the heart's a grave

eli || 20s knowing just enough about everything that i can lie about anything. i follow back from my main blog maabon.

[writing-in-the-grave]

ATTENTION WRITERS

Google BetaBooks. Do it now. It’s the best damn thing EVER.

You just upload your manuscript, write out some questions for your beta readers to answer in each chapter, and invite readers to check out your book!

It’s SO easy!

You can even track your readers! It tells you when they last read, and what chapter they read!

Your beta readers can even highlight and react to the text!!!

There’s also this thing where you can search the website for available readers best suited for YOUR book!

Seriously guys, BetaBooks is the most useful website in the whole world when it comes to beta reading, and… IT’S FREE.

[shinningstarz]

HEY! BECAUSE OF OP, THEY CREATED A SPECIAL WELCOME IF YOUR FOUND THEM THRU A TUMBLR WELCOME, ITS A YOUTUBE VIDEO.

[writing-in-the-grave]

They also sent me this; which was super cool

[writingonjupiter]

*slams reblog button*

[cianmars]

@findingtallahassee holy shit! This is cool!

[lalalandlala123-deactivated2021]

“Authors retain all rights to works posted on BetaBooks, and can add or remove content at their discretion. BetaBooks makes no claim to any of the work posted on the site.”

Incase anyone was wondering

[solariumss-deactivated20191204]

I want to write a faerie short story for my last assignment for class next school year. My third year. Not an SJM faerie story but a Holly Black one. Not making them perfect. Not making them too kind. A bit of mean and cruel with a dash of handsome. You know, Roiben-esque.

But can someone tell me the faerie rules and what both Seelie and UnSeelie are like??

Rules

Seelie vs UnSeelie

How they interact with humans

What they won't give you but you give them. Etc.

What not to do

Etiquette

Etc.

Thanks!!

[crowandmoonwriting]

Hello! I’m so happy you’re writing a Holly Black-esque faerie story! Her stories are so beautifully researched and I feel reflect the nature of the folklore.

Rules: (from what I recall from my studies) 

Never tell them your full name, or they can control you. Likewise, they will likely never tell you their full name

Do not thank them if they do you a favour. Just say you appreciate it. They feel if you thank them, you feel they are working for you. 

Iron hurts them, and wards them off. Carrying sharp implements made of iron on your person in faerie lands are a sign of aggression. 

Rowan berries can ward off faerie magic and protect you from them

You can make potion for True Sight (to see through faerie glamour) using four-leaf clovers and grass from a faerie throne, among other arcane ingredients sometimes including mandake or rowan berries depending on the recipe. Faeries can both give and take away True Sight, as a gift or a curse. 

They can tell a human’s feelings and the more powerful can read intentions (this is not mind-reading per se) 

In many stories, faeries cannot speak an untruth. This does not mean they cannot be manipulative and misleading. 

Walking through a faerie ring is a big no-no. If you don’t die immediately, you may walk out with horrible luck, or be transported to the faerie world. You may not know, but you will also lose time. One man disappeared for over a year, and swore he was only dancing in the ring for half an hour. 

You can be pixie-led. This means faeries are making you lost, often in an area you know well. To prevent or stop this, wear your clothes inside out. 

Seelie vs. Unseelie: this categorisation comes from Scotland. Seelie tend to be more accepting of humans, but do not mistake this for affection. Unseelie openly despise humans, and often wish for their destruction. Some align the Seelie with spring and summer, and Unseelie with fall and winter. According to the Irish, there are two other kinds of faeries, Trooping and Solitary. Trooping faeries are court fae and are often organised in large groups, while solitaries live alone or only in small family groups. 

Interactions with humans vary enormously, as faeries are known to be capricious. They can love you for giving them an offering, but if you don’t give them another, they may come to hate you. Blessings and curses are often freely given. Many like to torment humans for fun, or perform small acts of mischief to vex us. Others want to outright kill and eat humans. 

