the narrative

Katie | 25 | she/her | loves gilmore girls and taylor swift | getting back to writing

[stydixa]

F.R.I.E.N.D.S (1994-2004) ☕ The One Where Chandler Doesn’t Like Dogs

[katevogs]

My heart, my hips, my body, my love

Trying to find a part of me that you didn’t touch

You gave up on me like I was a bad drug

Now I’m searching for signs in a haunted club

Our songs, our films, united we stand

Our country, guess it was a lawless land

Quiet my fears with a touch of your hand

Paper cut stings from a paper thin plan

My time, my wine, my spirit, my trust

Trying to find a part of me you didn’t take up

I gave you so much, but it wasn’t enough

But I’ll be alright, it’s just a thousand cuts

“Death By A Thousand Cuts” by Taylor Swift

[katevogs]

do you miss the way the world was spinning for us? do you hurt the way that I do, after all this time?

“if you can’t live without me, why aren’t you dead?” by mayday parade

[katevogs]

“I need to talk to you.”

I know his voice and shiver. I haven’t heard that voice in 13 years, but my body never forgets it. 

We are at my locker. He starts to speak, then turns into a puddle on the ground.

We are sitting on the street corner. He reaches for my hand with a blank face, and the scene abruptly changes.

I’m talking to a friend and he steps up behind me, brushes my hair away from my ear, and whispers, “I need to talk to you.” When I turn around, he evaporates.

I wake up slowly. Does he even think about me? 

[katevogs]

Salvageable

(inspired by the poem Fire by Jesse Nissim)

The poem was called the end of winter,

or it was called the students hoped for the end of winter.

It was a poem about the polar vortex, and the opposite polar vortex 

affectionately called the hell vortex, expected in summer due to climate change.

The poem was called there is no relation.

The poem was lost in the washing machine, torn to a million pieces,

ruined by running ink, as useful as it was before it was written.

The poem was inspired by forgotten compositions

that formed this person, sitting here, writing.

The poem was called this is to you, about a girl playing victim,

searching for someone, anyone, to call her bluff.

The poem had poor circulation, or it was waiting in the “transferred files” to be singled out.

It was known to have a pulse, if admittedly weak.

The poem had numbness at its center and tingling extremities.

It made a strong argument against the media’s influence on young girls.

Its images captivated high school students, depicting the effects

of red wine and cigarettes, of Cosmo magazine,

of harnessing broken hearts, of letting “him” determine worth,

of binging, purging, and cutting.

The poem screamed experience:

the story of a girl oppressed by an ex,

her only defense toilet paper lining his trees.

The poem understood solidarity.

The poem was retitled omigosh I almost started crying.

The poem began with fourteen year olds needing neutral spaces like blogs.

The poem was about the poet’s need for acceptance, 

a place to go for affirmation and a pat on the back.

The poem welcomed her home.

[taylorswift]

Loved playing in Kansas City last night ❤️ Thank you to everyone who came out, you guys broke the all time attendance record for Arrowhead Stadium!! 😆😆😆 Only 6 shows left in America, I can’t believe it.

[dailyswiftgifs]

I can’t even say it with a straight face!

[cages-boxes-hunters-foxes]

I DONT LIKE YOUR LITTLE GAMES I DONT LIKE YOUR TILTED STAGE THE ROLE YOU MADE ME PLAY OF THE FOOL NO I DONT LIKE YOU

[taylorswift]

The “Look What You Made Me Do” video is out now.

[dailyswiftgifs]

[illtypeyourname-deactivated2018]

[writeroftheprompts]

WriterofthePrompts Ultimate Ask Masterlist

I’ve decided to make a masterlist of asks I’ve done to make them easier to find for you guys (and for myself). I split them into categories as best as I could by genre and topic. Also, some asks have some helpful tips in the notes as well to check out (some are marked but not all) and if you have anything to add that you think would help, feel free to reply or reblog with your addition. I’ll try to keep it updated with future asks.

Now without further ado, the strangest and most wonderful list I’ve ever made.

