The Sokulski Review

A Blog About Books and Writing

[lachuiquiblog]

Writing Tension: Tips on Adding Tension to Your Story

Do you remember in school when your English teacher returned the rough draft of your essay and were told “I wasn’t hooked?” All that time research from the school library was present on the page, but your teacher was still dissatisfied. Fast forward to college when your short stories were returned, and your professor t

Writing Tension: Tips on Adding Tension to Your Story {X}

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(x)

[wordsnstuff]

Resources For Writing Period Pieces: High Middle Ages & Renaissance

Major Events Of The Time Period

The Black Death kills approximately a third of Europe’s population {1348 - 1350}

The Great Famine {1315 - 1317}

The Hundred Years’ War {1337 - 1453}

The Western Schism {1378 - 1417}

The Gutenberg Bible published {1454}

Leonardo DaVinci is born {1452} and dies {1519}

The Crusades

Popular Culture & Society

Johann Gutenberg

Joan of Arc

Vlad The Impaler

Culture in the Middle Ages

Society in the Middle Ages

Culture in the Renaissance

Renaissance Life

Renaissance Entertainment

Middle Ages Women

Kings in Middle Ages

Middle Ages Food

Life in the Middle Ages

Middle Ages People

Medieval English Terms

Old English Insults

Clothing

Medieval Knight Clothing

Middle Ages Ladies Dresses

Medieval Lord Clothing

Medieval Peasant Clothing

Medieval Kings Clothing

Medieval Women’s Clothing

Monks Clothes in the Middle Ages

Nuns Clothes in the Middle Ages

Simple Dresses from the Middle Ages

Middle Ages Hairstyles

Miscellaneous

Middle Ages Knights

Middle Ages Castles

Knights Templar

Middle Ages People

Middle Ages Torture

Middle Ages Weapons

Siege Weapons

Feudalism

List Of Renaissance Figures

List Of Medieval Figures

Names

Medieval/Renaissance Female Names

Medieval/Renaissance Male Names

Medieval/Renaissance Surnames

English Renaissance Name Generator

Italian Renaissance Name Generator

French Renaissance Name Generator

German Renaissance Name Generator

Spanish Renaissance Name Generator

By Country

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Al-Andalus‎

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Medieval Belarus‎ 

Medieval Belgium‎ 

Medieval Bosnia and Herzegovina‎ 

Medieval Bulgaria‎

Byzantine Empire‎ 

Medieval Croatia‎ 

Medieval Cyprus‎ 

Medieval Czech history‎ 

Medieval Denmark‎ 

Medieval Egypt‎

Medieval England‎ 

Medieval Estonia‎

Medieval Ethiopia‎ 

Medieval Finland‎ 

Medieval Georgia (country)‎

Medieval Germany

Medieval Great Britain‎ 

Medieval Greece‎

Medieval Holy Roman Empire‎

Medieval Hungary‎ 

Medieval Iceland‎

Medieval India‎ 

Medieval Iran‎ 

Medieval Iraq‎ 

Medieval Ireland‎ 

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Medieval Italy

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Medieval Montenegro‎ 

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Medieval Somalia‎ 

Medieval Spain‎ 

Medieval Sweden‎

Medieval Switzerland‎ 

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Ottoman Empire‎

Medieval Palestine‎ 

Medieval Persia‎ 

Medieval Latvia‎

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[j-k-i-ng]

“Southern Region of Iceland“ by | Simona Buratti

[pens-swords-stuff]

This or That Trope Tag Game

I was tagged by someone a long time ago, and I don’t remember who — whoever it was, thank you!

Slow Burn or Love At First Sight

Slow burn or bust — if they don’t take 100k words just to hold hands, what’s even the point? I do arguably have a love at first sight ship (cough clarwyn cough) but even then they’re slowburn that takes 6 years to even start considering taking their relationship further.

Fake Dating or Secret Dating 

While secret dating is also an amazing trope that I absolutely love, it pales in comparison to the fake dating trope with the sexual tension that flares up whenever they have to pretend to date but they’re also in denial about catching feelings for each other, and they know that the end date is coming up where they won’t have each other in their lives again? Ugh.