When in the presence of faeries, you will feel one of two things. If you are around kinder (Seelie, perhaps) faeries, everything will have a faint shimmer. Everything will look more dimensional. Sounds and sights are sharper, but especially smells and flavours. You will have the urge to dance and sing, and you will feel like a child again, with your logical reasoning and inhibitions lowered. If you are around malevolent (Unseelie, say) faeries, the shimmer and dimensionality will happen, but it will cause you unease at the least, terror at the worst. It will feel colder, not necessarily in temperature, but in atmosphere. The air can seem too thick or too thin. You will feel as though you’re being watched, or hunted. 

I hope that helped!

[bookishdiplodocus]

Oh, and never eat food they offer you in the faery realm, nor drink something. If you do, you have to stay there, because you're their guest now. Be very polite when declining said food and drinks.

[maabonwrites]

This is a wonderful reference! May I add some additional notes that Holly Black doesn’t include in her books, but are often used in folklore?

The note on iron specifically refers, in folklore, to something called “cold iron.” Most of what we refer to as iron is either tempered into steel, or cast into a mold. Cold iron is untenpered, usually heated over nothing more than a charcoal fire and the resulting lumps are hammered into useful shapes. It’s a deliberate process, and extremely low-tech!

Some other stuff:

Generally faeries that play at being human (via glamours or other disguises) have an internal divide between their faerie mein and their mortal seeming. This “seeming” reflects their outlook on both the mortal world and the world of faerie. As the fae are a changing species, their disguises affect them, and the longer they wear them, the more affected they become.

Speaking of glamours, I generally see that term, in YA novels, used to refer to disguises and illusions but it technically applies to any magic they can do. Depending on your interpretation, that could mean that all of their magic is illusory, intangible to humans. That’s up to interpretation, though.

There’s a common trap that authors sometimes fall into where they make all faeries a monolith, a single “species” as it were, all of them beautiful and elf-like but just a very basic glance at folklore can reveal that there are the sidhe, yes (those are the pretty ones), but also redcaps, boggans/boggarts (not quite the harry potter interpretation, they’re like house spirits), merfolk, nockers, piskies, trolls, satyrs, selkies... even leprechauns are often considered faeries. And all of this is just looking within (primarily western) Europe. Take a peek outside that and there are even more beings who fulfill the same folkloric purpose as faeries. Not that stories about the Sidhe and other faerie nobility aren’t interesting, but just like in real life stories of places with courts and kings, the common folk have stories, too.

[callitgoodwriting-deactivated20]

how to make a story file

As I am preparing for Camp NaNo*, I have been working on my story file. It occurred to me this might not be common or popular practice. “Story File” is a name I gave it and maybe some of y’all have a different name with the same contents. 

*There’s still time to apply to join my Camp NaNo cabin!

My Story File contains everything about my story that doesn’t go in the outline.

It’s broken up into major categories and specific templates. So without further ado, here is how I structure my Story File. 

Intro

Title

Logline

Synopsis

Genre

Estimated Total Length (word count)

Draft Length Goal (word count)

Character Bank

Main characters and brief, one-sentence descriptions with ages

Themes and Character Development

Central Question

The Yes/No question that is being asked through the whole story

Should have objective qualities, rather than subjective

i.e. “Will they fall in love?” (subjective) vs. “Will they leave their partners and become a couple?” (objective)

Thematic Questions

These are the internal conflict questions that reside in your character(s) and your story

ex. “Can there really be a successful government?”

ex. “Does grief excuse bad actions?”

Themes at a Glance

Words or phrases that relate to the themes of the story

ex. person vs. nature

ex. isolation

ex. grief

ex. first love

Motivation / Stasis State / Final State

for each main character, you should write a sentence or two pertaining to these three things

Motivation: What is the drive behind this character and their past, present, and future actions? What part of their background makes them the way that they are? What are they looking for? What do they want out of this/a situation?

Stasis State: What are they like before the inciting incident? What problems and questions do they have?

Final State: What has changed about them and their outlook? What questions have they resolved? What has happened to their internal conflict?

Relationships

I usually make a little web of the MCs and their relationship to one another. One for the stasis and one for final.

Stasis: How do these characters see each other? How do they act toward the other? (All before the inciting incident)

Final: How do these characters see each other now? How has their idea of one another shifted? 

Even if a character dies before the end, include the most recent relationship status in the Final web.

ex. this is how I organize it, using the Draw feature of Google Docs

Character Bank

This is just a very preliminary character bank. If you prefer a more in-depth one, check out my 6 Box Method.

