Introspective Hermit

The writing trials of an introspective hermit. https://nikkimalbert.com "In the writings of a hermit we always hear also something of the echo of desolation, something of the whispers and the timid gazing around of isolation; from his strongest words, even from his screaming, resounds a new and dangerous kind of silence and concealment."- Nietzsche

[introspectivehermit]

A portrait I drew of my mom for Christmas for a gift. I hope she likes it since I really do not have much practice with portraits. 

[introspectivehermit]

My recent ink artwork. This is the most recent medium I have been working in. I rather like it so far.

[englishproblems]

[wordsnstuff]

“We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospect.”

— Anais Nin

[relatablegenzwriter]

god i love cg drews tweets

[triumph-of-adaptation]

[jessicacaseyauthor-deactivated2]

Good. Answer.

[heywriters]

(UPDATED!) Not every writer wants to post their work online, however there are positives to doing so. If you seek feedback and advice from readers and writers, you might consider posting a draft or two. Even a few chapters or a poem can be uploaded online to get a little audience feedback.

Here are writing sites I’ve explored along with brief reviews of my experience in using them:

Fictionpress | Original fiction only | Covers Opt. — Has a docs feature so you can save works onsite without posting them, plus moderately detailed analytics to show you individual story traffic. With plenty of keen writers/readers willing to learn and help, written feedback is not uncommon here. Quiet and comfortable, but if you don’t update very often readership grows stagnant.— Adult Material Prohibited.

Major Demographics: All genders, All ages.*

Popular Genres: sci-fi, contemporary, fantasy*

Fanfiction.net | Fanfiction only | Covers Opt. — Sister site to Fictionpress, thus it has all the same features. However, it gets much more traffic than the original fiction site. When it comes to categorizing your story though it can get tricky, and if you have questions or suggestions for the administrators, don’t expect a response email soon…or ever. — Adult Material Prohibited.

Major Demographics: Female, All ages.

Popular Genres: epic dramas, fluff, angst, whump

Archive Of Our Own (AO3) | Fanfiction only** | No covers — Invite only, but getting in isn’t hard. High viewership, well organized, and ad-free. Not much written feedback unless you encourage it, but the “kudos” button is open to the public so anyone can leave their mark of approval. You can also set individual stories to “users only” along with other useful privacy options.

Crossover friendly, so you can finally post that multi-fandom fic and tag each property for search. Let’s you group individual stories into a series, and has various features for sharing/gifting your work with others. Overall the best place for fanfiction, hands down.

Major Demographics: Female, All ages.

Popular Genres: smut, epic dramas, fluff/angst, whump

Wattpad | Original & fan fiction | Covers Req. — Wattpad has been steadily improving its features and policies in the five years I’ve been using it. Here, some writers receive tons of feedback and appreciation, but most receive very little. A few authors have gotten published thanks to this site, others have followers in the hundreds of thousands, and still others become site administrators to support the bustling community.

They’ve recently rebranded, and have also introduced a feature to earn writers money. It is currently in beta and being tested with select authors only.

Unlike other sites, this one has very clear international groups and a high ethnic diversity amongst its writers. There’s an emphasis on supporting foreign authors and their stories in any language. Contests are set up by the site, but also smaller niche ones can be run by individual users.

It’s very fun to use and if the site chooses to feature one of your works you can get a lot of traffic. For the most part however, you have to practice marketing yourself, and/or develop a group of writer friends and read/promote each other’s work. — Adult Material allowed, but along strict guidelines (lots of kids use this site!).

Major Demographics: Female, Teens.

Popular Genres: romance, young adult, supernatural, celeb fic, fantasy

Deviantart | Original & fan fiction | No covers—I’ve never actually posted writing to this site as it is primarily for visual artwork. Still, some writers get feedback and support here for their works. Worth attempting if you already have a presence on the site, but the audience is small and has specific tastes.

Major Demographics: All genders, Teens.

