Ink and Imagination

I am a dreamer, always have been. I love to write fanfiction but also create new worlds and stories of my own and am currently in the process of writing my first fantasy novel. My main interest are: How to train your dragon Vikings Game of Thrones Lord of the Rings Avatar Last Airbender Outlander

[imaginativemind29new]

Welcome to my Writing, Whump and Fandom Blog!

My favorite genre is fantasy with a romance subplot, and that's what you can expect in my writing :)

Currently trying to tackle the first draft of book 1 of the trilogy I am writing.

But I also enjoy to write fanfiction, my main fandoms are mentioned in the blog description, tho I mostly write for HTTYD. (Viggo Grimborn is my fave + vigcup shipper)

Creating OC's is one of my favorte things to do and I could gush about them all day. They are my babies, which of course means I love to whump them XD

Tho I try to keep this blog mostly sfw, there will be the occassional nsfw content in my writing or reblogs. Nsfw will be tagged accordingly by me with the following tag: nsfw and Trigger warnings will be tagged: tw ... (insert the trigger)

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Tag games and friendly asks are always welcome. You want to chat? That's cool, just reach out to me :)

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Here's the link to my AO3

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Here is my Whump Intro

[imaginativemind29new]

I am watching Supernatural for the first time ever (just started season 3 now) and I can already tell I've subscribed to constant emotional damage, haven't I?

[writingwithfolklore]

Writing Character Arcs

                Here’s an easy secret about character arcs—they fit the same structure as plots (that’s because your main character’s arc is the main plot, but I’ve already talked about that here).

                That means, your character arc will somewhat follow this structure:

Normal world

Inciting Incident

Big thing happens 1

Fun and Games

Midpoint

Things get worse

Big thing happens #2

Crisis

Climax

Resolution

It begins with your character in their ‘normal state’—who they are from their backstory. They have some sort of problem that they aren’t addressing, because why would they? Change is hard.

Then, inciting incident. Something happens that sends them into a “change spiral”. They’re forced to face something they’ve been ignoring or avoiding. This incident can be just about anything that turns their world upside down—a new person comes into their life, an old person they left behind reappears, a close one dies, or a friend moves on. Etc. Etc.

Big thing #1 is the first action they take to “right” what happened in the inciting incident. An old flame reappears in their life, maybe they decide to meet up with them. A close friend dies—maybe they decide to take a trip away for a little while. It is an action taken by your character because of what happened in the inciting incident.

Fun and Games is the part where things seem to be going okay for them. Or things can be going terribly for them—it’s up to you. Either way, it accumulates to…

The midpoint. Something happens and it’s terrible and probably their fault. The old flame reinforces why they stopped going out by breaking your character’s heart again. The funeral for the friend is happening and MC missed it. Etc.

Things get worse is just hammering home this point. From their actions, things are going downhill.

Big thing happens #2 is the second action they take to right things again. This time they’re changing strategies from the first thing they tried. Maybe if they tried avoiding their problem first, they’re going to confront it (for better or for worse).

The crisis is the recognition of their initial problem or flaw. Leading to:

The climax, in which the character either chooses to change or to stay the same. Grow and do the right thing knowing what we now know, or stay stagnant and do the thing they would have done in the beginning. What you choose here depends on if your story is a tragedy or a comedy—tragic characters don’t recognize their flaw and grow from them.

Resolution is the consequences of their actions. For tragic characters, things are probably bad and remain that way—we need to show the readers their choice was the one wrong. For characters who do grow, we see them begin to thrive for the first time in the story. They’ve achieved what they wanted, though maybe not in the way they thought they wanted it.

(Pair this post with Character is Plot to flesh out your characters.)

Character is plot. I mean that as, your main character’s arc is (literally) the main plot. If you think about arcs as something to put over

[writingdotcoffee]

“Write about what really interests you, whether it is real things or imaginary things, and nothing else.”

— C. S. Lewis

[theplottery]

How to make character deaths sad

Here’s my two cents on making character deaths sadder in your novel, with a quick example included!

Want to coax a tear out of your readers, but you don’t know how? Let me give you my best tips for this.

👉 Make them worth something

Killing a character off for the sake of doing it, or for bringing shock value, will only come off as a cheap plot beat. If you’re going to have a big character death, you should do it on purpose, know why you’re doing it, do it in the right moment, and know what consequences that death will bring.

👉 Dissect the big emotions down to their smallest atoms

Describing big emotions like grief or love is a surefire way to generalize the feeling and leave your readers’ eyes dry.

Instead, focus on feelings that are specific to the characters who are grieving and those they’ve lost. Do they have a line they often say to each other, an inside joke, a silly plan they never got around to?

Here are some examples:

Imagine a father and son who constantly fight over leftover cake in their fridge, and the son always gets to it first, while the dad gets left hangry, and complains how he never gets the last piece.

