laufey's eyes

a writing blog

[saturdaysky]

For the first time ever, I will be opening commissions!

Have you ever been conked on the head by joy? Well, it turns out I hadn't been, but over the holidays, it got me real good. It's time for me to make some changes, starting with top surgery and ending with a life I no longer need to grow against.

To help me save for surgery, I will be taking commissions. For those of you who have asked me before, 2026 is your chance! Feel free to send a message/comment if there's something you'd want to see offered. A donation option will be available if that's more your jam, too.

Commissions will open in February. I will have a post with more info.

[writerswritecompany]

Cheat Sheets for Writing Body Language

We are always told to use body language in our writing. Sometimes, it’s easier said than written. I decided to create these cheat sheets to help you show a character’s state of mind. Obviously, a character may exhibit a number of these behaviours. For example, he may be shocked and angry, or shocked and happy. Use these combinations as needed.

by Amanda Patterson

[forficwritersbyficwriters]

You guys, this is such a great chart especially for budding writers. Sometimes it’s more effective to show a character being bored or excited or shocked without explicitly saying so.

[kycochran26]

These are some of my favourite writing related resources. I'll be adding to this list as I find new things, so check back!

Tools

Doing the Thing

A beautiful place to write that saves as you go, allows you to organize different snippets all in one place, remembers old versions of the things you write, gives you spaces to store all that extra information in your head, tracks your word count and lets you make word count goals, and more, a.k.a. the best thing ever

Character-Related

The Single Greatest Profile Sheet I’ve Ever Seen

Character trait sheet to get you thinking

Articles

The Practice of Writing

Research is mostly thinking outside the box

This lady went from writing 8k words/day to 10k and her tips are actually useful go figure

A list like this one except all about revision

Inspiration

Five Tips (the last two are my favourites)

Specific, yay!

Freelancing

Writing a query letter is less intimidating than it seems, I promise

Ways to sell your inexperienced self

Book rec!

Prompts

All directed at “you,” but with some interesting scenarios

Several sets of meme prompts put together for something on livejournal

The Professional Side of Things

Anti-social is no way to be

Publishers You Likely Didn’t Know Of

It’s specific, but it’s easy (no talking to strangers involved!)

They will absolutely get back to you in a timely fashion (and they’re super, super nice) 

Miscellaneous

World-building for the n00b

Blogging (because you should seriously consider starting one for your writing)

Most useful blogging site on the net

The basics

Making money off it, at no cost to your integrity

Blogs

Tumblrs

fuckyeahcharacterdevelopment aka favourite of favourites

referenceforwriters has a reference for everything

other-wordly is full of gorgeous, inspiring words

yeahwriters is fun, writing prompts, and advice aplenty

dictionaryofobscuresorrows is pretty words and prettier definitions

writersfriend has resources galore

writingbox is mm-mm good

Non-Tumblrs

Jeff Goins talks about everything, plus he gives away free stuff all the time

[theinformationdump]

Seven Steps to the Perfect Story

From structure and plot to heroes and characters, your story must have everything in place if it’s to connect with the reader. Follow our guide to storytelling success.

[ayantiel]

See the rules, Learn the rules and break them.

[princess-gumball-deactivated201]

character surveys for anyone who wants to flesh out characters:

one

two

three

four

five

six

seven

eight

[ladyknightrps]

[quasarkisses]

a massively extended version of ruthlesscalculus’ post

General Tips

Joss Whedon’s Top 10 Writing Tips

Getting Out of Your Comfort Zone

34 Writing Tips that will make you a Better Writer

50 Free resources that will improve your writing skills

5 ways to get out of the comfort zone and become a stronger writer

10 ways to avoid Writing Insecurity

The Writer’s Guide to Overcoming Insecurity

The Difference Between Good Writers and Bad Writers

You’re Not Hemingway - Developing Your Own Style

7 Ways to use Brain Science to Hook Readers and Reel them In

8 Short Story Tips from Kurt Vonnegut

How to Show, Not Tell

5 Essential Story Ingredients

How to Write Fiction that grabs your readers from page one

Why research is important in writing

Make Your Reader Root for Your Main Character

Writing Ergonomics (Staying Comfortable Whilst Writing)

The Importance of Body Language

Character Development

10 days of Character Building

Name Generators

Name Playground

Universal Mary Sue Litmus Test

Seven Common Character Types

Handling a Cast of Thousands Part 1 - Getting To Know Your Characters

Web Resources for Developing Characters

Building Fictional Characters

Fiction Writer’s Character Chart

Character Building Workshop

Tips for Characterization

Character Chart for Fiction Writers

Villains are people too but…

How to Write a Character Bible

Character Development Exercises

All Your Characters Talk the Same - And They’re Not A Hivemind!