Popular Genres: romance, poetry, fanfiction

Smashbook and Livejournal are sites I am aware of, but have too little knowledge of to review. Likewise  Wordpress, Blogger, or right here on Tumblr you can regularly post stories or novels and receive feedback. However, for those sites you do have to figure out a blogging system for yourself.

While researching good sites for this post, I found this user’s commentsinsightful. She suggested Writer’s Digest and Absolute Write as good places to seek professional feedback on your work. They don’t appear to be sites where you post work, but rather they provide tips and resources to help improve your work.

There are dozens of other places online where you can post your original fiction, non-fiction, and fan fiction. Things to keep in mind when site shopping:

READ THEIR SUBMISSION POLICIES & GUIDELINES FIRST

Search for reviews of the site by individuals who’ve actually used the site and are not affilated with the site.

See what the site’s policy is on deleting works & accounts. You don’t want to get your name and work trapped on a site with a bad reputation.

If “popular” stories have very little feedback on them, this means the majority of stories on that site get none.

If most users haven’t updated in months/years, this means the site is practically dead and may soon shut down. RED FLAG: the site does not date anything.

If the “feedback” on users’ pages and stories are “Like my work!” or “Read for read?” and other self-promotional messages, don’t sign up.

If a site looks cool to you but you’re still unsure, make an account with a junk email and post something you don’t care too much about just to test the waters. Good/bad doesn’t matter much right now, what’s important is figuring out how traffic works and what readers there are interested in. 

Sites to AVOID due to spam, scams, and shifty behavior:

Inkitt—spam/shifty; claims it’s the #1 site for online publishing, but this is misleading. Their idea of getting users is to send copy/paste “invitations” to pre-existing online accounts (often dead accounts), and lie about how good one’s writing is even though they’ve never read it. Signing up with them also gets you endless emails about their pathetic contests.

Dreame—spam/scam; similar deceptive invitation tactic, except they are relentless (they’ve “invited” me five times on two different sites). Their gimmick is to offer you pennies for 5yr rights to your work (and their site is trashy with very little reader feedback).

FicFun—same as Dreame, both are owned by their Singaporean parent company Stary PTE Ltd. (who personally sent me my 5th “invite”).

+ If you have a question, please review my Ask Policy before sending in your ask. Thank you!

+ If you benefit from my updates and replies, please consider sending a little thank you and Buy Me A Coffee! 

+ HEY, Writers! other social media: Wattpad - AO3 - Pinterest - Goodreads

—

*Based on what I see as receiving the most traffic and feedback on each site. These are not accurate statistics, merely observations.

** “Is AO3 really just for fanfic?” (tl;dr—YES)

[salt-and-a-dash-of-pepper]

Writing Advice - On Arrow Wounds

I have a couple pet peeves in fantasy novels, but nothing gets me more riled up than how authors treat arrows. People seem to think that arrows were nuisances rather than deadly weapons, when, no they were one of the most strategically useful weapons in all of history. You could kill people from far away without getting hit yourself, until of course in the later medieval eras, plate armor was produced. Then arrows evolved into bullets that could pierce through armor, and it was all over for both sides. I wanted to give you guys a couple of facts I’ve learned about arrows because they’re a lot cooler than people think.

- Arrowheads usually require surgery, with functioning tools, to remove. This is because of the arrowhead’s shape:

On the left, we see the most painful, and what I argue to be the most deadly, types. See how the bottom of the arrowheads prods out below them? Imagine pulling that backward, the way it came, and pulling the flesh with it. Hence the “tearing flesh” statement. Of course, not all arrowheads are like this, with some with thinner shapes (seen on the right) are designed to puncture armor more effectively. Some of these are from traditional arrows while others are from bolts from crossbows. When writing fantasy, try to be familiar with the potential time period you are referencing the armor from, since that’ll change the types of arrowheads that were used by the enemy, and when one of your characters are wounded from these, it’s a great way to show your immersion when you use the proper arrowhead. With the arrowheads on the far left, removing them simply with your hands is risky because there’s still a high chance that you will still tear the flesh out with it. Having tools that can easier part the flesh out of the way to proud it out is a better option. Doctors were sometimes forced to push arrowheads deeper into the body until it went out the other side since there was more damage done pushing it in than pulling it out.