Per (relevant/important) character:

Name

Nickname/preferred name

Age

Field/Occupation

Personality

Personal History

Education/Occupation History

Extra Notes:

Worldbuilding Bank

(Check out my worldbuilding posts on Categories Pt. 1 and 2 for better context)

Seasons and Climate

Languages

Other Cultural Pockets

Folklore and Legends

Fine Arts

Dress and Modesty

Classes

Jobs

Currency and Economics

Shopping

Agriculture and Livestock

Imports and Exports

Literature, Pop Culture, and Entertainment

Food and Water

Holidays and Festivals

Family and Parenting

Relationships

Housing

Religion and Beliefs

Government

Health and Medicine

Technology and Communication

Death

Transportation

Plants, Animals, and Human-environment Interaction

Education

Beauty Standards

Gender and Sexuality

—————————

I hope this helps y’all and supplements what you’re probably already doing. I know it’s helped me tons to have everything in a central place.

Best of luck!

[wrieter]

VERY BASIC WRITING PLANNER

This is the template I start off with whenever I have a new idea.

Overall

Themes :

Aesthetics :

Protagonists :

Antagonists :

Premise :

Subplots :

Characters

Name :

Age :

Sexuality :

Race/Ethnicity :

Role :

Position :

Goal :

Motivation :

Greatest Fear :

Secret :

Physical Description :

Recognizable Physical Traits :

Important backstory (if any) :

Biggest flaws :

Important Relationships : (Love, sibling, mentor, enemies, close friends)

Plotting

Everything has a beginning, middle and end. Therefore, I divide my whole book into three acts, three acts into three blocks, and three blocks into three chapters. They can all vary of course- but having 27 points really helps. This method is not my own- I used Katytastic’s. Click here to learn more.

Basically everything has these three points-

Set up

Conflict

Resolution

World

Races :

Creatures :

Religions :

Magic System :

Technology :

( This is very basic but a good place to start imho)

This also follows something Brandon Sanderson said: a story is the intersection of characters, plot and world tied together by conflict.

I really hope this helped you! Reblog if it did :)

[wolvesofarcadia-archive]

ARCADIA EXCERPT | CHAPTER 8 ↳ Fredrick’s POV

word count: 998

cw: profanity, blood, minor character death

I do everything I can to stop what’s happening—pin her arms over her head, straddle her waist with my legs to lock her down—even try to cut off her airway by grabbing her neck with my other hand. But before I can even squeeze, white fur blooms between my fingers. Sloane’s eyes widen in panic, pupils constricting. She opens her mouth to let out a scream, but a coarse howl scrapes between her fangs.

Holding her down as a human was hard enough, but as a wolf, it’s impossible. She claws out from beneath me and leaps from the bed, crashing into the walls, knocking over the table and breaking the desk lamp. Terrified yips and howls sound strangled in her throat, as if she’d never spoken before tonight. Her paws scrape against the floor as she trips over the forelegs that, until a second ago, were her arms. Seeing her like this, I realize she was telling me the truth about herself. Sloane really has been living in her human form this entire time.

Faintly, though the ruckus of Sloane’s destruction, a door at the end of the hall on the floor above us creaks as it opens. One by one, more doors open as soldiers rise from there bunks. One of them immediately rushes towards us, not waiting for the rest of the privates to catch up. I scramble across the room to grab Sloane. Her long fur makes it difficult to get her still, and I have to use my entire body just to keep her in one place. My arms around her neck, holding her in a headlock, and with my legs I lock her body to mine. By the time I get control of her, the door bangs three times.

Keep reading

[mrywrites]

PLUTO AND THE MOON ∣ short wip introduction ↳ by mrywrites

When his tiny spaceship with its tiny rockets landed on the tiny planet that he so righteously called his, Orion was surprised to see that the planet he thought empty was in fact not unihabited—not at all, for there sat a woman who cried with such fervor and such sorrow that the universe pocketed her away into a corner of her own, surrounded by dust and storm and rock.

Pluto bled blue, but Orion wouldn’t know this until it was only seconds before her fall.