Medieval Names Archive

Sympathy Without Saintliness

Family Echo (Family Tree Maker)

Behind The Name

100 Character Development Questions for Writers

Aether’s Character Development Worksheet

The 12 Common Archetypes

Six Types of Courageous Characters

Kazza’s List of Character Secrets - Part 1, Part 2

Creating Believable Characters With Personality

Body Language Cheat Sheet

Creating Fictional Characters Series

Three Ways to Avoid Lazy Character Description

7 Rules for Picking Names for Fictional Characters

Character Development Questionnaire

How to Create Fictional Characters

Character Name Resources

Character Development Template

Character Development Through Hobbies

Character Flaws List

10 Questions for Creating Believable Characters

Ari’s Archetype Series

How to Craft Compelling Characters

List of 200 Character Traits

Writing Characters of the Opposite Sex

Making Your Characters Likable

Do you really know your characters?

Character Development: Virtues

Character Development: Vices

Character Morality Alignment

List of Negative Personality Traits

List of Positive Personality Traits

List of Emotions - Positive

List of Emotions - Negative

Loon’s Character Development Series - Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

Phobia List A-L (Part 1), M-Z (Part 2)

30 Day In Depth Character Development Meme

Words for Emotions based on Severity

Eight Bad Characters

High Level Description of the Sixteen Personality Types

Female Characters

How Not to Write Female Characters

Writing Female Characters

How to write empowering female characters

Why I write strong female characters

Red Flags for Female Characters Written by Men

Writing strong female characters

The Female Character Flowchart

Eight Heroine Archetypes

Male Characters

Eight Hero Archetypes

Tips for Specific Characters

Writing A Vampire

Writing Pansexual Characters

Writing Characters on the Police Force

Writing Drunk Characters

Writing A Manipulative Character

Writing A Friends With Benefits Relationship

Writing A Natural Born Leader

Writing A Flirtatious Character

Writing A Nice Character

Fiction Writing Exercises for Creating Villains

Five Traits to Contribute to an Epic Villain

Writing Villains that Rock

Writing British Characters

How To Write A Character With A Baby

On Assassin Characters

Dialogue

It’s Not What They Say…

Top 8 Tips for Writing Dialogue

Speaking of Dialogue

The Great Said Debate

He Said, She Said, Who Said What?

How to Write Dialogue Unique to Your Characters

Writing Dialogue: Go for Realistic, Not Real-Life

Point of View

Establishing The Right Point of View

How to Start Writing in the Third Person

The I Problem

Plot, Conflict, Structure and Outline

Writing A Novel Using the Snowflake Method

Effectively Outlining Your Novel

Conflict and Character Within Story Structure

Outlining Your Plot

Ideas, Plots and Using the Premise Sheets

How To Write A Novel

Creating Conflict and Sustaining Suspense

Plunge Right In…Into Your Story, That Is

Tips for Creating a Compelling Plot

36 (plus one) Dramatic Situations

The Evil Overlord Devises A Plot: Excerpt from Stupid Plot Tricks

Conflict Test

What is Conflict?

Monomyth

The Hero’s Journey: Summary of Steps

Outline Your Novel in Thirty Minutes

Plotting Without Fears

Novel Outlining 101

Writing The Perfect Scene

One-Page Plotting

The Great Swampy Middle

How Can You Know What Belongs In Your Book?