Enemies to Lovers or Best Friends to Lovers 

Enemies to friends to best friends to lovers you fool, you absolute fool. But real talk, I do write both tropes a lot and its glorious. I would say I prefer enemies to lovers… except that Clarwyn, the ultimate best friends to lovers exist and they’re my OTP.

Oh no, there’s only one bed! or Long-Distance with Correspondence

Oh no, there’s only one bed! is such a classic trope that’s really fun to play with. Personally, long-distance with correspondence is not as fun to write about unless the story revolves around the long-distance relationship. (Like my WIP Post-Script, where they literally fall in love by writing letters anonymously to each other, clearly)

Hurt/Comfort or Amnesia 

As much as I love the angst that comes with amnesia tropes… Hurt/comfort is far more encompassing of a trope and I live for it.

Fantasy AU or Modern AU 

Most of my writing takes place in a modern setting, so… fantasy AU it is.

Mutual Pining or Domestic Bliss 

Domestic bliss is the reward after a slow burn mutual pining ship, and is far less important in my mind.

Smut or Fluff

I’m gray-ace; smut can be good and can be really important in a ship, but fluff is a must for any ship .

Canon Compliant With Missing Scene or Fix-it Fic

For the most part I prefer writing canon compliant sequels and prequels for fanfictions. But when it comes to my HP fanfiction… That’s definitely a fix-it fic of sorts.

Alternate Universe or Future Fic

I prefer writing (near) future fics for fanfiction, but when it comes to my own projects, AUs… AUs everywhere.

One Shot or Multi-chapter

100k+ fic lets goooooo

Kid Fic or Roadtrip 

Oh, did you mean Wanderlust, my magical road trip WIP?

Reincarnation or Character Death 

I’m actually not usually a huge fan of reincarnation in a lot of stories. I like it sometimes when it really works, but usually I prefer implied parallels. Character death though? When done correctly, it hurts so good.

Arranged Marriage or Accidental Marriage

Give me the arranged marriage angst where part of the ship is betrothed to someone else…. Or also I will accept the begrudging companionship that is nurtured for two people who were arranged marriage’d and don’t like it.

High School Romance or Middle Aged Romance 

As I’ve gotten older, my characters have also gotten older… I feel old. As much as I love the drama of a high school romance, I’ve been really leaning towards older romances now.

Time Travel or Isolated Together

Not a huge fan of time travel in general. Isolated together is not something that I’ve explored at length either, but I definitely am interested in the stress and tension and bonding that would provide in a relationship.

Neighbors or Roommates 

Neighbors are good too, but they don’t provide the accidentally seeing someone wrapped in the towel in the same way that roommates do. And its much easier to avoid a neighbor after an awkward romantic encounter where you progress a relationship further in a way that both of you want but aren’t ready for.

Sci-fi AU or Magic AU

Not a huge sci-fi fan, it hurts my brain. Not science enough for it, I guess.

Bodyswap or Genderbend

Not a huge fan of either to be honest, but I do appreciate the changes genderbending can bring about to a story and a relationship in regards to power dynamic and privilege.

Angst or Crack 

Give me angst or give me death. 90% of what I write is angst, it’s what I live for. And crack is just something I don’t read or write whatsoever.

Apocalyptic or Mundane 

I’m a fan of a very specific type of apocalypse, and I’m not a huge zombie fan. Mundane wins out just because of the term though, a project I had called The Mundane will always hold a special place in my heart.

Tagging @greenwood-writes @ink-fireplace-coffee @stuffaboutwriting @sleepyoceaneyes @saiko-tsuki @satanfruit-draws @finicky-fledgling @chaos-writing @sillyliterature @lydia-in-the-clouds @writeblrfantasy @rhiannonleewriting @livvywrites @writingamongthecoloredroses @incandescent-creativity @drowsy-quill @maybeillwriteit @letswritestories101 @souliloquyyy @rhikasa @phantom-stargazer @writingforjoy @montevena @reininginthefirewriting @feralsong @mushwrites @annieslibrary @theguildedtypewriter @velvetinewitch @yvesdot @sybil-writes @crazycoffeemermaid​ @innocentreticent​ and anyone who wants to do this, you’re tagged too!

Want to be tagged by me in tag games? Click here!

