fanfic writing stuff

just reblogging useful writing tips for myself

[bookished]

( a collection of fake dating to make someone else jealous… and falling for each other starters. adjust phrasing as necessary.) feel free to make edits to better suit your muse, but please don’t edit or add on to the original post 🐇

"They’re looking." "Then kiss me like you mean it." “I— Okay. But just this once.” “Yeah… just once.” (It’s not just once.)

"You didn’t have to hold my hand the entire time." "Wasn’t that the point? Make it look real?” “Sure. It just didn’t need to feel that real.”

"You should’ve told me you get jealous so easily." "You shouldn’t flirt so well with people who aren’t me."

"When you said we had to 'sell it,' I didn’t think you meant letting your hand creep up my thigh at dinner." "They were watching. I had to commit." "Didn’t think your acting skills included whispering that I looked better without clothes." "Guess we’re both discovering new talents."

"So, when do we break up?" "We were supposed to break up?"

"The plan was to make them jealous." "Yeah? Then why are you the only one I’m thinking about kissing?"

"I was faking it. You know that, right?" "Yeah. Me too." “Liar.”

[writing-prompt-s]

When their kid gets abducted, it’s up to their guardian angel, the monster under their bed, and their favorite stuffed animal to save them.

[literaryvein-reblogs]

Writing Resources PDFs

As requested: https://www.writersarchive.com/

The documents contain sensitive themes and topics (e.g., related to death).

Some notes are from my old files, which may include outdated information. Others were made in response to a request. I also included a few references that are still in my queue & drafts.

Choose which tips & notes are most appropriate for your own writing. Some are just quick references. Thus, more research may be needed for your written work.

Updates may be made in irregular intervals for added material and/or corrections.

All PDFs are free. You can pay what you want/can here. There's a very small fee to keep the site up. But please don't feel obligated to, especially if you're in a rough patch at the moment—been there (+ it is the holiday season after all, which I know can be a tough time). Writing has always been a safe space for me, so if these references help you as well, that would be more than enough for me.

Thank you to everyone who had been so encouraging about this little project.

And thank you especially to @beforeyearning for creating the site ily (please follow his blog, he's a very talented writer).

[hayatheauthor]

10 Non-Lethal Injuries to Add Pain to Your Writing

New Part: 10 Lethal Injury Ideas

If you need a simple way to make your characters feel pain, here are some ideas: 

1. Sprained Ankle

A common injury that can severely limit mobility. This is useful because your characters will have to experience a mild struggle and adapt their plans to their new lack of mobiliy. Perfect to add tension to a chase scene.

2. Rib Contusion

A painful bruise on the ribs can make breathing difficult, helping you sneak in those ragged wheezes during a fight scene. Could also be used for something sport-related! It's impactful enough to leave a lingering pain but not enough to hinder their overall movement.

3. Concussions

This common brain injury can lead to confusion, dizziness, and mood swings, affecting a character’s judgment heavily. It can also cause mild amnesia.

I enjoy using concussions when you need another character to subtly take over the fight/scene, it's an easy way to switch POVs. You could also use it if you need a 'cute' recovery moment with A and B.

4. Fractured Finger

A broken finger can complicate tasks that require fine motor skills. This would be perfect for characters like artists, writers, etc. Or, a fighter who brushes it off as nothing till they try to throw a punch and are hit with pain.

5. Road Rash

Road rash is an abrasion caused by friction. Aka scraping skin. The raw, painful sting resulting from a fall can be a quick but effective way to add pain to your writing. Tip: it's great if you need a mild injury for a child.

6. Shoulder Dislocation

This injury can be excruciating and often leads to an inability to use one arm, forcing characters to confront their limitations while adding urgency to their situation. Good for torture scenes.

7. Deep Laceration

A deep laceration is a cut that requires stitches. As someone who got stitches as a kid, they really aren't that bad! A 2-3 inch wound (in length) provides just enough pain and blood to add that dramatic flair to your writing while not severely deterring your character.

This is also a great wound to look back on since it often scars. Note: the deeper and wider the cut the worse your character's condition. Don't give them a 5 inch deep gash and call that mild.

8. Burns

Whether from fire, chemicals, or hot surfaces, burns can cause intense suffering and lingering trauma. Like the previous injury, the lasting physical and emotional trauma of a burn is a great wound for characters to look back on.