After a car accident, the dad is dying in his son’s arms.

Which line is going to hit you more?🤔

A) Dad, please, just hold, on, I can’t lose you.

B) You can’t die. I saved you the last piece of mom’s cake.

👉 Build up the character first

Readers won’t cry for someone they don’t care about. So if you already go into writing a book knowing you’re going to have some expendable characters who die, make sure you don’t gloss over their development. The more interesting their arcs and personalities are, the more probable it is that your readers will care for their deaths.

👉 Consequences can be stronger than the event itself

What I mean by this is that sometimes you don’t even have to cover the death scene in order to get the most feeling across. End one chapter with the character alive and well, and have the next one be without them—the feeling of emptiness in the rest of your characters without witnessing precisely what happened can work so well in many cases.

Have you heard of Novel Plotting Academy?🤩 It’s my huge digital course that contains all of my knowledge and step-by-step processes on planning a hella good story.

NPA will help you outline your story idea, so you can write a full novel with ease and get that book deal you’ve always dreamed of.

Join by August 31st, through the [link here] or before the course goes back up to full price!

Novel Plotting Academy

Self-paced online writing course that provides all the tools you need to plan your novel, and teaches you how with fun, easy-to-follow video

[so-many-ocs]

“how’s the writing going?” i’m glad you asked! my room has never been cleaner and i’ve decided to take up baking

[imaginativemind29new]

Writing Habits Tag Game

Thanks for tagging me @the-broken-pen! You can find the post here

Instructions: Bold your answers to the following:

I write: daily | most days I a few times a week I a few times a month I random

I write most often: when I first get up | later in the morning I afternoon I evening I the wee hours of the night | whenever

I tend to write scenes: in chronological order with no skipping I mostly in order but with some filler/skipping | whatever scene I feel like I who knows what's gonna come out

In one sitting, I tend to write: a few sentences at a time I a few hundred words | a few thousand words | a complete chapter/section no matter how long I an outline | whatever comes

The things that come easiest to me are: dialogue I description of senses I description of action | description of characters I exposition | other

I tend to write: on a phone I on a laptop I in a notebook | on whatever paper I can find | with speech to text | in the blood of my enemies I it doesn't really matter to me I on paper first and then typed up I old school typewriter I on a computer

When I take a break from writing, it usually lasts: a few days I a few weeks I a few months I it's kind of random

My favorite thing to do when I'm on a writing break is: recharge with other creative hobbies | read/consume other media I do something physical | catch up with old friends | work on my WIP in other ways like with playlists or art | other

In general, I think my writing habits are: pretty much what I need them to be I okay, but l'm working on making them better I non-existent I not great l i'm excited to develop them further I totally random I perfect for me

Open Tag :)

[imaginativemind29new]

Hello hello! Just stopping by to hear a little about whichever WIP(s) you want to share about! What do you hope readers pick up on from your WIP? What do you hope is their favorite aspect of it?

Hello! Thanks for your ask :) Sorry it took me a while to get to it, my weeks been a bit rough.

I love your questions! I'm gonna answer them for my WIP The Heir's Curse.

The story at its core is about discovering and accepting your true self, realizing your self-worth not despite but because you are different from others, belonging by being your true authentic, imperfect self. Another big trope in my story is found family, it's hands down one of my favorite things ever and I hope my future readers will enjoy this aspect of the story. :)

[eldritch-flower]

I don't write for other people. I don't write for myself. I write so two characters can finally call each other by their first names, breathless, after 70k words of denial... preferably under a full moon, covered in blood and inches away from death

[sigynpenniman]

I know everyone says it’s best to just stick to “said” as a dialogue tag bc it disappears and that’s true and I mostly do but I want to take a moment for my all-time favorite dialogue tag, “lied.” Absolutely nothing hits like “‘I’m here to help,’ he lied.” NOTHING.

[lyralit]

subtle ways to include foreshadowing

one character knowing something offhandedly that they shouldn't, isn't addressed until later

the crow rhyme

colours!! esp if like, blue is evil in your world and the mc's best friend is always noted to wear blue...betrayal?

write with the ending in mind

use patterns from tragic past events to warn of the future

keep the characters distracted! run it in the background until the grand reveal

WEATHER.

do some research into Chekhov's gun

mention something that the mc dismisses over and over

KEEP TRACK OF WHAT YOU PUT. don't leave things hanging.

unreliable characters giving information that turn out to be true

flowers and names with meanings

anything with meanings actually

metaphors. if one character describes another as "a real demon" and the other turns out to be the bad guy, you're kind of like...ohhh yeahhh

anyways add anything else in the tags

[darklynoon-deactivated20170407]

Reblog if you’re 30 or older

This is an experiment to see if there really are as few of us as people think.You can also use this to freak out your followers who think you’re 25 or something. Yay!

