Magic and Myths

Hi I'm Nathan, I'm 19, and this is the writeblr for my current WIP. It is titled Old Pepper Place and is a light hearted fantasy tale about a young biology professor named Mycelium (or Maya for short) who moves into a house in the Vermont wilderness. At Old Pepper Place Maya quickly discovers that the world is a whole lot more magical than she ever imagined. She has to learn quickly, however, as her new found world is in danger, and the way to save it is hidden within the mysteries of Old Pepper Place.

[bruciemilf]

Did I daydream this, or was there a website for writers with like. A ridiculous quantity of descriptive aid. Like I remember clicking on " inside a cinema " or something like that. Then, BAM. Here's a list of smell and sounds. I can't remember it for the life of me, but if someone else can, help a bitch out <3

[bruciemilf]

I FOUND IT BITCHES

[dramono]

This is going to save me so much trouble in the future.

[tilthat]

TIL in 1896 a temporary, one-day city was named in Texas called Crush, where two locomotives were to be smashed head-on for purposes of spectacle. It was, for a few hours, the 2nd largest city in TX with 40k attendees. The collision caused engine boilers to explode, resulting in death and injuries.

via reddit.com

[justthesource]

source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crush,_Texas

[mangonetics]

you could just do shit back then

[pyomorphic]

texas is still like this

[tyrannosaurus-rex]

[snowriddenwolf]

[camelidae]

If you find trails of glittering goo crisscrossing your garden in the morning, there’s a good chance you’ve been visited by a Slimy-backed dragon, searching for the delicious crunch of snails. Don’t worry, they’re completely harmless (except for the glitter slime, which is a pain to clean up)

[ultraviolet-techno-ecology]

So like… is she tokyo cyberpunk or seattle cyberpunk?

[ultraviolet-techno-ecology]

Tokyo Cyberpunk: Emphasizes human relationship to technology, identity, psychological transhumanism, and the human-as-resource. In Tokyo Cyberpunk - Capitalism wants to own you.

Seattle Cyberpunk: Emphasizes class analysis through technology disparity, physical transhumanism, and the disposability of humans. In Seattle Cyberpunk - Capitalism wants you gone.

[ultraviolet-techno-ecology]

Aesthetically speaking…

Tokyo Cyberpunk showcases nightlife where clean streets are illuminated by neon signs tempting you into consumerism as a therapy for your alienation. It’s percieved cleanliness acts as a symbol where corporations justify their rulership through the illusion of social progress. The robot is friendly, companionable. Societal problems and capitalist contradiction are silenced and swept away without the common person knowing.

Seattle Cyberpunk showcases a nightlife of homelessness and decay with corporate monoliths on the horizon. The streetlights no longer work, but the darkness is kept partially at bay by the neon tubes of bars where people watch wishes of their youth vanish at the bottom of the bottle. The lucky ones working for the corporations do so with the fear they will be kicked to the street. The robot is an expression of force intended to keep the common person afraid. Corporations do not try to justify their rulership, social problems and contradiction are solved with force.

[weaver-z]

I want to articulate this point without sounding like a killjoy or a loser, but stories that are diverse without putting any effort into the plot, setting, or character development are still Not Good.

[weaver-z]

I recently read a book that was nominated for a few awards that was set in what sounded like a very cool sci-fi setting until I got into it and there was... nothing. The author just completely handwaved any setting description or worldbuilding in favor of portraying the main character's (weirdly-timed) girl crush, which I found uninteresting even as a lesbian.

All of the negative reviews of the book said the same thing and outlined other flaws in the material, while all of the positive reviews exclusively gushed about the great rep for lesbians and other members of the LGBTQ+ community with nothing about the story itself. Even if the author is nonbinary and/or gay, the representation still feels like pandering. Write a good plot before you write Good Representation.

[random-questions-fairy]

Oh my gosh. I just found this website that walks you though creating a believable society. It breaks each facet down into individual questions and makes it so simple! It seems really helpful for worldbuilding!

[theredscreech]

Heads up that this is a very extensive questionnaire and might be daunting to a lot of writers (myself included). That being said, it is also an amazing questionnaire and I will definitely be using it (or at the very least, some of it).

[defectivegembrain]

creative writing’s just like yeah sure i can deal with my issues i just need to cover them in several layers of metaphors first

[headspace-hotel]

so, I had to read Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi for my YA lit class and to be honest it was one of the most generic, cliche YA novels I've ever read. The characters were just very, very flat and tropey, and the plot was so typical I was bored out of my mind, and there was so little actual...development to the mythology and worldbuilding. The writing wasn't the worst i've experienced, but it was so loaded down with cliches. In my opinion, the book is just straight up not that good.

