New Growth

I created this to document my journey in Denmark and beyond as I grow my horizons. Since I don't travel much anymore, I am transforming it into a writing blog to work on my various works, post writing tips and character or world-building inspiration.

[headspace-hotel]

Difficult lesson to learn about writing: Sometimes the second time you write a story is a second draft, and sometimes the second time you write a story is just First Draft 2

Both represent a great deal of progress. They have to be thought of differently to avoid causing discouragement.

A “regular” second draft builds on what you laid down in the first draft. You can make lots of changes, yeah, and end up ditching a lot of the stuff you wrote, that’s part of the drafting process. But if you get to the point where the plot and worldbuilding have been remodeled and/or a great majority of the original draft has to be thrown out completely and can’t even be used to reference in rewriting, I find it more helpful to think of it as a second first draft than a second draft, because you’re basically not in the phase of writing where you’re refining and improving stuff, and most of what you’re writing is new and still totally raw and as rough-hewn as any first draft.

A first draft, to me, exists to answer the question “Okay, what am I dealing with here?” And you can rewrite a story a couple times and still be figuring that out. The next phase is “How can I make it work?” but sometimes even if you’ve already drafted this story before you’re not at the point where you can start making your existing material work better.

And for me, it’s really discouraging to be like “Okay, I’m on the second/third/fourth draft of this story now” when most of my work on it is straight up writing content because it sets the bar higher than “okay just make it exist.” Sometimes it takes time to get the thing you want in existence.

[studysection]

Hey guys! As a writer myself, it’s hard to have a lot of resources for writing in one place. That’s why I decided to create this masterpost, and maybe make more if I find future resources. I hope you like it, and expect to see more masterposts like this in the future!

Generators

Character

Appearance Generator

Archetypes Generator

Character Generator

Character Traits Generator

Family Generator

Job/Occupation Generator, (II)

Love Interest Generator

Motive Generator

Name Generator

Personality Generator, (II)

Quick Character Generator

Super Powers Generator

Names

Brand Name Generator

Medicine Title Generator

Name Generator

Quick Name Generator

Vehicle Generator

Town Name Generator

Plot

First Encounter Generator

First Line Generator, (II)

Plot Generator, (II), (III)

Plot Device Generator

Plot Twist Generator

Quick Plot Generator

Setting/World-Building

City Generator

Fantasy Race Generator

Laws Generator

Pet Generator

Setting Generator

Species Generator

Terrain Generator

Prompts

Subject Generator

”Take Three Nouns” Generator

Word Prompt Generator

Misc

Color Generator

Decision Generator

Dialogue Generator

Journey Generator

Title Generator, (II), (III)

Some Tips

Just a few I found from the writing tips tag!

Writing action / @berrybird

How to create a strong voice in your writing / @collegerefs

How to plot a complex novel in one day! / @lizard-is-writing

8 ways to get past writer’s block / @kiramartinauthor

psa for writers / @dasakuryo

”Write Using Your 5 Senses” / @ambientwriting

How People Watching Improves Your Writing / @wherethetransthingsare

Writing Science Fiction: Tips for Beginners / @fictionwritingtips

Creating Likeable Characters / @authors-haven

Vocabulary

Descriptive words / @somekindofstudent

Words to replace “Said” / @msocasey

Obscure color words / @mintsteelpeachlilac

Words to spice up your stories / @busyibee

Words to describe someone’s voice

Words to Use Instead of Very / @gaybybirth

Touchy Feely Words / @gaybybirth

Some Advice

Stephen King’s Top 20 Rules for Writers

”But my plot isn’t UNIQUE or BIG enough!” / @youreallwrite

8 Things Every Creative Should Know / @adamjk

(How To) Get Over Comparing Yourself to Other Creatives / @adamjk

How to Get Over Common Creative Fears (Maybe) / @adamjk

14 Tips From Stephen King On Writing / @i-can-give-you-prompts

Playlists

Electronic Thoughts / @eruditekid

“Mix About Writing” An Instrumental Mix / @shadowofemirates

Shut Up, I’m Writing! / @ninadropdead

Chill / @endlessreveries

Breathtaking Film Scores / @tweedskirts

Music to Write to Vol. 1: Starlight / @crestadeen

Music for Written Words / @ghoulpatch

Dead Men Tell No Tales / @scamandersnewt

Fatale / @dolcegf

All These Things that I’ve Done / @referenceforwriters

Feeling Soaking into Your Bones / @verylondon

I Can Feel Your Pulse in the Pages / @rphelper

Morally Ambiguous / @scamandersnewt

Wonderwall / @wheelerwrites

Pythia / @mazikeene

Ballet: To Dance / @tanaquil

Websites and Apps

For Writing

ZenPen: A minimalist writing website to keep you free of distractions and in the flow.

