I honestly think Gen-Z and younger simply does not understand how recent widespread smartphone adoption is.
I am not that old, and I didn't have a smartphone until probably late high school. For most of my life, many if not most people were not walking around with a magic internet machine in their pocket that they pulled out and used constantly for everything.
idk who on earth could possibly need to hear this, but do NOT, under ANY circumstances, give out your SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER to ANY SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS
Novel outline - a document that includes important planning information about your novel’s structure, plot, characters, scenes, and more. It is the skeleton of your novel.
An outline can be anything from a one-page written document to a comprehensive visual mindmap that uses diagrams to represent the link between information and ideas.
If you have the space, you can write your sentences on index cards and post them on a wall to make it easier to view and manipulate the parts.
Each event should be a single, short sentence (e.g. Danny gets shot in the leg).
How to Create a Novel Outline
Grab your notebook (or index cards) and follow these simple steps:
1. Craft your premise
This is the underlying idea for your story.
A good way to find the premise is to ask yourself, “What would happen if…?”
For example: What would happen if a young man who survives a shipwreck spends months in a lifeboat with a large Bengal tiger? (Life of Pi, 2001) Or: What would happen if four strangers met in an Italian villa during World War II? (The English Patient, 1992).
Next, it might help to try and answer a few key questions to help expand on the premise and generate new ideas. Things like:
Who is the main protagonist?
What is the situation?
How will the protagonist change from the beginning of the novel to the end?
What is her/her objective?
What does he/she want?
How does he/she get or not get what they want?
Is there an opposing force that is stopping the protagonist from achieving this objective?
What is the central conflict of the novel?
What about the central theme—what are you trying to say?
Once you’ve worked out the answers to these questions, write a 1-paragraph summary of the novel. Think of it as an elevator pitch.
2. Determine your setting
In a novel, the setting (time, place) can be just as important as the characters. Readers need to feel a sense of where things are happening, just as much as why they’re happening.
Planning setting can depend on a number of things, depending on what kind of novel you’re writing. Get to know your setting intimately. Do as much research as you can. If your novel is set in the real world, find photos, descriptions, and other materials to inform your ideas.
Is your novel set in a boarding school? During a particular period in time?
Find as much information, both written and visual, about boarding schools in that time. Picture your settings in your mind, and write down as much detail as you can: everything from how something looks and sounds to how it might smell, taste, or feel.
3. Get to know your characters
Write character profiles. Visualize them. Pretend you’re introducing these characters to your friends. What would you say about them? What details would you include, and what details would you omit—and why? What kind of journey will each character undertake in the novel? Where will they start, and where will they end up? Who will be central to the novel’s plot, and who will just serve as color and background?
Develop character backstories. Think of the moments in each character’s life that have led them to the point where they are introduced in the novel. What elements have shaped their personality and progression as characters? Do they have unresolved issues crucial to the plot?
One method is to conduct a Q&A with the most important characters, as a way of finding out more about them. Ask your characters a series of questions (get as personal as you want) and have him/her answer in his/her own words.
4. Construct your plot
Construct a timeline of events. Write down everything that happens in the novel, from the beginning to the end. Include details where you can, such as where the events take place, and who is involved. If you know the outcome of the events, and how they will impact the novel’s overall plot, include this as well (these can help form the foundation of additional subplots).
Beginning: The beginning of your novel has to accomplish a lot. It must introduce the hero, the villain, and the world of the story, as well as the story’s sole dramatic question, and it must do this with enough energy to grab your reader’s interest right away. A prologue can be useful for seizing the reader’s attention.
Middle: Often, tension evaporates in the middle of a novel, so it’s a good idea to figure out your ending first. It may not be perfect, and you can always change it later, but it’s useful to know the climax to which your characters are headed. Having that destination will help you stay focused during the “middle muddle.” Write as many short sentences as you need to describe the pathway your characters will take to reach the climax.
End: While it may seem daunting to figure out the ending so early, just return to your sole dramatic question, which already has your ending hidden within it. For example, if your question is: Will Ahab catch the whale? Then your story’s finale will be the moment when he does.
5. Write your scenes
Once your plot outline is in place, you’ll have a better idea of what scenes will need to be placed where. Add them to the outline. Flesh them out as much as you want—everything from where the action takes place to who is involved, even dialogue if you already know what you want your characters to say. Don’t worry about things making sense at this point, you’ll have time later to go back and highlight anything that feels out of place. Just focus on getting everything down so you can see it in front of you.