World Building

Urban fantasy prompts/creating urban fantasy world (also linked under fantasy)

Links to help with world building

Creating a pantheon of gods

Things to research when writing a historical novel (also linked under Historical)

Using metaphors in descriptions

Too much world building?

Asking questions to develop a magic system

Wizard school ideas

Why magic would drain from a world

Tips for descriptions

Reasons for civil war

Character Development

Writing confusion in your character

Obstacles to character goals: traveling abroad

Reactions to sadness

Reactions to a devastating event

Showing a character’s anxiety towards something

Showing a character’s secret without revealing it

Reasons a character would die for another

Secrets in a character’s past

Culture shock with loss of rules

Growth of a trainee witch

Characters provoking other characters

Dealing with moving to a completely new place

Why a 19yo would allow a strange boy to live with her

Why a character would want a do-over in life

Showing a character going from good to bad

Possible good messages when the villains aren’t reformed

Kid growing up surrounded only by adults

Quirks for characters

Showing friendship with reserved characters

Introducing an antagonist

Introducing side characters

When you don’t think your character’s backstory fits

Writing Different Types of Characters

Writing antiheroes

The reluctant hero

Writing a violent character afraid of their mind

Making an immoral character likeable

Not a normal girl

Sympathetic villain

Making sure your character isn’t just a flirt

Writing intelligent characters

When your hero isn’t very heroic

Confident characters

Writing an antisocial character

Character Family

Visiting family for the first time

Showing closeness in siblings (opposite twins)

How a joker and a quiet character can become friends

Daughter of a party organizer prompts

Parent jobs where the kid needs to keep up appearances

The mom that left comes back…a vampire

Including character’s parents

Why a character would leave another

Sibling relationships

character with an abusive father (and how to show fear)

Romance

Writing a slow paced love story

love interest vs the ex revamped

Platonic male x female relationships

Random places to get married

Suspense and romance with a “different” male lead

sad relationship prompts

Asexuality and romance

Mutual pining

Romance with large age differences

Childhood friends falling in love

Fluffy unique first kiss

Ways of showing commitment in characters (vampire edition)

Friendship to romance

Small situations for a couple story

fantasy creature and human fluff

characters meeting and falling in love during war

Why best friends might fall in love

Unlikely soulmates prompts

Sci Fi

Using dreams as energy

Time travel prompts (asked for male x female protags)

Time travel: how saving someone can go wrong

Reliving memories

Android characters

Writing humanoids in post apocalypse

Consequences of growing a baby in an artificial womb (theoretical)

The evil AI that characters can’t (shouldn’t) destroy

Girl and guy get trapped in the same body

Rich people in post apocalypse

Discovering you have a doppelgânger

Superheroes

Teenagers, hormones and their superpowers

Weird superpowers

Superhero kids reluctant to be superheroes

Aliens

beings traveling to Earth

Why an alien wouldn’t be able to leave Earth

Reasons an alien would be sent to live on Earth

Human/alien team surviving on hostile planet together

Fantasy/Paranormal

Urban fantasy prompts/creating urban fantasy world (also linked under world building)

gods losing their powers

creations turning on their creators

How elemental powers might work

Why NOT to destroy the world when it’s your goal

Mistreated genies

Tropes of a fantasy (also linked under Writing Motivation/Tips)

