and things for him to be comfy at the concert. 👉👈
Ps:
hi my love! thank you so much, and for saying that. it truly made my day & brought the biggest smile to my face 💖
this is such a sweet idea and thank you for trusting me to bring it to life! this was totally inspired by my reasoning to get arctic monkeys tickets when they come and play in my city in january!
check out my 500 sleepover!
fluff headcanons | helping matt get concert-ready
going to a concert is truly one of life’s simple pleasures, but certainly poses as somewhat of a logistical nightmare for a person like matt.
his enhanced senses are a blessing for the most part, but when it comes to a concert-type situation, they are definitely too much to bear. matt would be able to feel every vibration, every single ounce of music amplified a hundred-fold, smell the sweat-filled, alcohol-fuelled audience, and the microphone/audio feedback would be hard for him to bear.
but, when you saw that one of matt's favourite bands were coming to play in madison square garden, you knew you had to get him tickets, or else he'd regret it. they almost never perform live, but everyone you've spoken to says it's a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and you should definitely go.
so you bring it up with matt, explain to him that you think it's worth it, that it'll be amazing to dance with him to their music, live. he grumbles, telling you what you already know and suspect. "there's too much noise and too many people, sweetheart. i'm sorry."
he feels bad for shutting your idea down, telling you to take karen, foggy and marci, but you pull on his hand, insisting that you'll do whatever you can to make him feel comfortable. after all, matt's never been to a concert, and you're sure you can make it work.
you buy the tickets, knowing that if needed, you could always resell them, and leading up to the concert, you start preparing him. you start off by making a playlist of their songs for matt, so he knows what to expect when they play, and buy him the best pair of noise-cancelling headphones you can afford. it may seem counterintuitive to some, but it'll be perfect for matt. all the mundane is muffled around him, so all he'll be able to hear with his senses is the sound of the music, in its purest form.
you promise him that you'll hold onto him the whole time, making sure he's right next to you, and your seats are right near the exits, if he has to leave. you even order him a band shirt with their name on the front in braille.
"i really appreciate you doing all of this for me, sweetheart. are you sure it's worth the trouble?"
"you know you'll regret it if you don't go. besides, when it's for you, it's never too much trouble."
After writing for quite nearly my entire literate life ~and~ getting a creative writing degree, I've put together a comprehensive list of the sites and blogs that I've found most useful! Check it out, we've got—
An Insanely Detailed Character Creation Sheet: use this page to learn everything you've ever wanted to know about your character and more. It never fails to make me consider something about them I wouldn't have thought of otherwise.
A Character Avatar Creator: if you know what your character looks like and want a visual of them for notes/cork boards/Google Docs, this site will let you personalize them almost as much as a Sims game.
Pinterest: if you don't know what your character looks like and need inspiration, search for pictures of people who inspire you. Definitely have done this more often than not because I can never seem to pin down (pun intended) my character's exact appearance. Really helps with things you might forget while writing, like the shape of their eyebrows, how their hair lays or even how they stand.
A Map Creation Website: it's meant for fantasy worlds but I've used it for my historical fiction novels! Super customizable even without paying for it. It also saves your work in the free version, which has saved me when I forgot to upload copies to where I keep all my story stuff.
Grammar Girl: have any questions about where to put that semicolon or when to use italics? Grammar Girl is literally used by English teachers because it's that accurate. Check your work or put as many commas in that manuscript as your heart tells you to anyway. I've done both!
Grammarly: this is another way to check your grammar, especially if you use the Chrome extension. It automatically checks your basic grammar, spelling, and readability while you type in Google Docs or another browser-based text document. Note that it isn't foolproof and sometimes will suggest things that don't make sense. Use your best judgement when it highlights things!
Word Hippo: do you feel like you've used one word too often in your story? I use Word Hippo daily for both my creative and professional writing to avoid repetition. When I can't think of a synonym or antonym on my own, it has a billion suggestions for adjectives, verbs, nouns, etc. It can even help you find words that rhyme! Make your character a poet. Nothing can stop you.
Text-to-Speech Reader: it's always easier to catch minor line errors when you read something out loud, but if you don't feel like doing that, this site will read your story for you. There are multiple voices to choose from, so have fun listening to your hard-won stories while you edit.
Background Noise—Coffee Shop: I always lose myself in stories when I have this video playing in the background. It's like I'm in a coffee shop or cozy restaurant booth, but without spending money.