- Doctor Joseph Howland Bill, a Civil War doctor who wrote a book called “Notes on Arrow Wounds,” gives a comprehensive list on the damage of arrow wounds.

Bill states that arrows “ inflict wounds with a fatality greater than that produced by any other weapons — particularly when surgical assistance cannot be obtained.”

Arrows were designed very well in his day, where the arrowhead would loosen from the shaft when connected to anything wet –*cough* blood *cough* – so if anyone grasped onto the shaft and tried to pull it out, the arrowhead would be left in the body and the doctor would be forced to search for it. I don’t know if this was used in medieval times, but certainly it was used in the 18th century.

He also stated that arrows were sometimes deadlier than bullet wounds, which is a feat since bullets were often made of lead in the 18th century and poisoned a soldier’s bloodstream

The tissue around an arrowhead will not be able to heal and will cause infection if not removed quickly. This would often lead to fatal amputations.

He also states that when lodged in bone – and they often were, hurtling at intense speeds when shot by a 100lb bow – surgeons had to use “great force,” as well as tools, to pry the arrowhead out.

Now for their ability to heal:

- If the arrow went through a limb, they were easier to heal since they only made a small incision. Bill stated he would apply “cold or evaporating lotions” to the wounds and, providing there was no infection, the wound would heal in a mere week. If the wound WAS infected, then he would apply bandages, compresses, and “an early evacuation” of any drainage.

- If the arrow severed an artery, good luck. Doctors, especially in those times, were not able to staunch the bleeding before the patient died from blood loss.

- Arrows also caused severed nerves, broken bones, and fractures. These often weren’t fatal, but they often affected the soldier’s range of motion thereafter.

- Another interesting occurance is when an arrowhead scrapes NEAR a bone, the muscles will contract to such an extend it will bend the arrowhead, making it resemble a fishhook. If this is the case, pulling out the arrowhead would cause even more damage because, as I said, it would tear flesh. Bill had to practice a specific tactic, which you can read at the bottom of this post.

- If the arrow hits the trunk of the person, good luck once again. Bill states that arrowheads are more dangerous than bullets for three main reasons: bloodloss, infection, and emphysema. 

Arrows cut clean slits in someone’s flesh, which provide clearer passage for blood to flow out of.

Arrows usually stay in their targets, which result in infection until a surgeon can successfully remove it.

Emphysema is more of a nuisance than a fatality, but it is caused by irregular breathing from the lungs when struck.

- For this reason, if the arrow hits the LUNGS or any other vital organ, they’re almost always gone. Surgeons cannot staunch the blood at this point, especially on a battlefield, so they often bleed out. As Bill states: “Arrow wounds of the abdomen are generally fatal. An arrow can scarcely pass through the abdomen and fail to open a vessel or wound an intestine.”

Source: 

https://allthingsliberty.com/2013/05/battle-wounds-never-pull-an-arrow-out-of-a-body/

[galadrieljones]

This is very useful! It would explain why a character might, if shot by an arrow that’s lodged quite deep, attempt to PUSH THE ARROW ALL THE WAY THROUGH to the other side, until it exits their body, rather than pull it out. Pushing it through obviously makes the wound deeper, but it prevents further shredding by the “prods” at the base of the arrow. Once the arrow head is through, you could use a sharp tool to saw or clip the shaft apart, and then pull it out a little more “cleanly.” I’m not sure where I saw this, but I remember my first reaction being “AHHHH don’t push the arrow deeper??” But that’s the point, it’s the only way sometimes, particularly with very broad arrows, and it must be done ASAP.