[drxgonfly]

As Luck Would Have It (by Christina Angquico) Mount St. Helens, Washington, USA

[pens-swords-stuff]

Hi, I'm rereading some of my work and I notice that most of the sentences start with a subject and it tends to get really annoying after a while. Any tips on other ways I could start my sentences?

How to Diversify Your Sentence Structure

This is a really common problem that I think a lot of writers have! Having a repetitive sentence structure without variation can make your prose really choppy, boring and difficult to read, while overall weakening your voice.

Here are some techniques to help you change things up a bit!

Switch around your subject

Very basic grammar: Every sentence has a subject and a predicate. I think when we think of subject in a sentence, we often think of person. This might be especially true in creative writing because we deal with characters.

For example:

Amelia opened her front door and walked outside. She felt a cold breeze blow through her. She realized that she wasn’t dressed appropriately for the weather. Amelia turned around and went back inside to grab a jacket.

In this example, Amelia is the subject of every single sentence, and a verb is followed immediately afterward. Because every sentence begins with ‘Amelia’ or ‘she’, there’s no variety and it’s a little bit boring to read. 

Here’s what it could look like if I switched the subject around somewhere.

She felt a cold breeze blow through her.

A cold breeze blew through her.

The difference is subtle, but now the subject of the sentence is the breeze, not Amelia. The sentence structure is still the same: The subject is followed by a verb. However, because the subject is different from Amelia, it still brings variety to how your sentences read. 

Here’s what it looks like now:

Amelia opened her front door and walked outside. A cold breeze blew through her. She realized that she wasn’t dressed appropriately for the weather. Amelia turned around and went back inside to grab a jacket.

Now that every sentence doesn’t begin with “Amelia” or “she” it seems a little bit more interesting.

Put dependent clause before subject 

So we changed one subject in a sentence, but we still have multiple sentences that have Amelia as the subject. It still doesn’t have too much variety in sentence structure, and as a result, it can be stilted.

So let’s try bringing a dependent clause before the subject.

She realized that she wasn’t dressed appropriately for the weather. Amelia turned around and went back inside to grab a jacket.

Realizing that she wasn’t dressed appropriately for the weather, Amelia turned around and went back inside to grab a jacket.

By bringing ‘realizing’ before the subject, I created a dependent clause and succeeded making the first word something other than the subject. 

However, because it’s a dependent clause, ‘realizing that she wasn’t dressed appropriately’ is a sentence fragment — it’s an incomplete thought. So I combined it with the last sentence to make it complete.

So after those two techniques, let’s compare the original with the rewrite.

Original

Amelia opened her front door and walked outside. She felt a cold breeze blow through her. She realized that she wasn’t dressed appropriately for the weather. Amelia turned around and went back inside to grab a jacket. 

Rewrite

Amelia opened her front door and walked outside. A cold breeze blew through her. Realizing that she wasn’t dressed appropriately for the weather, Amelia turned around and went back inside to grab a jacket.

Now because there’s a variety in sentence structure and subject, the paragraph  is not only more interesting to read, it also flows better and more smoothly. It also has the added bonus of diverse sentence lengths which was lacking before, and it helps make the writing more engaging.

I just wanted to note: there is nothing bad about having your subject as the first word in a sentence. I don’t want anyone to feel like they have to change every single sentence they ever wrote. Like in my example, the first sentence starts with Amelia. That’s fine.

The problem is that when every single sentence starts that way, it becomes repetitive. You can still have some sentences that start with your character, just make sure to throw in some other sentence structures, and your writing will be more engaging!

Outside of this specific example, you can also try playing around with dependent clauses in your existing sentences as well.

Jamie walked into the haunted house, despite her reluctance.

Despite her reluctance, Jamie walked into the haunted house.

The sentence is the exact same, but I just switched around where the dependent clause ‘despite her reluctance’ is placed. Even though it has the same meaning, it can provide a different feel or at the very least, switch up having your subject as the first word of every sentence.

I also talk about this in my guide about how to make your writing flow better. Sentence structure has a lot to do with making your writing sound cohesive and eloquent, so I would definitely recommend checking that out as well!

Thanks so much for asking Anon, I definitely struggled with this too when I was just starting out. I remember seeing how every single paragraph started with a name, and that was really annoying me, but I had trouble figuring out how to fix it. I hope this helped!