Create A Plot Outline in 8 Easy Steps

How to Organize and Develop Ideas for Your Novel

Create Structure in your novel using index cards

Choosing the best outline method for you

Hatch’s Plot Bank

Setting & Worldbuilding

Magical Word Builder’s Guide

I Love The End Of The World

World Building 101

The Art of Description: Eight Tips to Help Bring Your Settings to Life

Creating the Perfect Setting - Part 1

Creating a Believable World

Setting

Character and Setting Interactions

Maps Workshop - Developing the Fictional World Through Mapping

World Builders Project

How To Create Fantasy Worlds

Creating Fantasy and Science Fiction Worlds

Creativity Boosters* denotes prompts

*Creative Writing Prompts

*Ink Provoking

*Story Starter

*Story Spinner

*Story Kitchen

*Language is a Virus

*The Dabbling Mum

Quick Story Idea Generator

Solve Your Problems By Simply Saying Them Out Loud

Busting Your Writing Rut

Creative Acceleration: 11 Tips To Engineer A Productive Flow

Writing Inspiration, Or Sex on a Bicycle

The Seven Major Beginner Mistakes

Complete Your First Book with these 9 Simple Writing Habits

Free Association, Active Imagination, Twilight Imaging

Random Book Title Generator

Finishing Your Novel

Story Starters & Idea Generators

Words to Use More Often

Revision & Grammar

How To Rewrite

Editing Recipe

Cliche Finder

Revising Your Novel: Read What You’ve Written

Writing 101: Revising A Novel

20 Common Grammar Mistakes That (Almost) Everyone Makes

Synonyms for the Most Commonly Used Words of the English Language

Grammar Urban Legends

Tools & Software

Tip Of My Tongue - Find the word you’re looking for

Write or Die - Stay motivated

Stay Focused - Tool for Chrome, lock yourself out of distracting websites

My Writing Nook - Online Text Editor, Free

Bubbl.us - Online Mind Map Application, Free

Family Echo - Online Family Tree Maker, Free

Freemind - Mind Map Application; Free; Windows, Mac, Linux, Portable

Xmind - Mind Map Application; Free; Windows, Mac, Linux, Portable

Liquid Story Binder - Novel Organization and Writing Application; free trial, $45.95; Windows, Portable

Scrivener - Novel Organization and Writing Application; free trial, $39.95; Mac

SuperNotecard - Novel Organization and Writing Application; free trial, $29; Windows, Mac, Linux, portable

yWriter - Novel Organization and Writing Application; free; Windows, Linux, portable

JDarkRoom - Minimalist Text Editing Application; free; Windows, Mac, Linux, portable

AutoRealm - Map Creation Application; free; Windows, Linux with Wine

Specific Help

Fashion Terminology

All About Kissing

Genre Help: Romance

187 Mental Illnesses

Types of Mental Illness

Eye Color List

Spectral Groupings

[disabledbysociety]

Whelp, time to be a famous writer.

[sangeria]

Ultimate Writing Resource List

[theinformationdump]

[toetappinsilence]

I have a problem. I like talking about my characters more than I like writing about them.

[visualgraphc]

[pagalini]

the third in a series of presentations I did about Creative Writing for students in my school who were interested in it (I’m in the business, so I was asked to talk about the things I’ve learned since my work was noticed). 

I’m willing to send my presentations to those who want them :) apart from this I did one on creative writing in general and one on character crafting. 

I’m also willing to answer questions about what it’s like to work with an editor and what kind of things will be asked of you.   ^____^

[writrs]

I wanted to talk about using visuals to help organize your writing. It is something I find really helpful, and hopefully you can take some of these ideas and use them as well! These are things you could plan ahead of time, or add to as you go along. 

Bulletin Boards

Whether these are actual cork boards with pushpins, a binder and a hole puncher, a notebook you carry around to jot down notes, a pinterest account or a tumblr page… one thing I find helpful is collecting pictures, poems, lyrics, etc. Anything that I see that inspires a story.

You can do this in general throughout your daily life to keep you thinking about writing, but you can also do this specifically for whatever story you are currently writing. 

Character Mapping

There are two different strategies I’ve found helpful for doing this. First being the “family tree” method and second being the web method that they used to make us do in middle school for “brainstorming” an essay.

Basically character mapping is just an interactive way of making a list of all your characters. The main reason it is helpful to mark down relationships, friendships, coworkers, etc for you characters is continuity. I find generally that it is easier to do it this way than it is to have pages of notes to flip back and forth from.

Geographical and Other Maps

When I’m writing a story that takes place in a fantasy world or another planet, or even sometimes on earth in a real place it helps to draw or use an actual map. Mark down important places your character goes, mark down areas they will meet other important characters, if it is an adventure-type story chart the path your characters will take.