Obviously this would also work only if the arrow was lodged in flesh (not bone) and NOT in a vital organ of any kind. Like you can’t do this with an arrow to the chest, but maybe to the arm/shoulder/calf and POSSIBLY the abdomen if, in the words of Buffy Summers, “no major organs were kabob’ed.” Pulling out an arrow is bad, just like if you get a huge piece of glass in your hand, you’re advised to leave it in and go immediately to the hospital. Pulling it out will cause more damage, more bleeding, etc. You need to get it surgically removed. And if a character gets an arrow in the lungs/stomach/etc., this post explains it extremely well: it is very unlikely they will survive.

Thanks for this!! Grisly but very useful for writers.

[heywriters]

Seeing stuff like this never fails to make me despise humanity. Like, the amount of time and industry put into inventing things that will provide another human/being the maxmimum amount of pain over the course of human history *involuntary shudder.*

Still, I thank you, OP, because I didn’t know some of this stuff, yet have always wondered. History is cool, but unfortunately it happened!

[inritum]

reblog and make a wish! this was removed from tumbrl due to “violating one or more of Tumblr’s Community Guidelines”, but since my wish came true the first time, I’m putting it back. :)

[ghostdog07]

OH MY FUCKING GOD, IT’S BACK ON MY DASH.

THIS SHIT WORKS OKAY, I AM DEAD SERIOUS.

The last time I saw this on my dash, I didn’t think it would happen, so jokingly I wished I could go to a fun. concert.

AND GUESS WHAT, I WENT TO A FUCKING FUN. CONCERT.

THIS SHIT WORKS, TRY IT.

[deathklaue]

YOOOOOOO

I SAW THIS ON MY DASH THE OTHER DAY AND THOUGHT “ITS WORTH A TRY” SO I WISHED I COULD GET A 3DS

LITERALLY LIKE 4 DAYS LATER MY DAD SENT ME A PICTURE OF THE 3DS XL HE BOUGHT FOR ME WHILE I WAS AT SCHOOL

IM STILL FREAKING OUT ABOUT THIS

[doryishness]

holy fuck, I didn’t expect this to work, I was like psh, whatever it’s just a quick reblog, but I wished my Dad would actually respond back to me AND HE FUCKING DID A FEW DAYS LATER, I GOT A FUCKING TEXT FROM MY DAD TODAY WHO HASN’T SPOKEN OR RESPONDED TO ME IN MONTHS HOLY FUCK WHAT IS THIS MAGIC IT WORKS. 

[victoriaringsinyourears]

I WANTED TO SEE MY BOYFRIEND AND I DIDN’T THINK I’D GET DAYS OFF BUT THIS WEEKEND I’M HEADING UP THERE??? THIS IS CRAZY SHIT 

[lenshade]

SO LIKE I JOKINGLY WISHED FOR MY OWN LEN KAGAMINE AND THEN LIKE A WEEK LATER I GOT A LEN NENDOROID??? H ELP

[themixedbagofwhat]

WTF OKAY SO THIS SHOT ACTUALLY WORKS BECAUSE WHEN I WISHED, I HAD WISHED MY CRUSH WOULD LIKE ME BACK AND GUESS WHAT? I HAVE A BOYFRIEND NOW. WHAT THE HELLLLL?????

[wodkat]

ok I’ve said this before but IM DOING IT AGAIN THE FIRST TIME I SAW THIS, MY WISH DID COME TRUE SO I REBLOGED AGAIN AND SAID IT IN THE TAGS BUT THEN I WISHED FOR SMTH ELSE AND IT LITERALLY LITERALLY HAPPENED LIKE A COUPLE DAYS LATER WHAT THE HELL SO NOW IM WRITING THIS HERE FOR YOU BC I DONT BELIEVE IN THIS CRAP BUT STILL IT’S AN AWFULLY BIG COINCIDENCE

[acstiel]