— pluto and the moon, mb

T A G L I S T — lmk if you wish to be added/taken off! @montevena @omgbrekkerkaz @maskedlady @harrybpoetry @noloumna @victoiirres  @syposium-moved @vandorens @zeesqueere @thewriterkatie @theforgottencoolkid @avasreferences  @teacupwriter @snickertoodles  @carumens @the-ichor-of-ruination @quilloftheclouds @newdivinities-archived @sorroways @montevena  @starrywritingg

[popovs-archive-deactivated20200]

⤏ character posters

VIII. AISE SOMMER

‟ ‘Maybe I’m already dead.’ They smile, Shadow dances in their pale eyes.

[popovs-archive-deactivated20200]

⤏ character posters

III. AIDEN JEAN

‟ Aiden recoils. Pressed against the door, heart heavy in his chest. ‘What are you,’ he breathes, eyes blown wide

[ghostflowerdreams]

Writing Research - Victorian Era

In historical fiction it is important to be accurate and the only way to do so is to research the era. What is highly recommended by many writers is to write your story first. While writing your story, mark the parts that you’re not sure are correct and then do the research after you are done. This is to prevent you from doing unnecessary research that may not be relevant to your work. You want to spend your time wisely! Or you can just research as you go, it’s really whatever works for you since there isn’t a “wrong” way to research.

To begin, the Victorian era of the British history (and that of the British Empire) formally begins in 1837, which was the year Victoria became Queen and ends in 1901 – the year of her death. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence for Britain. Some scholars date the beginning of the period in terms of sensibilities and political concerns to the passage of the Reform Act 1832. [1]

Names

1000 Most Popular Victorian Names

Victorian Era Names, A Writer’s Guide

Victorian Darlings - British Baby Names

Society & Life

Victorian Society

The Victorians: Life and Death

The Victorian Working Life

A Woman’s Place in 19th Century Victorian History

Victorian Occupations: Life and Labor in the Victorian Period

Flirting and Courting Rituals of The Victorian Era

Victorian Working Women

Victorian Life

Glimpses of Victorian Life

Victorian Rituals & Traditions

Victorian Etiquette

Etiquette, Manners and Morals

Almanac - Etiquette and Manners Victorian Era

Victorian Britain - Children at Work

Children in the Victorian Age

Collège Sainte-Barbe - Children in the Victorian Age

University of Victoria - Victorian Childhood

Museum of London - What Was Life Like for Children?

Victoria and Albert Museum - Victorian Children (PDF)

University of Strathclyde - Victorian Children

Daily Life in the Victorian Era

How the Mid-Victorians Worked, Ate and Died

How did the Victorians mourn?

The House of Mourning - Victorian Mourning & Funeral Customs in the 1890s

Ideals of Womanhood in Victorian Britain

Etiquette of a Victorian Lady

Going to School in Victorian Times

History of Working Class Mothers in Victorian England

Life of the Victorian Woman

The Working Class and The Poor

Victorian Women’s Work

Needlework, Knitting and Crohet

Victorian Etiquette - Births and Christenings

Victorian Ballroom Dancing Etiquette

Ballroom Manners and Etiquette

How Prudish were the Victorians really?

Gresham College - The Victorians: Gender and Sexuality

Victorian and Albert Museum - Sex & Sexuality in the 19th Century

Why were the Victorians so crazy about public spaces, like parks?

Victorian Homes and Gardens

The Shops and Shopkeepers

Victorian Christmas

The History of British Winters

Top Ten Pet Peeves, or Horse-Related Mistakes to Avoid in your Story

Marriage in the Victorian Era

Victorian Wedding Guide

Husbands and Wives in the Victorian Era

Victorian Technology

History - Victorian Technology

Gresham College - The Victorians: Religion and Science

Household Management and Servants of the Victorian Era

BBC News - Servants: A Life below Stairs

Life as a Servant in Victorian England

What Servants would you find in a Victorian household?