If you have a clear picture of the layout of someone’s house make a quick map of the floorplan! That way when your character needs to snoop in a friend’s backpack if they ask to use bathroom your character can say “first door on the left” and it will be continuous with that time you said they woke up hungover and stumbled down the hallway and took a sharp left before vomiting on the bathroom floor.

Quick Sketches

If you have a clear idea of what your characters look like, and you have any drawing ability above stick figures, make a quick sketch of what they look like. Especially if you are stuck on a description. Pay attention to their height in relation to other characters, eye color, hair color, the type of clothes they wear. If you are very talented maybe event body language and facial expressions, but I wouldn’t spend TOO much time on it, you don’t want it to take away from writing time.

Being able to visualize you characters can help you better describe them verbally, it helps them become more real. This also works for locations. If you can’t draw another good idea if you get stuck might be to open up The Sims or any other avatar creator and try to combine ready-made elements into something that resembles the character you have in your mind!

Progress Posters

I made myself a poster with all of my personal goals and rules for NaNo, as well as a daily schedule with certain times blocked for writing. I also added little activities to the bottom to keep track of my daily word count and my overall progress.

Block Box

This is your one stop writer’s block cure. It’s not necessarily a visual aid but I felt like it still sort of fit with the theme of this post. Have your friends give you a word, phrase, image, or lyric. Write down a list of short writing prompts or directional questions. Collect all of these things on scraps of paper and put them in a jar or shoebox. When you’re feeling stuck, take an idea out and try to incorporate it into your story!

You can find our virtual Block Box here: http://writrs.tumblr.com/tagged/block+box

Some of these may take a bit of time, but it might be a good consideration if you find yourself stuck or distracted. An hour spent working on something novel-related is better than an hour spent on Tumblr or watching TV!

Happy Writing, -Camille

[winchesters-help-deactivated201]

Archetypes

A sort-of archetype master post, for anonymous.

12 Common Archetypes

Okayophelia’s Archetype Series

8 Heroine Archetypes

8 Hero Archetypes

16 Villain Archetypes

49 Personality Archetypes

Master Heroine Archetypes

Master Hero Archetypes

The Friend Archetypes

A List of Character Archetypes

That’s what I’ve scavenged up, I’ll update this when I can, and feel free to add more!

[artandalcohol]

[the-right-writing]

Generators

Story idea generators:

TV Tropes

Seventh Sanctum

Archetype

Pearltrees

Scholastic

Pantomimepony

Feath

Feath (tarot version)

Short Story Ideas

Springhole (actually several different ones!)

First sentence generators:

Writing Exercises

Writing Fix

Short Story Ideas

Pantomimepony

Character generators:

Feath

Seventh Sanctum

Archetype Writing

Self-Publishing Team

Short Story Ideas

Springhole (actually several different ones!)

[artandalcohol]

[ruthlesscalculus]

Are you still stuck for ideas for National Novel Writing Month? Or are you working on a novel at a more leisurely pace? Here are 102 resources on Character, Point of View, Dialogue, Plot, Conflict, Structure, Outlining, Setting, and World Building, plus some links to generate Ideas and Inspiration.

CHARACTER, POINT OF VIEW, DIALOGUE

10 Days of Character Building

Name Generators

Name Playground

The Universal Mary Sue Litmus Test

Priming the idea pump (A character checklist shamlessly lifted from acting)

How to Create a Character

Seven Common Character Types

Handling a Cast of Thousands – Part I: Getting to Know Your Characters

It’s Not What They Say …

Establishing the Right Point of View: How to Avoid “Stepping Out of Character”

How to Start Writing in the Third Person

Web Resources for Developing Characters

What are the Sixteen Master Archetypes?

Character: A compilation of guidance from classical and contemporary experts on creating great dramatic characters

Building Fictional Characters

Fiction Writer’s Character Chart

Character Building Workshop

Tips for Characterization

Fiction Writer’s Character Chart

Villains are People, Too, But …

Top 10 Tips for Writing Dialogue

Speaking of Dialogue

Dialogue Tips

Advantages, Disadvantages and Skills (character traits)

How to Write a Character Bible

Character Development Exercises

All Your Characters Sounds the Same — And They’re Not a Hivemind!