If you want to explore writing burns, read here.

9. Pulled Muscle

This can create ongoing pain and restrict movement, offering a window to force your character to lean on another. Note: I personally use muscle related injuries when I want to focus more on the pain and sprains to focus on a lack of mobility.

10. Tendonitis

Inflammation of a tendon can cause chronic pain and limit a character's ability to perform tasks they usually take for granted. When exploring tendonitis make sure you research well as this can easily turn into a more severe injury.

This is a quick, brief list of ideas to provide writers inspiration. Since it is a shorter blog, I have not covered the injuries in detail. This is inspiration, not a thorough guide. Happy writing! :)

Looking For More Writing Tips And Tricks? 

Check out the rest of Quillology with Haya; a blog dedicated to writing and publishing tips for authors!

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[creativepromptsforwriting]

Dialogue Responses

"Don't look at me like that."

"I can't help it."

"Simply impossible."

"Just don't look back."

"I'm not looking at you."

"Then stop being so cute."

"How am I looking at you?"

"Why? Does it bother you?"

"Can't take my eyes off of you."

"Sorry, but it will happen again."

"How would you like me to look at you?"

All the Dialogue Responses can be found here.

If you like my blog and want to support me, you can buy me a coffee or become a member! 🥰

[creativepromptsforwriting]

Physical Contact Masterpost

Hand-Holding Dialogue

Hand-Holding

Touching

Hugs

Hugging Dialogue

Touch Starved Prompts

Touches Ask Games

Super soft intimacy

Casual Affections

Seeking out physical affection

Romantic, non-sexual intimacy prompts

Kisses

First Kisses

First Kiss Prompts

Accidental Kisses

Places for kissing

Angsty Kisses

If you like my blog and want to support me, you can buy me a coffee or become a member! And check out my Instagram! 🥰

[villancikos]

[commander-ledi]

villancikos:

The Anatomy of a mermaid

yes, thanks.

i hate when people draws mermaid’s tail like it was some sort of goddamn suit on normal human legs like this:

it just doesnt work

[mewmii-deactivated20160821]

yeah we wouldnt want to make our mermaids too unrealistic

[ultralaser]

this asks more questions than it answers. they don’t really have vestigial legs, like those aren’t even motile fins, so why do they still have fully formed hips, why hasn’t the pelvic bone changed significantly? and where did the tail come from?

[proto whale]

[orca skelly]

whales as we know them evolved from land animals that went back out to sea, and it’s all spine all the way down to the tail fin. the pelvis is vestigial to the point of being tiny and unrecognizable, and the rear leg structure is //gone//. and by the time they evolved all that, their forelegs had turned into proper fins and they didn’t have hourglass figures, because they built up walls of insulating fat and blubber where it was needed most - around the vital organs.

[walrus skelly]

which brings us to the walrus. as you can see the skeletal structure and the external appearance are fairly ursiform - the rear legs are basically still in there forming the tail, and the pelvis is intact, and above that it may as well still be a land animal. if mermaids did exist, as hominids who went back out to sea, and if they hadn’t evolved into basically dolphins, then a walrus skeletal system, complete with vestigial thigh bones inside a kind of muscle skirt, and with significant fat and blubber deposits //on the main body// would be most likely. which is to say, mermaids with human torsos and seagoing lower bodies would waddle around on their tails, have clearly defined thigh structures, and would be a hell of a lot rounder above and about the waist than they’re usually depicted.

which begs the question, then, if you see a mermaid and it’s a skinny little thing with a slinky waist and an eel-like tail and a perfect bosom and a coy smile, //why does it look like that//? because whatever that is? it is not a land animal that readapted to the sea. it is not your distant kin. it is a sea creature that adapted //to get your attention//.

maybe it’s all an illusion, a frilly mane, an hourglass shape, and narrow antennae that mimic the shape of human arms, waving lonely sailors into the water, only to realize too late the bioluminescent patterns of lipstick and pert breasts are to distract from what lies behind them - viselike jaws and row after row of stiletto teeth.

or maybe it’s all soft tissue, the gelatinous bell of a jellyfish folded into a pleasing shape, luring the unwary down to be caught up in a tail that is nothing more than thousands of barbed lines of stinging neurotoxin cells.

or it could be that the tail goes deep into a shadowy well, and the beautiful woman is a mask for a single enormous jaw, the internal skeleton just the endless spine and ribs of a vast and hungry sea snake.

or, perhaps most terrifyingly, the face is real but not the face of the eyes looking out of it - a human mask for an intelligence both cold and calculating, wearing an inviting smile to bring you within reach of the dagger behind it’s back. waiting to slice the skin off of you because it needs a new disguise, because it is shaped like you but does not look like you, because it must pass as you so it can go among you, so that by starlight it may go on land and into town, where your kin are sleeping, unsuspecting.