The Servant’s Quarters in 19th Century Houses Like Downton Abbey

Victorian Domestic Servant  Hierarchy and Wages

Australian National University - The Victorian Merchant-Elite and the Chinese Question (PDF)

Project MUSE - The Chinese in Britain, 1800-Present: Economy, Transnationalism, Identity

Untold London - The Chinese In Limehouse 1900 - 1940

JSTOR - The Journal of Negro History: Black Ideals of Womanhood in the Late Victorian Era

H‑Net: Humanities and Social Sciences Online - Black Victorians

Wikipedia - Black British

History Today - Black People in Britain: The Eighteenth Century

University College London - Black Londoners 1800-1900

The Guardian - The Black Victorians: Astonishing Portraits Unseen for 120 Years

BBC News - Short History of Immigration: The 1800s

Commerce

British Money

Wages and Cost of Living in the Victorian Era

Pricing and Money

Victorian Money

Cost of Living in Victorian England

How Much Is That - Calculating Prices Throughout the Years

Entertainment & Food

Victorian Menu - Cooking and Recipes

A Time Traveler’s Guide to Victorian Era Tea Etiquette (PDF)

The Victorian Pantry

Victorian Era Food Recipes

Victorians Food Facts - Cookbook

Food, Recipes and Tea

Victorian Tea Time Recipes - Sandwich and Cheese Straws

Victorian Era Recipes

Victorian Food, Party & Recipes

Victorian Dinner Parties

19th Century Food and Drink

Victorian Cooking: Upperclass Dinner

eHow - Weekly Meals Eaten in the Victorian Era

Victorian Dinner Parties

What did the Victorians have for breakfast?

Victorian Ladies Who Lunch, Or: Luncheon Places and Tea Rooms for Ladies

History Magazine - What Time is Dinner?

What the Poor Ate

The Arts in Victorian Britain

Victorian Art, Literature and Music 

Music, Theater, and Popular Entertainment in Victorian Britain

Victorian Entertainments - We Are Amused

19th Century Hobbies and Daily Activities

Victorian Pastimes and Sports

Victorian Fun and Games & Other Pastimes

19th Century British and Irish Authors

Gresham College - The Victorians: Art and Culture

What is up with the depictions of half naked Victorian era women fencing in artworks?

Hygiene, Health & Medicine

Health and Hygiene in the Nineteenth Century

Victorian Diseases and Medicine

Health & Medicine in the 19th Century

19th Century Diseases

Victorian Health

Five Horrible Diseases You Might Have Caught in Victorian England

Alcohol and Alcoholism in Victorian England

A Look Back at Old-Time Medicines

Victorian London’s Drug Culture

Victorian - Medical Breakthroughs

Victorian Hospitals

Victorian - Baths and Washhouses

Medicine and Health in Victorian Times

The Victorian Revolution in Surgery

Victorian Science and Medicine

Victorian Health and Medicine

Women’s Health

Questions about Victorian Women Menstruation

Victorian View on Menstruation

Reusable Menstrual Products

Childbirth and Birth Control in the 19th Century

British Maternal Mortality in the 19th and early 20th Centuries

The Historical Horror of Childbirth

Contraception: Past, Present and Future Factsheet

History of Contraception in America, 19th Century Artifacts

UCLA School of Public Health - Anesthesia and Queen Victoria

Science Museum - John Snow (1813-58)

Science Museum - Chloroform

University of Liverpool - The Demography of Victorian England and Wales (PDF)

Gresham College - The Victorians: Life and Death

Colton History Society - Village History in Staffordshire, England (Victorian Health)

fuckyeahcharacterdevelopment -  Do you have anything about an asthmatic in the Victorian era?

Science Museum - Nerve Tonics

The Pennington Edition - Victorian Remedies

Fashion

Dressing the Victorian Woman

Victorian Hats

Victorian Jewelry

Victorian Hairstyles & Headdresses

Hair of the Nineteenth Century

How to Dress for Travel in 1852

Victorian Men’s Clothing

How to Dress Like a Victorian Man from the 1860s

How to Dress Victorian

Victorian Era Fashion

Royal Fashion

Victorian Fashion

Boy’s 1860s Fashions

Dressing the Victorian Girl of the 1890s

Victoria’s Real Secret – The Victorians Knew Underwear

How to Undress a Victorian Lady in Your Next Historical Romance

Early Victorian Undergarments; Part 1, luxurious silk hose, colorful stockings, & socks

Early Victorian Undergarments; Part 2, Chemises and camisoles

Early Victorian Undergarments; Part 3, Pantalettes, pantalets, drawers, and bloomers

Victorian Ladies Shoes & Boots

Victorian Swimwear

Victorian Men and Woman Swim Wear

Dialogue

Victorian Language

The Language of Flowers

Victorian London - Words and Expressions

A Dictionary of Victorian Slang (1909)

Victorian Slang

19th Century Swears

Victorian Slang - Lower Class and Underworld

Cliches and Saying of the Victorian Era

The Dictionary of Victorian London

Justice & Crimes

How Safe Was Victorian London?