Medieval Names Archive

Sympathy Without Saintliness

Writing the Other: Bridging Cultural Difference for Successful Fiction

Family Echo (family tree website)

Interviewing Characters: Follow the Energy

100 Character Development Questions for Writers

Behind the Name

Lineage Chart Layout Generator

PLOT, CONFLICT, STRUCTURE, OUTLINE

How to Write a Novel: The Snowflake Method

Effectively Outlining Your Plot

Conflict and Character within Story Structure

Outlining Your Plot

Ideas, Plots & Using the Premise Sheets

How to Write a Novel

Creating Conflict and Sustaining Suspense

Plunge Right In … Into Your Story, That Is!

Fiction Writing Tips: Story Grid

Tips for Creating a Compelling Plot

Writer’s “Cheat Sheets”

The Thirty-six (plus one) Dramatic Situations

The Evil Overlord Devises a Plot: Excerpt from Stupid Plotting Tricks

Conflict Test

What is Conflict?

Monomyth

The Hero’s Journey: Summary of the Steps

Outline Your Novel in Thirty Minutes

Plotting Without Fears

Novel Outlining 101

Writing the Perfect Scene

Fight Scenes 101

Basic Plots in Literature

One-Page Plotting

The Great Swampy Middle

SETTING, WORLD BUILDING

Magical World Builder’s Guide

I Love the End of the World

World Building 101

The Art of Description: Eight Tips to Help You Bring Your Settings to Life

Creating the Perfect Setting – Part I

Creating a Believable World

An Impatient Writer’s Approach to Worldbuilding

Fantasy Worldbuilding Questions

Setting

Character and Setting Interactions

Creating Fantasy and Science Fiction Worlds

Creating Fantasy Worlds

Questions About Worldbuilding

Maps Workshop — Developing the Fictional World Through Mapping

World Builder Projects

IDEAS, INSPIRATION

Quick Story Idea Generator

Solve Your Problems Simply by Saying Them Out Loud

Busting Your Writing Rut

Writing Inspiration, or Sex on a Bicycle

Creative Acceleration: 11 Tips to Engineer a Productive Flow

The Seven Major Beginner Mistakes

Complete Your First Book with these 9 Simple Writing Habits

Free Association, Active Imagination, Twilight Imaging

Random Book Title Generator

Finishing Your Novel

Story Starters and Idea Generators

REVISION

How to Rewrite

One-Pass Manuscript Revision: From First Draft to Last in One Cycle

Editing Recipe

Cliche Finder

Revising Your Novel: Read What You’ve Written

Writing 101: So You Want to Write a Novel Part 3: Revising a Novel

TOOLS and SOFTWARE

My Writing Nook (online text editor; free)

Bubbl.us (online mind map application; free)

Freemind (mind map application; free; Windows, Mac, Linux, portable)

XMind (mind map application; free; Windows, Mac, Linux, portable)

Liquid Story Binder (novel organization and writing software; free trial, $45.95; Windows, portable)

Scrivener (novel organization and writing software; free trial, $39.95; Mac)

SuperNotecard (novel organization and writing software; free trial, $29; Windows, Mac, Linux, portable)

yWriter (novel organization and writing software; free; Windows, Linux, portable)

JDarkRoom (minimalist text editor; free; Windows, Mac, Linux, portable)

AutoRealm (map creation software; free; Windows, Linux with Wine)

[thisperspective]

OMG. ALL THESE LINKS.

[writingbox]

4 Ways to Reveal Backstory

Unless you’re the next J R R Tolkien, it’s best not to attempt a huge outpouring of historical backstory at the beginning of your novel. Your readers want a gripping story, not a history lecture.

There are many ways that you can gradually reveal backstory through your novel without having to halt the telling of your story.

Setting: Bombed buildings hint at a recent war, a flood may have left your characters living upstairs in their houses. Street names, pub names and building names can hint at historical backstory (such as Battle Square, Hangman’s Lane or The Burning Scholar Inn).

Culture: A town that used to be plagued by dragons may have a policy on killing lizards, a populace that used to be slaves may eat quickly, a town that suffers regular droughts may value water over money.

Character: A woman who was attacked may be scared to leave home after dark, someone who was criticised as a child may be a perfectionist as an adult. After a long war, a town may be very short on men, and the men that survived may have trouble re-adjusting to life.

Dialogue: Characters can, of course, talk about the past, but avoid another outpouring of historical information. Hint at things, leave clues, tell half stories; let your reader enjoy piecing everything together.