[scuttleboat]

Jesus Christ back up a minute buddy

[randomdeinonychus]

I am 100% on board with eldritch horror mermaids.

[brigidkeely]

Can I set up something to just reblog this every time I see it? Like automatically? Because this is perfect and I love this.

[legit-writing-tips]

I have an 11-year-old who was the only person in the position to have learned some information, so he’s the one doing the exposition. I was criticized for making him sound too mature (“professorial” was the word that was used), but I don’t know how to fix it. I don’t think he uses any individual words an 11-year-old wouldn’t, so I guess he’s too organized in how he presents info? But how do you make a character less organized in presenting their thoughts without making them more confusing?

That’s interesting! I suppose it really depends on the character, but what I would imagine is that an 11-year-old would be fairly new to presenting information or giving presentations in general. So rather than making them less organized or making their presentation confusing, I would perhaps make them a little bit more hesitant or unsure of themself. 

Even if they’re a confident character overall, this would probably be their first time doing this sort of thing, so they might pause here and there, or “hmm” and second-guess themself or ask the others if they think everything sounds correct so they can be sure everything they’re saying is really accurate or that they’re not missing anything. An 11-year-old may have the information the others need, but they’re still in a new position and they’re likely to be a little more unsure of themselves than someone who might have done this sort of thing a thousand times.

But like I said, this all depends on the character as well as who they’re talking to. For example, Hermione Granger presenting her information to Ron and Harry is very confident and matter of fact because she’s the most knowledgeable of the trio. No hesitation, just straight details. Very professional in everything she does. But she might have behaved quite a bit differently if she was having to present everything she knew to Professors McGonagall and Dumbledore.

[legit-writing-tips]

Tips for managing a plot with time travel and parallel universes?

Ok, so for time travel -

Time may be all jumbled up in terms of “time”. So stop thinking of time as in physical time... the way time moves for the plants and the trees and the planets and the sun.

Think instead in terms of "psychological” time for your main character. And for any side characters who may have their own side plots.

As you plot your story, make notes regarding how psychological time moves for them. Yeah, they may travel back to 1600 AD and then to 3090 AD then to 300 BC, but if time is still continuously moving forward for them and they’re retaining all their memories, even if their actions are changing things, just MAKE NOTES about what their actions are changing (i.e., what’s changed in their perspective). And keep moving forward.

Likewise, if you have a side character who’s also moving through the story, make notes about where they are in terms of psychological time. Make notes of what things change for them, etc. 

The most important thing - keep notes of where those characters are in relation to each other in psychological time (essentially, the timeline of the story).

As for Parallel Universes, things are a bit looser. Things and even people may change but your characters will remain psychologically on the path (more or less). So the plot, and any side plots, will follow that path, even as they move through the different parallel worlds. Sometimes your MC’s path may intersect with those of side characters, and sometimes your MC will move back and forth between the same worlds, but ultimately what’s important is how they move along on their own trajectory.

[legit-writing-tips]

Good Advice - Write Them Villains!

[legit-writing-tips]

Legit Tips to Avoid Saying “Said”

Ok. First, let’s get this out of the way. There’s nothing wrong with using “said” to tag your dialog.

In fact, it’s a lot better than using a ton of different dialog tags. Muttered, murmured, whispered, hissed… Those tags work if you really need to point out HOW someone is speaking - if you really need to emphasize how pissed off someone is, for example.

But if you just use them to avoid “said” it gets obvious. And it gets old.

So, what gives? You’ve probably also heard that repeating yourself over and over is bad writing, which is true. But “said” is something that disappears into the text.

However, it’s still not great to repeat it too much. Keeping that in mind, what do you do?

1 - Consider using the dialog by itself if it’s obvious who’s speaking. For example, if it’s a quick conversation between two characters and nobody else is involved, you can skip tags for a lot of it. Maybe have someone use the other person’s name as a reminder of who’s saying what if you feel like you need to.