If you’d like to ask me for advice on writing or running a writeblr, please check out my Ask Guidelines and FAQ first.

Ask Guidelines | FAQ | Advice Masterlist

[boohwanj-deactivated20240316-de]

2020-03-09

https://www.instagram.com/hwantastic79vivid/

[mienar]

dreaming of doing chores in my personal little village

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[maureen2musings]

My favourite spring garden…

punkodelish

[books0977]

W. F. H. Oldewelt bookplate (1914). Artist: Ferdinand Oldewelt.

A man, likely W. F. H. Oldewelt, reads a book. He was an author, including Eenige posten uit de thesauriers=memorialen van Amsterdam van 1764 tot 1811.

[pens-swords-stuff]

Happy STS! Can I ask you as a famous fanfiction writer, how do you go about capturing characters you like and want to write but can't seem to capture right on the page?

Oh my gosh, me, a famous fanfiction writer? I’m really not, but I’m super flattered that you think I am!

I’m actually not too great at writing existing canonical characters — I mostly write OC fanfiction for purely self-indulgent purposes, and avoid writing canon characters as much as possible.

That being said, now that I’m writing a fanfiction with no OCs in sight, I have a few strategies to help me when I’m struggling!

This definitely turned into more of an advice post than a Storyteller Saturday ask, whoops!

Re-engage in the source material

Obviously, one of the easiest ways to get a refresher on the character is to re-engage in the source material. Rewatch that TV show/movie, reread the book, replay that game, etc.

I find that it’s helpful to actively engage in the source material, rather than passively. Instead of just enjoying it, engage in it in Writer Mode. Really look at the character and how they interact with their surroundings and the people around them. Take note of their habits, their speech patterns, and how they move. How do they act around people they like, around people they don’t like, around stranger? Examine the important points in their character development arc, and dissect it. What worked? What didn’t work? Why did it have such a large impact on that character? Try to figure them out as if they were your own original character, back when you were still piecing them together.

Make a character cheat sheet

Some larger fandoms have really great resources, like massive, detailed wikia pages with every single detail about everything that’s ever happened. Other fandoms are smaller, or are just not as wikia-oriented as some others so information online might be sparse.

Regardless of the availability of information is available in that fandom, I find it really helpful to make my own personal cheat sheet full of information that is important to me.

Here are some things that I include in my cheat sheets:

A general timeline of their life, with quotes and page numbers/time stamps when appropriate

An inventory of general items that they carry around that has been mentioned in the source material

A list of physical character traits that have been mentioned/shown in the source material, including common articles of clothing

Quotes from the character that they say a lot, or I feel really captures the way they speak, or who they are

Excerpts of scenes that I feel are really important to look back on

Other details from the source material that I think are important

Practice writing them in the source material

When I say this, I mean actually go through the source material, pick a scene with that character and write it out in your own words.

If it’s a TV show, movie, video game, or some other visual medium, transcribe that scene into words. Write it out like you would in a novel; add their inner monologue, describe their quirks, add dialogue tags to whatever they say. 

It’s a little bit trickier if the source material is a book since the prose is already there. When the source material is a book, I swap perspectives. If the perspective in the original story is from the character you’re practicing with, I write the scene from another character’s perspective. If the perspective is from someone else, I rewrite that scene from the perspective of the character I’m practicing with.

This is a really good way to practice getting the canonical character in your own words, because you’re using actual canon to practice — they literally cannot be out of character here.

Read other fanfictions with that character

Everyone has a different interpretation of existing canonical characters, and that’s really cool! It’s totally okay to have your own version too.

If you’re feeling stuck on how to write a character, try reading some other fanfictions for that fandom and see how other writers portray that character. Their character interpretation might be different from yours, but it can definitely help open you up to new possibilities! At best, it might make a light bulb go off in your head. At worst, it can help diversify your idea of that character, and maybe make your idea of them a little bit more flexible.

Also I find reading other fanfictions in that fandom can really inspire me in general, so bonus points for that.

Practice, practice, practice!