The Most Dangerous Writing App: A website where you have to keep typing or all of your writing will be lost. It helps you keep writing…kind of. You can choose between a time or word count limit!

Evernote: An online website where you can take notes and save the product to your laptop and/or smartphone!

Writer, the Internet Typewriter: It’s just you and your writing, and you can save your product on the website if you create an account.

Wordcounter: A website to help check your word and character count, and shows words you’re using frequently.

Monospace: An Android app for writing on the go when you feel the inspiration, but you don’t have your laptop on you!

For Productivity

Tide: An app that combines a pomodoro-esque timer with nature sounds and other noises! (Google Play / Apple Store)

ClearFocus: An Android app with a pomodoro-type time counter to let you concentrate easier and stay productive.

Forest: An app with a time counter to keep you focused and off your phone, and when you complete the time limit, a tree grows in your garden! (Google Play / Apple Store)

SelfControl: A Mac downloadable app that blocks you from distracting mail servers, websites, and other things!

Prompt Blogs

@writeworld

@dialouge-prompts

@oopsprompts

@prompts-for-the-otp

@creativepromptsforwriting

@the-modern-typewriter

@theprofessionalpromptmaker

@writers-are-writers

@otp-imagines-cult

@witterprompts

@havetobememes

@auideas

@putthepromptsonpaper

@promptsonpaper

@fyotpprompts

@otpisms

@soprompt

@otpprompts

@ablockforwritersblock

@awritersnook

Writing Tips Blogs

@writeworld

@anomalously-written

@awritersnook

@clevergirlhelps

@referenceforwriters

@whataboutwriting

@thewritershelpers

@nimblesnotebook

@slitheringink

[write-on-world]

@writing_inspiration... nail on the head.

[what-even-is-thiss]

Writing novels, writing scripts, writing poetry, and writing short stories are all completely different skills and if you’re not good at one of them yet and you’re good at another don’t beat yourself up about it. You wouldn’t call an oil painter stupid because he can’t make a bronze sculpture. He’s an oil painter. He’s never made a sculpture before. Give him a minute to figure it out.

So if you’ve only ever written short stories don’t beat yourself up because your one act play is crap. You’re learning how to walk again. Let yourself fall flat on your face a couple of times.

[nanowrimo]

“Writing a book is one of those things you always wanted to do, and now here you are, finally making it happen!” —Justina Ireland

Our amazingly multi-talented Customer Service Captain, Wesley Sueker, has illustrated quotes from this year’s Pep Talks! Check out Wesley’s other work on DeviantArt, and read the rest of Justina Ireland’s pep talk here.

[mrv3000]

[mupemba-deactivated20250126]

@blacklinguist this should help you understand

[yet-another-oc-blog]

planning the climax of the story: eh. sprinkle in a couple more injuries to the protagonist(s). don’t overthink it.

planning multiple potential scenes and dozens different subtle variants for when the protag finally says “I love you” to their love interest:

[votre-parisienne]

[oatmeal]

This is from a comic about being creative. Read the rest on my website:  8 things I’ve learned about creativity.

[andallshallbewell]

[babyanimalgifs]

Turtle enjoying a nice morning stretch 

(via)

[nanowrimo]

“When I first starting writing, I would write and rewrite beginnings over and over and over again, and it stunted my ability to move forward and finish the thing. I was building a perfect staircase that went nowhere. What I had to learn the hard way is that a perfect beginning cannot exist without an ending to answer it.”

—Maggie Tokuda-Hall has an MFA in creative writing from USF, and a strong cake-decorating game. She is the author of the 2017 Parent’s Choice Gold Medal winning picture book, Also an Octopus, illustrated by Benji Davies. The Mermaid, the Witch, and the Sea is her debut young adult novel, which is due out on May 5th, 2020 from Candlewick Press. She lives in Oakland, California with her husband, son, and dog.

Are you better at writing beginnings or endings? Let Maggie know, and/or thank her for her #CampCarePackage!

Your Camp Care Package is brought to you by Camp NaNoWriMo. Sign up to receive more Camp Care Packages at nanowrimo.org!

Background quote photo by tangi bertin on Unsplash.

[rainbowlack]

yes I'm a writer. no I don't write. we exist

[sevenseptember]

“I think there is pressure on people to turn every negative into a positive, but we should be allowed to say, ‘I went through something really strange and awful and it has altered me forever.’”

— Marian Keyes (via cleverwordsandotherstuffilike)

[flowury]

i like to get inspired and then not act on it and waste away in my bed

[quickpiet]

My mood for the last week

@/alwaysuncanny on Instagram, but with a twist