“I can’t.”

“You have to.”

“But -“

“No ‘buts’, Sarah.”

2 - If you need to show who’s speaking, use an action before or after the sentence. Avoid redundancies or useless info by connecting the action to what’s being said.

“What’s this?” Angie picked up the black gem and turned it over in her fingers.

Jane snatched it away, shoving it into her backpack. “Nothing. Just one of Harold’s little trinkets.”

3 - Consider whether the dialog itself is necessary. Could you replace it with narration or text?

“Are you sure?”

Laura nodded, her eyes fixed on the floor.

Sabrina cursed and slammed her phone down onto the table.

These are just a few things to consider. But with some practice you can figure out when the simple use of “said” is fine and when it might need replacement.

[edwardkenwayrps-deactivated2014]

002. HOW-TO USE SPAN AND CSS FOR AWESOME POSTS

I see many people limiting themselves to things like blockquote, listing and bold when they’re doing something in a post, be it writing bios, doing their character posts, all that stuff. What if I told you you could create your own post layout, by using the span tag and CSS?

Read More

[loochhelps]

In this list you will find 1993 american female and male names. Please like or reblog if you find it useful.

Read More

[youcomecrash-blog]

TUTORIAL: TEXTURIZED ILLUSTRATIONS

[chaoticresources]

Read More

[wordsnstuff]

Resources For Writing Sketchy Topics

Medicine

A Study In Physical Injury

Comas

Medical Facts And Tips For Your Writing Needs

Broken Bones

Burns

Unconsciousness & Head Trauma

Blood Loss

Stab Wounds

Pain & Shock

All About Mechanical Injuries (Injuries Caused By Violence)

Writing Specific Characters

Portraying a kleptomaniac.

Playing a character with cancer.

How to portray a power driven character.

Playing the manipulative character.

Portraying a character with borderline personality disorder.

Playing a character with Orthorexia Nervosa.

Writing a character who lost someone important.

Playing the bullies.

Portraying the drug dealer.

Playing a rebellious character.

How to portray a sociopath.

How to write characters with PTSD.

Playing characters with memory loss.

Playing a pyromaniac.

How to write a mute character.

How to write a character with an OCD.

How to play a stoner.

Playing a character with an eating disorder.

Portraying a character who is anti-social.

Portraying a character who is depressed.

How to portray someone with dyslexia.

How to portray a character with bipolar disorder.

Portraying a character with severe depression.

How to play a serial killer.

Writing insane characters.

Playing a character under the influence of marijuana.

Tips on writing a drug addict.

How to write a character with HPD.

Writing a character with Nymphomania.

Writing a character with schizophrenia.

Writing a character with Dissociative Identity Disorder.

Writing a character with depression.

Writing a character who suffers from night terrors.

Writing a character with paranoid personality disorder.

How to play a victim of rape.

How to play a mentally ill/insane character.

Writing a character who self-harms.

Writing a character who is high on amphetamines.

How to play the stalker.

How to portray a character high on cocaine.

Playing a character with ADHD.

How to play a sexual assault victim.

Writing a compulsive gambler.

Playing a character who is faking a disorder.

Playing a prisoner.

Portraying an emotionally detached character.

How to play a character with social anxiety.

Portraying a character who is high.

Portraying characters who have secrets.

Portraying a recovering alcoholic.

Portraying a sex addict.

How to play someone creepy.

Portraying sexually/emotionally abused characters.

Playing a character under the influence of drugs.

Playing a character who struggles with Bulimia.