Crime and the Victorian Household

Danger inside the Train: Crime on Victorian Railways

Railway Mania

How Widespread Were Concerns About Prostitution?

Fallen Women

The Great Social Evil: Victorian Prostitution

University of Massachusetts at Boston - The Great Social Evil: Victorian Prostitution

BBC History - Child Prostitutes: How the age of consent was raised to 16

University of Minnesota - Victorian Era: There are Two Kinds of Women…

University of London - The Real Rippers Street: Pathology, Policing, and Prostitution in Victorian London

University of Brighton - The Fetishization and Objectification of the Female Body in Victorian Culture

University of Missouri–Kansas City School of Law - Homosexuality and the Law in England

Sexual Violence in Nineteenth Century England

Victorian Poisoners

Crime and the Victorians

Victorian Crime

Victorian Crime & Punishment

Victorian Women Criminals’ Records Show Harsh Justice of 19th Century

Sentences and Punishments

Types of Punishments - Hanging

Types of Punishments - Imprisonment

Victorian Children in Trouble with the Law

Child Prisoners in Victorian Times

Victorian Crime

Victorian-era Serial Killers

The Development of a Police Force

The Metropolitan Police

A Work-Life History of Policemen in Victorian and Edwardian England (PDF)

How The Victorians Cracked Crime

Tracking a 19th-Century Serial Killer

Schaffer Library of Drug Policy - The Myth of the Opium Den in Late Victorian England

[dynamicsymmetry]

Good stuff.

[tarysande]

Guys, I edit professionally. This list is legit. Incorporating these suggestions before you hire an editor will save you A LOT of money. Even if you did these and nothing else, you’d see significant overall improvement in your work.

That said, you don’t have to overthink these things when you’re writing a first draft. If you write, “she said angrily” in a first draft, you can always revisit the phrasing in a second draft. I mention this because overthinking style can lead to a loss of momentum, and losing momentum is why so many people never finish a draft. Give yourself permission to write fast, write messy or ugly, and edit your draft into beauty later.

[nimblesnotebook-blog]

Editing Checklist

Editing Software:

StyleWriter 4 is fantastic. It’s an add-on for Microsoft word and has a 14-day trial period. It goes through your text, picks out “glue words”, misspellings, long sentences, homonyms, passive tense, shows your reading grade level, and more.

Editminion *FREE* checks for adverbs, weak words, passive voice, cliches, and homonyms among other things.

Pro Writing Aid is another online editor. It is mostly free, but offers more features if you pay.

AutoCrit offers free analysis for under 500 words, otherwise you have to pay for more text and more editing features.

Paper Rater offers a free service for editing, but it is designed for essays.

Formatting Checklist: This follows the general guide of formatting a manuscript in Microsoft word. However, some literary agents and editors have their own requirements.

Under the paragraph option, change the special indentation to first line at .5”. Change to document to double spaced.

There should be no spaces between paragraphs.

When showing a scene break, center # on a blank line.

Font should be easy to read. Courier New and Times New Roman are preferred at size 12.

All margins should be 1”.

Start chapters on a new page and put the chapter title 1/3 down the page. Write the chapter like so: CHAPTER ONE - CHAPTER TITLE. Press return 4 - 6 times before starting the text of the chapter.

For the header, put YOUR NAME/BOOK TITLE/PAGE NUMBER in the upper right-hand corner. Start this header on the first page of the first chapter.

The cover page of your manuscript should have your name, word count, and contact information in the upper left-hand corner.

The title on the cover page should be in all caps. Your name should be underneath in all caps. If you use a pen name, write YOUR REAL NAME (WRITING AS PEN NAME).