Write drabbles about them, even if it might not end up in your fanfiction! Put them in a completely different AU. Have them interact with your own original characters. Find some prompts you like and write them with that character. Explore them like you would explore your own original character! The more you write them, the more you’ll be able to make them your own. Sometimes, all it takes it a lot of practice until they ‘click’.

Good luck!

I now have an updated FAQ and Ask Guidelines for Writing Advice, please check those out first if you have a question about writing or Writeblr!

Ask Guidelines | FAQ | Advice Masterlist

[justawritingaid]

Calling a Character by Their Title or an Epithet

Would you refer to your best friend as “the redhead” or “Kristen”? Is your favorite teacher “the teacher” or “Mr. Small”? An epithet is an adjective or descriptive phrase used to refer to a person. Referring to a character by a trait or their title is called an “amateur mistake” when used incorrectly, but “good perspective writing” when used well.  What makes title of epithet a mistake is when it creates a sense of distance that doesn’t make sense given the narrator’s perspective.

These three sentences are written using different methods of reference, and the method is very telling of how the narrator perceives things.

The doctor waved to the nurse as she passed him in the hallway.

This reads as very impersonal, like the narrator doesn’t know either of these characters. This is the kind of sentence I’d expect from a narrator who just met those two people, or never met them and is just observing some hospital interaction.

Dr. Martinez waved to Nurse Merther as she passed him in the hallway.

Now the narrator is familiar with these characters, just not close enough to use a first name. Maybe they don’t know it, maybe they prefer to be professional with medical personnel, or perhaps they’re a colleague who doesn’t choose to socialize with either of those people.

Angela waved to David as she passed him in the hallway.

The narrator clearly knows these two people well enough to drop any formality at all. Perhaps the narrator is a close friend, a social colleague, or just a rude patient who somehow figured out all the names of the hospital staff.

The point is, the method of reference can show perspective and creates distance when used incorrectly. A narrator familiar with a character almost always uses the character’s name unless the situation is one where there is a power difference or there’s a good reason for it. You don’t think of your best friend as “the (hair color)” and wouldn’t refer to them like that, so you narrator isn’t going to do that to their best friend either. If they do, it often sounds odd and distances the reader.

Now, the line does get fuzzy when a narrator is omniscient 3rd person, but that still ties into the idea of perspective. How the narrator refers to someone shows what they think of the person. This can be used to show growing familiarity: perhaps “the doctor” becomes “Dr. Martinez” after a nice conversation, then becomes “Angela” when the narrator really gets to know her.

“Show, don’t tell” is often used to describe character action, but it applies just as much to perceptive. Instead of narrating how much someone likes their doctor, perhaps opt to use a less formal character reference in scenes. Consistent perspective is the mark of good writing and often a good story. Some  writers use epithets or titles to avoid repetition in their writing, but it’s an incorrect use of impersonal character reference. Swapping out ways to refer to characters because you think your writing is repetitive has two outcomes:

The writing is fine and the pronoun/name use is a non-issue.

The writing is repetitive, and in that case you’re only creating a different problem by swapping pronouns and names for something else. The solution is to work on the repetitiveness of the writing rather than trying to patch it up with nicknames or other ways to refer to people. That “solution” is only creating an additional problem because the underlying writing is still repetitive and now your narrator suddenly seems to have forgotten their friend’s name.

Unnecessary use of titles, epithets, and monikers are a telltale sign of a novice writer. They don’t exist to “spice up” writing or fix an issue of repetitiveness– they’re for showing the reader how the narrator thinks of the character, the level of respect, and personal distance via word choice. Much like many aspects of improving at writing, learning why something is an issue is key to becoming more effective at the craft.

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Hobitton

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[the960writers]

10 New Publishing Scams to Watch Out for in 2020

Where there are writers, there are scammers, and they're getting bolder. Here are 10 new publishing scams to watch out for in 2020.

by Anne R. Allen

I read a quote recently from an indie author who said he felt sorry for new writers who fall for scammy vanity publishers — because they obviously have no writer friends to clue them in.

It is true that networking with other authors is the best way to stay safe from scammers in this business. You can usually get by with a little help from your friends.

Unfortunately, the latest batch of scams are calculated to turn friends’ faces and familiar names into weapons to use against you.

Here are some of the nasty ways they’re trying to con you.