[dduane]

…Older. :)

[goddess47]

*Way* older than 30….

[dzkat2]

Way older 🎉🎊🪅

[imaginativemind29new]

Happy STS!

Have you ever had a wip which is a fix-it story of a shitty piece of media? What is it?

Thanks for the ask :) Sorry yet again for the delay!

And actually I don't think I have, at least not really started the WIP. I had an idea for a fanfic in the How to train your dragon/Race to the edge fandom were one of the characters I really love would have survived instead of dying like in the original show. But there are already so many fics out there that explored the same idea for the same character so I didn't feel the urge to actually write it out. :)

[imaginativemind29new]

25. GRIEF - Do you regret killing off any characters?

31. LUST - Who is your hottest OC?

32. METAL - Can you write fight scenes?

Thanks for the questions Anna :) I loved answering all of them

25. GRIEF - Do you regret killing off any characters?

Do I regret killing off a character? Well is it weird if I say no? I avoid creating characters solely for the purpose of killing them off at any point in the story, but when a character dies it has to contribute to the plot and development of the other characters.

I do mourn my characters tho and ngl made myself cry very recently while writing that scene in The Heir's Curse were one of the characters died. Not gonna spoil who it is of course, but I broke the hearts of his friends and my own while writing it. He was the sweetest bean and surely didn't deserve to go in such a way...

*sigh* I will be nice to my characters at some point...eventually...in the future...I promise lol XD

31. LUST - Who is your hottest OC?

Well if we take this question literally I'd have to say Prince Enver because:

I was hot, far too hot. My fingers, resting on the window sill, felt like glowing pieces of coal and when the smell of burnt wood hit my nose I knew they didn't just feel that way. Cursing, I took a step back and looked at my hands. My fingertips glowed crimson and panic doubled my heartbeat. No, no, no. This could not be happening. Not now. Not again.

lol

But I know that's not how the question is meant ;) When it comes to looks and also personality wise I'd say the title of my hottest OC goes to Baz all the way

It's not only his *sculptured by the gods* jawline or the dimples that appear when he smiles that make him attractive, not at all with all the scars adorning his body, but it's the way he carries an air of mystery around him and the way he cares about his friends and the sacrifices he is willing to make to protect his own. Plus the way he presents himself to the world as the cunning, serious and sometimes outright devious pirate captain, but underneath managed to keep his easy-going, teasing nature after all he's been through makes him attractive. He'll only show this side of him to people he truly trusts tho.

Let me put this snippet here, because I really love him in this scene (it's Robyn's POV):

Before I could react, the soldier had already fired. Frozen, I expected the inevitable pain, but it never came. Instead, I was knocked off my feet by something heavy. A dull thud and a painful groan reached my ears. It took me a few moments to get my racing heart under control before I realised what was happening. And who was lying on top of me, shielding me from the raining arrows. "Baz," I brought out with a gasp, and hearing his name, he looked up. His stormy eyes were glazed over, and though his body twitched in pain, his mouth twisted into a wry grin. "Hello birdie, there you are." That was as far as he got as a violent cough shook his body. My eyes widened as he struggled to push himself up onto his arms. "You're hit!" My heart hammered hard in my chest as my eyes fell on the arrow sticking out of the front of his chest. It must have missed his heart by only inches. He looked down at himself and I swallowed at the sight of his bloodied teeth. How by the stars was he still grinning? Even a stupid dimple appeared as he lifted his gaze back up to me. "And that's really inconvenient, but for now we have to get you out of here."

32. METAL - Can you write fight scenes?

Actually I think I can and I quite enjoy the dynamic of fight scenes. :) I like to put in dialogue a lot, banter or back and forth between enemy and hero just so the scene doesn't feel like a static sequence of description of different moves.

This is just a minor fight scene since I have yet to get to the main battles in my WIP, but maybe you can see from it what I mean :)

Baz POV:

"Fight all you want, you're outnumbered." To my horror, more guards kept pouring into the hall. There were just too many. I fended off two more attackers when something flashed beside me. I blinked and paused, as did the attacking guards. As my eyes adjusted to the sudden light, a short laugh escaped me. Faolán did it! Where a few seconds ago there was only him and me, there were now several versions of Faolán scattered across the room, as well as multiple versions of myself. The guards looked around in confusion and Dragon cried out in anger. "An illusion! Find them and kill them! I want my artefact!" The guards didn't need to be told twice. They pounced on the first versions of Faolán and me. One of my illusions raised its sword to block an attack, but when the guard cut off its head it dissolved into mist. "Now that wasn't very nice," I said, wincing as someone grabbed me by the arm. "No time for that," Faolán hissed as he pulled me towards the exit, "The illusion won't last long."