THE BOY I FELL I LOVE WITH LEFT TO TRAVEL THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD AND HAS BEEN GONE NOW FOR 3 MONTHS. WE HAVENT SPOKEN SINCE BECAUSE I DIDNT WANT TO MAKE HIM FEEL TRAPPED TO ME AND NOT ENJOY HIS TIME SO I WAITED FOR HIM TO CONTACT ME FIRST. I SAW THIS ON A PARTICULARLY LOW DAY WHEN I WAS MISSING HIM SO MUCH I CRIED FROM THE PAIN, GUYS I REALLY LOVE HIM, SO I THOUGHT MEH WHAT THE FUCK, AND WISHED HE WOULD JUST LET ME KNOW HE WAS OKAY.

GUYS.

HE FUCKING CALLED ME 20 MINUTES LATER

20 FUCKNG. MINUTES. LATER.

GOOD THINGS DO HAPPEN. AND ITS IN THIS POST.

[juststrokemyglabella]

I wish for someone to leave something in my ask.

[adweeb-deactivated20160228]

OKAY SO I ASKED FOR A HEDGEHOG AND NOW GUESS WHO HAS A PET HEDGEHOG

[chaariss]

i really hope my wish comes true

[champagnepug]

my last two wishes came true, one more couldn’t hurt

[pradest]

SO I WISHED FOR AN IMAC THE LAST TIME I DID THIS AND A WEEK LATER MY MOM SURPRISED ME WITH AN IMAC. HONESTLY SHE DIDNT EVEN KNOW I WANTED ONE, I DIDNT TELL ANYONE, IT WAS AN EARLY XMAS PRESENT. Wow this works

[crazyskinnylove]

This is AMAZING i wished that I would get into South Korea and I did !!!!!!!!

[bvbiscool-deactivated20170311]

i wish i can meet andy biersack

[botanicaly-blog]

gonna wish really hard on this one

[wild-west-wind]

You know what fantasy writing needs? Working class wizards.

A crew of enchanters maintaining the perpetual flames that run the turbines that generate electricity, covered in ash and grime and stinking of hot chilies and rare mushrooms used for the enchantments

A wizard specializing in construction, casting feather fall on every worker, and enchanting every hammer to drive nails in straight, animating the living clay that makes up the core of the crane

An elderly wizard and her apprentice who transmute fragile broken objects. From furniture, to rotten wood beams, to delicate jewelry

A battle magician, trained with only a few rudimentary spells to solve a shortage of trained wizards on the front who uses his healing spells to help folks around town

Wizarding shops where cheery little mages enchant wooden blocks to be hammered into the sides of homes. Hammer this into the attic and it will scare off termites, toss this in the fire and clean your chimney, throw this in the air and all dust in the room gets sucked up

Wizard loggers who transmute cut trees into solid, square beams, reducing waste, and casting spells to speed up regrowth. The forest, they know, will not be too harsh on them if the lost tree’s children may grow in its place

Wizard farmers who grow their crops in arcane sigils to increase yield, or produce healthier fruit

Factory wizards who control a dozen little constructs that keep machines cleaned and operational, who cast armor to protect the hands of workers, and who, when the factory strikes for better wages, freeze the machines in place to ensure their bosses can’t bring anyone new in.

Anyway, think about it.

[wild-west-wind]

Construction wizards to turn back time to root out wood worm and strengthen old buildings.

A wizard tailors who transmutes cloth into fully made clothes without seems and leaving behind no scraps

A wizard who works in public transit, timing out teleports with detailed schedules, time magic, and enchanted communications, sending dozens of people to far away cities for a day or work or leisure

A team of wizard gardeners tend to trees grown far outside their native range, and ideal climate, encircled with runes and fed potions to grow none the less

A wizard sits in their office in the aqueduct, re-casting the spells that allow its precious water to flow to the city uphill

A wizard fisher casts water repelling spells on the sailors and the stairs, keeps the hoist on the anchor from rusting, casts balls of heat that keep everyone warm below decks. Their real job is to herd fish together so they can be caught in single huge nets, and keep them cold as the boat returns to land.