Illegal Activity

Examining Mob Mentality

How Street Gangs Work

Domestic Abuse

Torture

Assault

Murder

Terrorism

Internet Fraud

Cyberwarfare

Computer Viruses

Corporate Crime

Political Corruption

Drug Trafficking

Human Trafficking

Sex Trafficking

Illegal Immigration

Contemporary Slavery 

Black Market Prices & Profits

AK-47 prices on the black market

Bribes

Computer Hackers and Online Fraud

Contract Killing

Exotic Animals

Fake Diplomas

Fake ID Cards, Passports and Other Identity Documents

Human Smuggling Fees

Human Traffickers Prices

Kidney and Organ Trafficking Prices

Prostitution Prices

Cocaine Prices

Ecstasy Pills Prices

Heroin Prices

Marijuana Prices

Meth Prices

Earnings From Illegal Jobs

Countries In Order Of Largest To Smallest Risk

Forensics

arson

Asphyxia

Blood Analysis

Book Review

Cause & Manner of Death

Chemistry/Physics

Computers/Cell Phones/Electronics

Cool & Odd-Mostly Odd

Corpse Identification

Corpse Location

Crime and Science Radio

crime lab

Crime Scene

Cults and Religions

DNA

Document Examination

Fingerprints/Patterned Evidence

Firearms Analysis

Forensic Anthropology

Forensic Art

Forensic Dentistry

Forensic History

Forensic Psychiatry

General Forensics

Guest Blogger

High Tech Forensics

Interesting Cases

Interesting Places

Interviews

Medical History

Medical Issues

Misc

Multiple Murderers

On This Day

Poisons & Drugs

Police Procedure

Q&A

serial killers

Space Program

Stupid Criminals

Theft

Time of Death

Toxicology

Trauma

[annasophiahelps]

A few pointers on writing a character who lost someone important in their life

Whether it’s a family member, a relative, a friend or even an enemy that your character lost, that certain person is still important in your character’s life, and losing that person probably has quite an impact on your character. Below are a few pointers to keep in mind if you are writing about a character who lost someone important in their life.

Know your character’s relationship with that said person that he/she had lost. Consider about what your character thought of that person when he/she was still alive, and what part did the person played in your character’s life. For example, if it is a sibling that your character lost, understand how your character saw that sibling when he/she was still alive. Were they close? Or did they fight all the time? Did your character look up to his/her sibling, or did he/she get irritated at the sibling easily?

Understand how the death of the person that they lost happened. Was it an accident? Did he/she commit suicide? Or was he/she murdered? How it happened might affect how your character thinks now, and it might also affect your character’s views on the person they lost.

Think about your character’s personality. It may sound weird, but your character’s personality plays a big part on this. If your character is a quiet and reserved person, then he/she would obviously hate talking about the person’s death. And if he/she is this loud and confident person, then he/she would probably hide the fact that the person that died’s death had affected them. They’d probably try to get on with their lives and pretend that they’re 100% okay.

And lastly, did your character’s views on the important person changed after their death? If it was an enemy of them that died, did it make your character feel sorry for that said enemy? Or did it make your character feel victorious? If it was a sibling or parent, did it make your character feel resentful that his/her loved one had left them behind?

[lets-get-fictional]

five steps for not writing a boring story? i can never ever write something that doesn't end up boring 😂

Hiya! Thanks for your question. Writing an engaging story is complicated, but it can be done.

First off, there are so many aspects to writing a gripping story. Honestly, it can’t be done in five steps (and certainly not in one blog post). To prevent a boring story you need strong characters, an exciting plot, good pacing… the list goes on and on.

So rather than type out a 3000+ word response, I’m going to give you a mini-masterpost of the key aspects of writing a non-boring story with links to other LGF posts. Here you go:

How Not to Write a Boring Story:

Descriptions:

How to Write Better Descriptions

Showing vs Telling

How to Create Interesting World-Building

Dialogue:

How to Create a Unique Character Voice

Writing Unique Dialogue

How to Prevent Your Story from Being Dialogue-Heavy

Characters:

What Do You Do When Your Main Character Doesn’t Jump Off the Page?

Three Types of Character Traits

Writing Character Arcs

Plot:

How to Make Your Conflict Less Plain

The Element Every Story Needs

How to Avoid Unnecessary Scenes

Pacing:

Why Your Story Feels Too Fast

How to Pace a Scene More Quickly

Pacing Through Details

Beginning:

What to Write in a First Chapter

How to Avoid Info Dumps in the Beginning

10 Ways to Start Your Story

Middle:

How to Build-Up to a Climax

Plotting the Middle

Creating and Maintaining Tension

End:

Traits of a Strong Ending

Examples of Narrative Endings

Dual Duties of Chapter Endings

Misc.:

What Aspects Make a Good Story?

The Four Horsemen of the Bore-Apocalypse

Thanks again for your question! If you need any more writing advice, feel free to send in another ask! Happy writing!

- Mod Kellie

If you need advice on general writing or fanfiction, you should maybe ask us!