Male character ideas in a fantasy

Immortal woman prompts

Beauty and the Beast revamp

How Death and a teenage girl become adventure teammates

Powers for magical beings writing down history

Girl meets demon from forest behind her house

Reverse fairytale prompts

Revamped fairytale prompts 2

Manatees being confused by mermaids

a princess befriends a baby dragon

Making a character believe in a cure for a curse

Egyptian gods living among us

A love between the sun and the moon

What fantasy creatures do on Halloween

Human and fantasy creature become pen pals

Creatures

Monsters and urban legends

Fantastic creatures

A little bit on dragons

Kind dragons

Magic and Witches

witch x wizard romance

witch prompts

Witch being protective over a human-turned-doll

magical boarding school

Ideas for curses

A young witch exploring the boundaries of her powers

Traps a wizard could set for a thief

Angels and Demons

Angels and demons

Angel as a human on earth

Jobs for angels and demons who fall in love

Physical impacts on a demon who keeps dying and coming back

Demons hunter prompts

Vampires

Human meets vampire 1

Human meets vampire 2

How to hide your vampirism from your family

Royal vampires

Vampire hunter gets bitten by a vampire

Reasons a locked up vampire would go after your character

Why a vampire and vampire hunter would work together

Vampire x werewolf forbidden love

Ghosts

Helpful ghost prankster prompts 1

Helpful ghost prankster prompts 2

Human and ghost solving mysteries together

1776 woman with supernatural abilities prompts

A medium whose friend is in a coma

Medium question Pt. 2: their fatal flaws

Battle Scenes

Writing Battle Scenes Tips

How to lead up to an action scene

Keep reading

[writeroftheprompts]

Thank you so much everyone for the support for this post! :D

[mrsgilmoredanes]

My Favorite LL Scenes ➡︎ 8.01 #look at how they smile at each other #look at how luke patted lorelai’s butt #look at how lorelai caressed luke’s arm

[buffysummers]

[vivienvalentino]

[lizard-is-writing]

How to Plot A Complex Novel in One Day (It WILL take all day)

Now first, I have to say, that the plot you’re able to come up with in one day is not going to be without its flaws, but coming up with it all at once, the entire story unfolds right in front of you and makes you want to keep going with it. So, where to begin? 

What is your premise and basic plot? Pick your plot. I recommend just pulling one from this list. No plots are “original” so making yours interesting and complicated will easily distract from that fact, that and interesting characters. Characters will be something for you to work on another day, because this is plotting day. You’ll want the main plot to be fairly straight forward, because a confusing main plot will doom you if you want subplots. 

Decide who the characters will be. They don’t have to have names at this point. You don’t even need to know who they are other than why they have to be in the story. The more characters there are the more complicated the plot will be. If you intend to have more than one subplot, then you’ll want more characters. Multiple interconnected subplots will give the illusion that the story is very complicated and will give the reader a lot of different things to look at at all times. It also gives you the chance to develop many side characters. The plot I worked out yesterday had 13 characters, all were necessary. Decide their “roles” don’t bother with much else. This seems shallow, but this is plot. Plot is shallow. 

Now, decide what drives each character. Why specifically are they in this story? You can make this up. You don’t even know these characters yet. Just so long as everyone has their own motivations, you’re in the clear. 

What aren’t these characters giving away right off the bat? Give them a secret! It doesn’t have to be something that they are actively lying about or trying to hide, just find something that perhaps ties them into the plot or subplot. This is a moment to dig into subplot. This does not need to be at all connected to their drive to be present in the story.  Decide who is in love with who, what did this person do in the 70’s that’s coming back to bite them today, and what continues to haunt what-his-face to this very day. This is where you start to see the characters take shape. Don’t worry much about who they are or what they look like, just focus on what they’re doing to the story. 

What is going to change these characters? Now this will take some thinking. Everyone wants at least a few of the characters to come out changed by the end of the story, so think, how will they be different as a result of the plot/subplot? It might not be plot that changes them, but if you have a lot of characters, a few changes that are worked into the bones of the plot might help you.

Now list out the major events of the novel with subplot in chronological order. This will be your timeline. Especially list the historical things that you want to exist in backstory. List everything you can think of. Think about where the story is going. At this point, you likely haven’t focused too much on the main plot, yeah, it’s there, but now really focus on the rising actions, how this main plot builds its conflict, then the climactic moment. Make sure you get all of that in there. This might take a few hours. 

Decide where to start writing. This part will take a LOT of thinking. It’s hard! But now that you’ve got the timeline, pick an interesting point to begin at. Something with action. Something relevant. Preferably not at the beginning of your timeline - you want to have huge reveals later on where these important things that happened prior are exposed. This is the point where you think about what information should come out when. This will be a revision of your last list, except instead of being chronological, it exists to build tension. 

Once you’ve gotten the second list done, you’ve got a plot. Does it need work? Probably. But with that said, at this point you probably have no idea who half your characters are. Save that for tomorrow, that too will be a lot of work. 

After you’ve plotted the loose structure of your novel from this, see my next post to work on character! 

[babil6]