There are so many possibilities outside of “stodgy academic who wears ugly robes” and “Very good holy man who helps everyone and the fact they’ve never had a job is never brought up” and “evil wizard toiling away on great evils in his evil tower in the evil country.”

[ethanrayne]

Wizards who come out and ward your home for you, like the magical equivalent of a home security system.

[imagination4lif-blog]

📚📚❤📚

[thecaffeinebookwarrior-deactiva]

Resources For Writing Deaf, Mute, or Blind Characters

Despite the fact that I am not deaf, mute, or blind myself, one of the most common questions I receive is how to portray characters with these disabilities in fiction.

As such, I’ve compiled the resources I’ve accumulated (from real life deaf, mute, or blind people) into a handy masterlist.

Deaf Characters:

Deaf characters masterpost

Deaf dialogue thread

Dialogue with signing characters (also applies to mute characters.)

A deaf author’s advice on deaf characters

Dialogue between deaf characters

Mute Characters

Life as a Mute

My Silent Summer:  Life as a Mute

What It’s Like Being Mute

21 People Reveal What It’s Really Like To Be Mute

I am a 20 year old Mute, ask me anything at all!

Blind Characters:

The 33 Worst Mistakes Writers Make About Blind Characters.

@referenceforwriters masterpost of resources for writing/playing blind characters.

The youtube channel of the wonderful Tommy Edison, a man blind from birth with great insight into the depiction of blind people and their lives.

An Absolute Write thread on the depiction of blind characters, with lots of different viewpoints and some great tips.

And finally, this short, handy masterpost of resources for writing blind characters.

Characters Who Are Blind in One Eye

4 Ways Life Looks Shockingly Different With One Eye

Learning to Live With One Eye

Adapting to the Loss of an Eye

Adapting to Eye Loss and Monocular Vision

Monocular Depth Perception

Deaf-Blind Characters

What Is It Like To Be Deafblind?

Going Deaf and Blind in a City of Noise and Lights

Deaf and Blind by 30

Sarita is Blind, Deaf, and Employed (video)

Born Deaf and Blind, This Eritrean American Graduated Harvard Law School (video)

A Day of a Deaf Blind Person

Lesser Known Things About Being Deafblind

How the Deaf-Blind Communicate

Early Interactions With Children Who Are Deaf-Blind

Raising a DeafBlind Baby

If you have any more resources to add, let me know!  I’ll be adding to this post as I find more resources.

I hope this helps, and happy writing!  <3

[thecaffeinebookwarrior-deactiva]

Updated with more resources, specifically for characters who are blind in one eye.

[writing-in-the-grave]

ATTENTION WRITERS

Google BetaBooks. Do it now. It’s the best damn thing EVER.

You just upload your manuscript, write out some questions for your beta readers to answer in each chapter, and invite readers to check out your book!

It’s SO easy!

You can even track your readers! It tells you when they last read, and what chapter they read!

Your beta readers can even highlight and react to the text!!!

There’s also this thing where you can search the website for available readers best suited for YOUR book!

Seriously guys, BetaBooks is the most useful website in the whole world when it comes to beta reading, and… IT’S FREE.

[spoonies4ever]

when i have a sudden surge of energy…

[artmagine]

The amazing concept art of Dan Baker for Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald

Artbook: The Art of Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald

[antigonick]

“I created various personalities within myself. I create them constantly. Every dream, as soon as it is dreamed, is immediately embodied by another person who dreams it instead of me. In order to create, I destroy myself; I have externalised so much of my inner life that even inside I now exist only eternally. To act is to exile oneself.”

— Fernando Pessoa, The Book of Disquiet

[introspectivehermit]

The New Year

So 2018 is coming to an end. It was a suckfest for me so screw it. I’m done with it. Bring it on 2019! So new year, new me? Hell, no. I am me. I like me. Yes, our sense of self and self-ident…