Once your outline is complete, you’ll be free to start writing your first draft with the knowledge that if you falter, you can always turn back to the outline to see the big picture. As you begin the writing process, watch out for gaps in logic. Refer back to the outline, and update storylines, plot points, and the timeline as you go along.
While it’s necessary to have a basic grasp of your characters and your world when you start writing, it’s not essential to know everything up front. In fact, even with the most meticulous outlines, you may still find that your characters do things to upset your plans. When this happens, follow your instincts. Don’t be afraid to toss your outline or significantly revise it mid-way through your novel. A good rule to remember is that outlines involve plotting what will happen to your characters, but in the end, your characters should determine your plot.
Classic Methods for Creating Novel Outlines
No two outlines are ever the same, however there are myriad methods to kickstart the novel outline process.
Synopsis outline. This involves the creation of a short document, usually one or two pages long, that gives you a rough idea of the novel’s structure but also leaves room for flexibility. Think of this as a synopsis of the book, hitting all the major beats: what happens in the beginning, middle, and end? What are the major plot points and twists? What is the climax? What is the resolution?
In-depth outline. This is a more evolved outline that usually involves writing chapter summaries and outlining the different scenes within those chapters. This is more comprehensive and can take a lot more time. However, some writers swear by this method to stay on track. Some in-depth outlines can almost be mini-novels themselves, hitting around the 10,000-word mark.
Snowflake method. This method was created by author and writing instructor Randy Ingermanson. It begins with a one-sentence summary of the story you’re trying to tell. For example, the sentence could be something like: “Two teenagers discover a secret cave that contains treasures that a group of criminals has been hunting for.” The snowflake method would then require you to build that sentence into a paragraph, and then use that paragraph to create a series of character descriptions, and from there a series of storylines that involve those characters. The process spans outward until you have a fully outlined novel.
Bookend method. This method is for writers who prefer to leave some things to chance. It involves plotting the start and end of the story, as well as each of the main characters—but nothing more. This method is usually recommended for writers who already have a strong grasp of the characters and the kind of story they want to tell.
Basic Questions Every Outline Should Answer
Besides listing characters and plot points for story structure, your outline should give you a general sense of the direction of your story as well as the primary conflicts and tensions that will make it intriguing for readers. Keep the following questions in mind while creating your outline:
What is the main contract of the story? You must resolve the promises you made to your reader by the end of the novel.
What sort of time pressure is working on your characters?
What is at stake for the protagonist of the novel? Does the pressure on the main characters grow more intense as the story progresses?
Pros & Cons of Creating an Outline
Some writers are comfortable creating a detailed outline for a novel. New writers in particular find it helpful to have a road map.
Others feel that writing an outline diminishes the pleasure of discovering the story along the way. They argue that working from an outline means you’re not creating anymore, you’re translating your ideas.
In the literary world, novelists who use outlines are referred to as “plotters.” Example: Ernest Hemingway.
Those who don’t are known as “pantsers” — a reference to flying by the seat of their pants. Famous pantsers include Margaret Atwood and Stephen King.
While every writer is different, there are some general pros and cons to consider before creating your novel outline.
The benefits of creating an outline:
Helps visualize the big picture
Keeps the story on track
Logs which scenes go where
Clearly presents character arcs
Acts as a guide to ease writer’s block when you’re stuck
Clarifies the middle, to avoid the “muddle”
The drawbacks of creating an outline:
Can create a stilted narrative
If followed too closely, can feel formulaic
May lead to more showing rather than telling in the actual writing
Characters may seem to make inauthentic choices, solely based on plot points instead of natural results from narrative action
Bestselling author Stephen King supposedly swears by putting interesting characters in difficult situations and just seeing what happens. He famously said: “Outlines are the last resource of bad fiction writers who wish to God they were writing masters’ theses.”
That aside, both plotters and pantsers agree on one thing: there is no correct way when it comes to novel writing. It simply depends on what kind of writer you are, and what works for you.
The long-lost remains of King Alfred the Great have been found buried under a car park, investigators claim.
Alfred died in 899, and his bones were repeatedly moved. He was buried in Winchester Cathedral until 1110, when his remains were moved to Winchester's Hyde Abbey, where they were interred before the high altar between the bodies of his wife and son.
The abbey was demolished after the dissolution of the monasteries in 1539, and the place was left in ruins.