At the end of the manuscript, start a new page and write END.

Self-Editing Checklist:

Spelling:

If you are using Microsoft word for your word processor, use the spell check. After that, go through the manuscript line by line to make sure everything is spelled right. You may have used “form” instead of “from” and skipped it because Microsoft word did not see it as misspelled.

Printing out your work or viewing it in another way (such as a pdf on an ereader) helps find these mistakes.

Beta readers can find what you missed as well.

Use editing software to check homonyms or look up a list of homonyms and find them in your document using ctrl + f. Check these words to make sure you used the right spelling.

Grammar and Style:

First use Microsoft word’s grammar checker, but be aware that it is not always right. Check grammar girl if you are unsure.

For dialogue, you can always pick up a professionally published book and look at how the dialogue tags are used, where commas are placed, and when other punctuation is used.

If you’re in school and your English teacher isn’t too busy, have them take a look at it.

Look out for prepositions. Most of the time, you can omit these words and the sentence will still make sense. Beginner writers use a lot of these in their writing and it slows the flow.

Check for adverbs. You’d be surprised at how many you use in your writing, sometimes up to five a page. Using a few in narration is okay, but only a few. Delete adverbs you find, especially those that end in “-ly”, and rewrite the sentences in necessary.

Delete gerunds and forms of “to be” if writing in past tense. Instead of “were running”, write “ran”.

Check subject-verb agreement.

Use correct dialogue tags. People don’t bark their words. They shout.

Two digit numbers should be written as words (twenty-seven) while numbers with more than two digits should be written with numbers (123).

Avoid passive verbs.

Vary sentence length.

Show with the five senses rather than telling.

Most of the time, you can delete the word “that”.

Avoid using “unique” or “significant” words too often.

Consistency:

Make sure all your font is the same size and type.

Make sure you have no plot holes. Use the comment feature in Microsoft Word to track these plots.

Make sure your time line is consistent.

The tone should fit the scene.

There should be one POV per scene. Unless you’re a brilliant writer and can pull off third person omniscient.

Verb tense should be consistent.

Keep track of the details you release of people, places, and things. The reader will remember if in one chapter you say your protagonist has blue eyes and in another you say green.

Pacing:

The whole book should flow in and out of fast paced scenes to keep your reader interested and slow scenes to give them a break.

The middle should not “sag”.

Sentences should flow smoothly.

Plot:

Keep track of all your plots and sub-plots. Readers will remember them.

There should be a beginning, middle, and end.

Is the initial problem at the beginning of the manuscript?

There should be at least one antagonist. This does no have to be a person.

Is there enough conflict?

There should be a resolution.

All scenes should have something to do with plot.

The climax should be the most exciting part.

Character:

The protagonist should change by the end of the book.

Make sure all characters who come in contact with one another have some kind of relationship, whether good or bad.

Characters must have motivation for everything.

The protagonist must want something right from the start of the conflict.

The protagonist needs to be captivating. The readers wants to root for the protagonist. This does not mean the protagonist needs to be likable all the time.

The readers likes to relate to characters. Make sure your characters are diverse enough that readers can identify with one.

Know who your protagonist is. The main character is not always the same. For example, Nick in The Great Gatsby is the main character, but Jay Gatsby is the protagonist. This is important to know while writing your query letter.

If you can delete a minor character from a scene and nothing changes, then delete that character.

Sometimes you can make two minor characters one without losing any essential parts of the story. If you can, do this.

All characters react and act.

Each character has his or her own life.

Dialogue:

Dialogue should be believable. Read it out loud.

Don’t go overboard with phonetic spelling if a character has an accent.

Dialogue should be informal and natural. It does not have to be grammatically correct.

Prose:

Avoid purple prose. I’ve never met anyone with “emerald eyes” or “hair of fire” (except for the Flame Princess).

Don’t use too many adjectives.

Avoid cliches.

Other:

Don’t info dump. Pace information through dialogue and narration.

The first sentence should spark interest, or at least the first three. If it does, the first paragraph should be the same. And the first 250 words. The goal is to get the reader past the first page.

Let your story rest. When you’re ready to edit, start at the end. Writers tend to get lazy at the end of their story whether they are writing it for the first time or revising it after revising the rest of the story.