[imaginativemind29new]

12 Disease for the writeblr ask game?

Thanks for the ask Archer! :)

12. DISEASE - If you had to live in a setting of your creation, which would you pick?

This question had me think for a while because there is more than one place in my world, that I quite like, but if I had to live there permanently I'd choose Celnaer.

Celnaer is a crescent moon-shaped island lying south-west from the continent with a mild climate and lush vegetation, hidden coves in the forest, and beautiful beaches between cliffs at the coast. During spring and summertime the whole island is dotted in blues, purples, pinks and whites from various wild blooming hydrangeas and the air is filled with the delicate scent of the blooming lilacs. But even during winter it doesn't get very cold, there's never snow on Celnaer, just rain.

The island is ruled by women, namely the Sisters of the Stars, an order of priestesses who worship Astrea, The Great Mother and goddess of the night and stars. The temple of the sisterhood is the true gem of the island, its buildings shaped like the different phases of the moon and built from alabaster white stone. Violence is forbidden on Celnaer and the priestesses serve the few civilians that live on the island as healers, teachers and advocates.

I'd not live in the temple tho but rather in the small town at the coast, preferably above Brandon's bakery and watch from my window as merchant ships come and go, looking out if I can spot a pirate ship with midnight blue sails accidentaly finding its way into the haven. ;)

[askgametime]

101 quick angsty/whump prompts for brief fic snippets

Send me a number and I’ll write a quick, brief snippet. Or, hey, we’ll see how long it ends up being, who knows. (If you like, you can also include a fandom, a character, or characters!)

Greatest fear/Phobias/Nightmares

Captured/Caged/Locked

Loss of Control/Possession/Brainwashing

Hostage/Ransom

Broken/Dislocated

Guilt/Blame

Hoarse/Voiceless

Kneeling/Slumped Over

Waterboarding/Drowning

Hunger/Dehydration

Bound/Tied Up

Delirious/Fever/Hallucinations/Sleep Paralysis

Begging/Pleading/Desperation

Hiding Pain

Shaking Hands

Frozen/Cold

Manipulation/Gaslighting

Panic/Hysteria/Frightened

Loss/Gone/Absence

Incoherence/Babbling

Physical Pain/Agony

Watching/Unable to Stop It/Cameras

Whipping/Punishment

Skittish/Shy/Uncharacteristic

Cost/Consequences

Helpless/Motionless/Paralyzed

Headache/Migraine

Exhaustion/Insomnia

Electrocution/Shock

Strangling/Throat

Manhandling/Touching

Crying/Sobbing

Protector/Sacrifice

Trust/Comfort/Safety

Touch-Starved

Apology/Begging for Forgiveness

Scars/Lasting Marks

Isolation/Loneliness/Friendless

Self-Hatred/Low Self-Esteem

Misunderstandings

Mistaken Identity

Secret Identity/Lying For A Good Cause/Alibi

Fake Character Death/Missing

Torture/Interrogation

Bleeding/Out Of It

Hiding/Terrified

Humiliation/Display

Dizzy/Collapse

Lost

Visible Injuries/Bruising/Bloodied

Falling/Suspended

Insincerity/Lies

Embarrassment/Tears/Blush

Annoying/Irritation

Dislike/Hatred

Unrequited

Rescue

Willing/Self-Injury Escaping or Helping Someone Else

Storms/Weather

Relief/End

Small

Hair/Braids/Pulling/Shorn

Rejection/Letters

Giving Up

Remnants/What’s Left

Darkness

Reveal/Secrets/Hidden Past

Bitten/Teeth/Transformation

Bare/Stripped

False Promises

Forced

Needy/Clingy

Self-Harm/Destructive Behaviors

Disheveled/Messed-Up Hair and Clothing

Hope

Burnt/Fire/Branding

Winning

Words They Didn’t Mean

Hugs/Lack of Hugs

Sick/Drugged

Claustrophobia/Small Spaces

Buried/Caves/Underground

Trapped

Depression

Struggle/Fighting Back

Blind/Deaf/Sensory Deprivation

Smile

Memories/Amnesia

Reputation

Contrast/Juxtaposition

Heat/Weakness

Trying Not to Cry/Holding Back Tears

Silent/Gagged

Disguise/Hidden

Barefoot/Can’t Walk

Kiss/Dance

Reunion

Last Time/Parting

Longing/Yearning

Escape/Chase/Hunted

Truth Serum/Honesty

[sotrias-labyrinth-deactivated20]

I feel like when I say ‘relatable’ what I really mean is ‘resonant.’ I don’t want characters who I feel are like me, I want characters who have emotions so strong I can feel them through the page.

[secretlyatargaryen]

I think this is important because a lot of us forget the power of stories to make us feel things about characters who are not like us, who have experienced things that we never will. The purpose of listening to someone else's story should not necessarily be identification, but understanding.