In 1866, during construction of a workhouse on the site, the English antiquarian John Mellor excavated the area, found what he thought were Alfred's bones and had them reburied at nearby St. Bartholemew’s Church.
But in 2013, when archaeologists exhumed and carbon-dated the bones from St. Bartholomew’s churchyard, they proved to date from over 200 years after Alfred’s death - sparking Graham's interest and search.
He said: "Whoever’s bones they were, they weren’t Alfred’s. So, I decided to discover what happened to them.
"The quest has taken me 13 years.”
and if i said nolan's odyssey starring no greek actors and with no recognizable aspects of greek culture or involvement by greeks, is the direct legacy of white supremacist colonialism that treated ancient greece as not just the pinnacle of ancient culture, but of an artificially created "european" culture, which white western europeans and their settler descendants, as the new pinnacle of culture, were the sole spiritual inheritors of.
^^^ PEOPLE ARE STILL THERE. There's a metro station across the street from the colosseum where i found a hair in my pizza slice. We drove by ruins of an amphitheater next to a motorway in greece once. It's literally just real places where real people live and have lived. It's not mythical perfect lands that once existed. I went to Itacha in 2023 and there was not enough parking space.
I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again. Nolan is a fucking hack filmmaker. These are Greeks wearing Roman armor that wouldn’t have existed for another thousand years. So no research done there. He hits you over the head with themes (Interstellar was absolute trash for explicitly having a couple of teachers tell an astronaut’s daughter that the moon landing was fake. Hot garbage and unnecessary. And I’m not even going to get into Batman because I’ll get doxxed. ) and he desaturates like crazy because he is apparently colorblind so we all need to live through his sad eyes. One time, one desaturated film, would have been fine as an artistic expression. NOW THEY ALL DO IT. It’s killing me not to have colors on screen. Real life is bright and loud, not sickly green. The more I see about this film, the more I don’t want to see it.
before i forget!!! cool thing we heard last night at the sinners Q&A: MBJ decided to wear different sized shoes while playing smoke and stack. for smoke he wore a size too large, the explanation being that when you're wearing shoes that are too big, you're less likely to want to move around because of how uncomfortable and clunky it is. as a result, smoke as a character is very still and purposeful with his movements. and then for stack he wore a half size too small because it makes you constantly shift around on your feet trying to find a stance and a position that feels right and takes the pressure off your feet. that makes stack more fidgety and restless. so MBJ said that wearing the different shoes made it a lot easier to embody the twins because he was just reacting naturally to what his body was telling him, rather than overthinking his movements. just the coolest shit. such a neat acting choice. i love movies, man.
After almost a decade on this site, I found another Tumblr user in the wild. I stopped to tie my shoe with rainbow laces this morning outside the silversmith at Colonial Williamsburg, and I heard it.
“I like your shoelaces.”
Oh. Oh no.
I responded the only way I could. “Thanks.” And then I reluctantly added, “I stole them from the president…and if that makes sense to you, I’m very sorry.”
The poor man, in full Colonial dress, stared at me for a long moment. And then burst into laughter. And said, “I haven’t thought about that in YEARS and this has never happened to me before.”
I would like to extend my sincerest apologies to Keith David and David Keith, who are both actors who were big in the 80s/90s, but who are most definitely not the same person
So this is happening right now apparently. JK rowling is posting upskirt photos of, misgendering publicly and generally degrading a trans woman because TERFs gonna TERF. This is after she started a women's support organization that is trans exclusionary, outraged that another org is being run by a trans woman. So like are we done enjoying Harry Potter or whatever the fuck? Are we done passively bankrolling this absolute fucking abuser?
Americans be like it is totally normal for an entire stadium (including military members) to stand at attention while a fast food clown mascot sings the national anthem
when we say "it is functionally impossible to parody Americans in a way that will actually insult them" this is the sort of thing you're up against. is your sick burn funnier than corporation burger clown sing national anthem baseball game? no?? of course it isn't.
every time I think about Dilbert I think about this comic and how the question being asked is Not Stupid and its answer is genuinely interesting and arguably very important information anyone using a computer should know
I love that Scott Adams is dead and can't get mad about his stupid comic being improved like this. Or, maybe Hell exists, he is burning there right this minute, and is fucking furious. Either way, yayyyyy.
Jabba’s Yoga Instructor @jabbasyogainstructor - Tumblr Blog | Tumgag
amandla
titsay
gummygunk
romaincrisis
izzy806
vaporwave
gracieabrams