Background Noise—Tavern Fireplace: same vibes as a coffee shop, but with fireplace crackling.
Background Noise—Rain Shower: listen to rain patter against your window with some thunder in the background.
Background Noise—Cozy Fireplace and Rain Shower: combine your favorite sounds in this extra long video of a wood-burning fireplace and a distance rain shower. Perfect for anyone who doesn't want to hear extra loud thunder.
Background Noise—Forest Sounds: is your story taking place outdoors? These sounds will make you feel like you're in the woods with your characters.
Background Noise—Blizzard Sounds: constant blizzard winds may easily make you feel removed from the world so you can focus on your work.
Background Noise—Interior Plane Cabin White Noise: the pleasant hum of a plane cabin is what I often write to. There are no loud take-off, landing, or passenger sounds either.
Background Noise—Christmas Music From Another Room: I found this video when quarantining for Christmas with my husband in 2020. It ended up being one of my favorite writing background videos of that year. It features lyric-less songs on vinyl, plus muffled talking, which was a definite perk for the year+ we spent inside.
Background Noise—Lo-Fi: when I'm not sure what I want to write to, I use this playlist. It has the perfect low-key beats for writing less-intense scenes or working on plot, characters, mapping, etc.
Tumblrs With Fantastic Writing Tips: I have a few favorite tumblrs I loooooove and have followed on various blogs for many years. They regularly answer submitted questions and have organized tags, so if you're wondering about something, you'll likely find an answer by searching their blogs! Check out @fixyourwritinghabits @heywriters @wordsnstuff for expert-level help, guidance, and inspiration.
Tumblrs With Writing Prompts: while there are many prompt websites and blogs, my favorite prompt tumblrs are @daily-prompts and @creativepromptsforwriting for their variety and creativity!
Other resources...
Goodreads: consistently reading is part of exercising that creative muscle in your brain. Goodreads will help you keep track of everything you've read, are reading, and want to read. Find your next inspiration and the latest updates on what's coming out soon from your favorite authors.
Poets & Writers Contests: this site is always posting the latest creative writing contests for all genres. It also has free submissions, so don't worry if you can't afford entry fees for now.
The Writer: you'll also find great contests (both free and paid) at The Writer. Explore their site to discover other great resources too, like writing getaways and publishing tips.
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Enjoy and I hope this helps! Feel free to reblog and add other resources that you use for your writing. I'd love to find more!
Thought I'd post my old writing advice guides onto this blog since I deleted my old one. I hope it's helpful!
::
Listen. I respect the hell out of teachers. The vast majority of them work crazy hard and most of the time, including the times they give you well-meaning ‘writing rules,’ only want to instill good and helpful habits into you.
That doesn’t change the fact that many of these rules are stupid.
Here are my top five ‘writing rule’ pet peeves, and five rules that should be followed.
✗ Don’t write ‘said.’
Okay, I know this is common knowledge by now, but it’s so important. The concept that you can never write ‘ so-and-so said’ is hurting novice writers’ narratives. Said is invisible. Said is powerful. Said is transformable. If every quote ends in a strong synonym, it is distracting. Sometimes, in an established repartee, quotes don’t need to be tagged at all. Or an adverb following ‘said’ might be better for the narrative than any single verb.
Eg. //
“I hate the rain,” grumbled David.
“I love it,” Claire announced.
“You love everything,” he muttered.
“Including you!” she giggled.
versus.
“I hate the rain,” grumbled David.
“I love it,” said Claire.
“You love everything,” he said impatiently.
“Including you!”
✓ Don’t write ‘something.’
Cold hard truth, baby. ‘Something’ is a draft word. It’s what you write when you want to think of a replacement. I cringe when I see it in a sentence that would have been improved tenfold by a specific noun or descriptive phrase in its place. There are times when ‘something’ works or is the only option, but experiment by replacing that word with more description before deciding it’s necessary to keep.
Eg. // He pulled something shiny from his pocket. She craned her neck to see what it was. A metal flask. versus. A flash of light caught the metal he pulled from his pocket. She craned her neck to see what it was. A drinking flask.
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✗ Avoid adverbs.
This is true and false, but I’ll address the false part first. The concept that you can’t use adverbs at all is ridiculous. Don’t blindly (!) replace every adverb in your prose with a single verb because someone said you should. You want whatever you are writing to flow well and to deliver the best impact or imagery. Sometimes that means adverbs. Or you might want the verb to be discreet (such as when using ‘said’) but still want to invoke emotion. That also means adverbs.