Make sure your manuscript is within range for your genre’s word count.

[popovs-archive-deactivated20200]

AIDEN JEAN ⤍ godfallen - characters

‟ The rumble of engine pierces sleepy silence. Aiden’s eyes trained on the road stretching out ahead, illuminated by yellowy lights, buzzing with static and magic. His grip loose on the steering wheel, betraying nothing, tensing slightly as Erin stirs in the back, curled tightly against Salem.

He watches them, briefly, through the rearview mirror. The way Erin’s fingers are tangled tight in Salem’s sweater, the way she holds him close, wrapped around him protectively. A softness graces their features, finally looking eighteen, young young young, and it aches, pulls at his soul, throat closing up slow.

‘Thank you for coming with us,’ Felix says, voice soft. He’s sat rigid next to Aiden, fingers wrapped tight ‘round his seatbelt, eyes shining with anxiety, glazed over in yellow light.

‘Someone’s gotta,’ Aiden murmurs, shoulders lifting slightly. ‘n there’s nobody better than me,’ his grin stretched wide, he looks at Felix.

[gaylortruther]

I L L U N I U S; CHARACTER RE-INTRODUCTIONS 

JARETH is an outcast among the angels, his halo an example and his attitude proof. There is something abnormal about him, his siblings whisper. Something uncanny in the way he speaks of the Lord, of his duties, as if the halo wrapped around his neck suffocates him. Rumor has it resentment is what tints the band, a frosted gold rather than the lustrous golden bronze the others have.

When night comes, the moonless sky of the Nota ad Ignota still shines bright. Sneaking away from the Cathedral is easy after 800 years. Anything to escape the neverending choirs. He escapes to a place where it doesn’t matter who sees him. It’s not the Et Inferius, but it’s the next best thing. Here, he rebels. Here, he meets his fate, destiny, and doom.

TAGLIST UNDER THE CUT

Keep reading

[dovelymaiden-deactivated2021103]

MALACHAI ROSE THURVESIE ✦ WIP: HAP ✦ 1/?✨

❝persuasive, dishonest, hedonistic❞

( pronounced: mal-ah-kai + rose + ter-vee-see )

Looking at him he had the face of an angel with his beautiful blue eyes and gorgeous golden curls…and then he spoke.

[ one of the characters for the vampire wip my entire life’s been leading up to─anyone want a wip intro? because im finally ready ]

wip intro

tagging some of the supporters on my taglists only for this post: (lemme know if you want to be tagged in my wip introduction post, but ONLY for that post lol) @marniebalboa @clarissalopeswriter @livvywrites @sleepy-and-anxious @smokeyeyedogs @starrywritingg @writer-jessicac @chalky-charlie @slytherinintj13 @drown-in-lava-choke-on-rubies @thesteamgoth @swiftiedyke @ashesconstellation @alexwillow @bloodrosed @ahotpeaceofshit @quartzses @maabonwrites @at-lxs

[phloxxiing-deactivated20190618]

NEW TAG LIST //

Instead of tagging people on every post, I’ve decided that I will make a weekly masterpost of WIP based posts and tag my tag list there so that they can see everything all at once.  Less excess in posts, easy hub for shit you wanna see.  So:

IF YOU WANT TO BE TAGGED ON RADIATION RAT, LIKE THIS POST.

IF YOU WANT TO BE TAGGED ON GORGING., REPLY TO THIS POST.

IF YOU WANT TO BE TAGGED ON ALL MY WIPS, REBLOG THIS POST.

[phloxxiing-deactivated20190618]

RADIATION RAT // “Music is the last bit of culture that still belongs to the people.  Government can’t stop you from making it, and the Princess can’t buy every artist out.  There will always be cheaply made instruments, poorly voices, slightly off beats making noise in the streets.  It’s the only real rebellion those poor bastards will ever take part in.”  

(spotify.)    (psd by @pilipalea)

[newdivinities-archived-deactiva]

[ VIC HAYLEY ] ⎯ nineteen ∣ he/him ∣ from waste ∣ pansexual

❝ ‘okay Ro, I’ll bite,’ Vic straightens, looking him in the eye. ‘We’re lost, now what.’