Eg. // "Don't do that!" she spluttered, panicked by the urgency of the situation. versus. "Don't do that!" she said frantically, panicked by the urgency of the situation.
✓ Use strong verbs. At least consider them.
Verbs make the world go ‘round, people. Most of the time, a strong verb will make your writing flow well and deliver the best impact or imagery. Weigh a strong verb against an adverb + weaker verb and decide the one you want to keep in a scene. Don’t just stick with whichever you wrote first because you grew attached to the sentence.
Eg. // She held up her blood-slicked sword proudly, her other fist raised triumphantly. versus. She thrust her blood-slicked sword into the air, her other fist clenched high in triumph.
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✗ Don’t use a thesaurus.
I. HATE. This rule. I had an English teacher in middle school who marked any words she thought you had looked up as wrong. As a young reader with a large vocabulary, I was always needing to prove that I hadn’t just picked a random synonym from a thesaurus, that I knew and deliberately chose those words. (That sentence has a great example of a necessary adverb! Get BENT Mrs E. (She also hated adverbs.)) This is the same idiotic concept as telling artists not to use reference images. Use a thesaurus if a certain word is failing you or you hate every word you’ve come up with yourself. There’s nothing bad or shameful about it.
Eg. // There are no examples for this. I’m not sure how I would even do that. Insert stock photo of someone perusing a thesaurus here?
✓ Don’t use words you aren’t comfortable with.
Now, when you search the great wide web for a synonym to a word and then choose whichever one sounds nice because hey, the internet said it was interchangeable, so it must be! … Yeah. Don’t do that.
I use a thesaurus to find words that I can’t think of in the moment but they are always ones I still know. Every word has a subtle (or not so subtle) connotation that you need familiarity with before deciding it is the perfect replacement. Know your words before you start playing Mix n Match.
Eg. // Amusement in the profession puts transcendence in the performance. (Utter nonsense, written by me and thesaurus.com) versus. Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work. (Inspiring quote, written by Aristotle)
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✗ Don’t end sentences with a preposition.
Whoever made up this rule is an elitist hack. (I just googled it, and supposedly it began with a bunch of 17th century scholars who thought English should have Latin’s grammar, so. Yeah. Elitist hacks.) Ending sentences in prepositions sounds wayyyyy more natural than the alternative. If you don’t want to sound stilted, beat this rule into the dirt.
Eg. // They didn’t know of what she was capable. versus. They didn’t know what she was capable of.
✓ Be conscientious of your sentence construction.
A lot of grammar rules are bogus. Not ending a sentence with a preposition, not starting a sentence with a conjunction, not laying face down on the floor and screeching… Oh, right, that latter one isn’t a rule, it’s just what you want to do when you have to think about grammar.
But, regardless of bogus grammar rules, you need to put thought into your sentence construction. Editing (not writing) is the best time to do this. That’s when you can make sure the words flow together naturally as an individual sentence, as part of a paragraph, and within the chapter as a whole.
Another common construction faux pas that I see is disregarding the sequence of events because you believe it will have greater impact. In reality, if you avoid putting your narration out of order, it usually results in stronger sentences.
Eg. // "Tell me it's not true!" He stood in the doorway after bursting into Kyle's room, panting from his sprint up the stairs. versus. He sprinted up the stairs two at a time and burst into Kyle's room without knocking. "Tell me it's not true!" he demanded breathlessly.
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✗ If you break writing rules you’re a bad writer.
If anyone tries to convince you of this, kick them in the neck. (You heard it here folks, kick your DANG TEACHERS IN THE NECK.) (Not really, please don’t.) (If you do, though, don’t say that I encouraged it.) (I’m not encouraging it, I just want to make that clear. Please be nice to your teachers, they have hard jobs.)
Rules were made to be broken. You just need to know the rules in the first place in order to decide to break them, so it’s never a bad thing to educate yourself on general writing advice. Still, there is a fine line between creative liberty and bad writing, and sometimes a famous book or author turns the latter into the former. Know your stuff, but don’t be afraid to throw your stuff into the fire and watch it burn. (Figuratively. Don’t literally throw your possessions into fire, that’s irresponsible on so many levels.) (A lot of parentheses in this rule rant.) (Now that’s just bad writing.)
✓ Take writing rules and advice with a grain of salt, but don’t ignore them.
As a novice writer, or even an experienced one, it is hard to differentiate between which rules work best in your own prose. You may only realize it in hindsight. That doesn’t mean you should ignore every piece of writing advice or dismiss criticism of your work. Think critically about your own style, read books you enjoy and think about their styles, and deliberate– don’t dismiss. Maybe your writing style requires no dangling prepositions or never using an adverb. That’s your decision to make. Just… don’t make it because you’re too stubborn to see how you can improve.
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That’s all I’ve got! Do you have any pet peeves about common writing advice? Feel free to reblog and add your own!
Don’t forget to write a sentence of your story today! Thanks for reading~
“i genuinely don’t know why my brain just goes blank when i look at you. i think i’m going a little crazy.”
the little laugh or smile a character a does in utter disbelief because character b is just so endearing and sigh
one character going “so this is really awkward cause i know i told you i wasn’t looking for love but then i kinda fell in love and i would love it if you’d take me”
“can i love you?”
“i just… adore you.”
character a noticing character b is sleepy while driving and being like “hey i can take over for you”
the classic “no i’m not in love with character a, yes thinking about hurting them makes me want to throw myself into ongoing traffic, no it doesn’t make sense to me either”
their love interest fell asleep and your main character has a blanket so they give it to them
confessions when one character thinks the other is sleeping
they kiss for the first time and one character just steps back and is like “um ok. yeah that’s not a normal kiss i def love u”
character not being able to even fathom or come close to understanding how someone can dislike such a beautiful ray of sunshine and oh yeah ok…. they’re def in love
characters who’ve been married for years falling in love all over again
exes to lovers
“i think i love you…?” “….. think?” “let’s just say a ninety-nine percent chance.” “i’ll take it.”
that moment where your character just… looks. just looks at their love interest for more than five seconds and doesn’t understand why or how this earth can exist and the sun and moon exist and the sky can be an eternal source of happiness and yet this person right here can bring so much more warmth and comfort to them with just a single glance
note confessions because yes written confessions in letters are superior
“i got you a gift. i hope you like it.” and character who receives the gift tries not to mention that any gift would mean more than the stars in the sky as long as it was from them
“do you… love me, by any chance?” “yeah, why?” “well, i’m sorry, i was just— WAIT WHAT—”
E.A. Deverell - FREE worksheets (characters, world building, narrator, etc.) and paid courses;
Hiveword - Helps to research any topic to write about (has other resources, too);
BetaBooks - Share your draft with your beta reader (can be more than one), and see where they stopped reading, their comments, etc.;
Charlotte Dillon - Research links;
Writing realistic injuries - The title is pretty self-explanatory: while writing about an injury, take a look at this useful website;
One Stop for Writers - You guys... this website has literally everything we need: a) Description thesaurus collection, b) Character builder, c) Story maps, d) Scene maps & timelines, e) World building surveys, f) Worksheets, f) Tutorials, and much more! Although it has a paid plan ($90/year | $50/6 months | $9/month), you can still get a 2-week FREE trial;
One Stop for Writers Roadmap - It has many tips for you, divided into three different topics: a) How to plan a story, b) How to write a story, c) How to revise a story. The best thing about this? It's FREE!
Story Structure Database - The Story Structure Database is an archive of books and movies, recording all their major plot points;
National Centre for Writing - FREE worksheets and writing courses. Has also paid courses;
Penguin Random House - Has some writing contests and great opportunities;
Crime Reads - Get inspired before writing a crime scene;
The Creative Academy for Writers - "Writers helping writers along every step of the path to publication." It's FREE and has ZOOM writing rooms;
Reedsy - "A trusted place to learn how to successfully publish your book" It has many tips, and tools (generators), contests, prompts lists, etc. FREE;
QueryTracker - Find agents for your books (personally, I've never used this before, but I thought I should feature it here);
Pacemaker - Track your goals (example: Write 50K words - then, everytime you write, you track the number of the words, and it will make a graphic for you with your progress). It's FREE but has a paid plan;
Save the Cat! - The blog of the most known storytelling method. You can find posts, sheets, a software (student discount - 70%), and other things;
Below you have albuns! Each one of them has a masterlist of their own, with their songs. I’ll be writing fanfics for songs from now on, and of course you can request: just tell me the name of the song (of the ones listed in the albuns below) and the character you want the fanfic with.
cmon girlies we’re picking out a 10k+ single chapter fic on ao3 to read stomach down head turned towards our phones held next to our pillows as we move only our thumbs to scroll until our sedatives knock us out