In class not a lot of the people are creative writing majors (read: processing from a writer perspective) so the perspective is different, but something that was brought up was like "well, we have white privilege, and this book was a huge deal in terms of authors of color getting published"

And is it overstepping a boundary to say that I find that...troubling? It's implying there aren't any books by authors of color that stand on their own merits, that are worth reading for reasons other than being by an author of color?

I don't think my standards should be significantly lower because Tomi Adeyemi is a person of color? There are more authors of color having a harder time publishing and selling because of discrimination in the industry, but it seems like the difference there is that their books had to fight harder to get to where they are. I don't think their books are worse.

Also, there were plenty of SFF authors of color before 2018, it's not downplaying the discrimination to act like there weren't, and...did Tomi Adeyemi getting a seven figure book deal (!!!!!!!) change things significantly for other people in the industry? Has it become a less discriminatory industry?

It's specifically very weird to paint this as an instance of an author of color forging ahead and paving the way in an industry that didn't believe she could be successful, because she got a seven figure book deal and movie rights sold before the book was even out, her publishers were NOT expecting this thing to fail, and in fact they dictated to her that she was going to write a trilogy iirc.

I do wonder how much they hijacked her vision, to be honest, because it feels like her worldbuilding ideas were forced into a mold that was as "typical" YA as possible.

Also? The second book in the series (released one year later, in 2019) was badly received by fans. Here's the seriously weird part: The third book doesn't even have a title or release date yet. The last thing that's been announced about it was that it was set to release in 2021, and 2021 is almost over.

There are 19 (nineteen!) works about this series on ao3. People were calling the book "the next Harry Potter." Hardly anybody is talking about it on Goodreads it seems.

It's like everyone was giving it the highest of praises but nobody found it memorable.

[headspace-hotel]

The book epitomizes The YA Writing Style in such a horrible way.

It's told in the first person present tense, but it shouldn't be. It's not stream of consciousness. There is a lot of introspection on the part of all the characters. The storyline and themes don't benefit from "immediacy."

Or from "voice." There isn't a significantly distinctive voice to each POV character. There are three different points of view, which sound way too similar, and impede the ability of any of the characters individually to get developed enough.

It does the thing where it's so fixated on EVERYTHING being in active voice that even abstract or inanimate things are always described with active verbs. Emotions "slither" or "pool," objects "hint at [X]" or "seem to [Y]."

It also does the thing where physical descriptions of things include lots of adjectives, but still are incredibly vague about the actual thing. For example, describing clothes as "rich silks" and then describing them as "luxurious fabric" and then calling them "lavish" but not ever...describing them. Like. What color are they? What's the cut like? Are there pockets, is there a hood, what kind of clothing even is it?

Also, repeatedly describing the same thing using a different noun each time:

"a fat ruby" "the garish jewel" "the large red gem" within five lines of each other...isn't this considered bad writing? Because it feels so bad.

This passage is really making me realize just how weird the YA Writing Style sounds, and why. I don't think a single "being verb" gets used once on this page, except "should have". For some reason, saying that something "was" is the devil, even if all the thing is doing is existing. So feelings have to "deflate," geographical features have to "sit" or "kiss," memories have to "trace."

Also, all the dialogue tags are different and none of them are "said." There are not even enough dialogue tags to figure out what is going on. There's a paragraph break dividing two things I think Oloye is saying, and a paragraph break dividing two things Amari is saying.

The characters' actions seem so centered around fitting into the stylistic affectations, they stop seeming like actual human behavior. How and why is Oloye leaning forward until the ruby hanging "from her throat" touches the table in front of her? No, seriously. Is she, like, faceplanting onto the table? Is she hunched over in her chair and moving her neck close to the edge of the table? What is this even supposed to show? Is she interested?

What does "frowning without the slightest hint of sadness" mean? Is the frown meant to look sad, but visibly fake? Is she disappointed? I just...don't know what expression this is trying to describe.

I really can't describe just how many times I felt like I was reading a sentence I'd seen reproduced, word for word, in another YA novel. The hot male character is referenced using "the curve of [his] muscles" at least twice, including the first time the protagonist sees The Curve Of His Muscles.

And, yes, someone does release a breath they didn't know they were holding.

[neil-gaiman]

Mr Gaiman, why do you mention breasts so much in American Gods? it's like, once per chapter. that might be an exaggeration but that is how it feels as a reader who is very aware of each breast mention. was it a dare??

I just did a word search -- the word breasts gets used 14 times in the 200,000 words of American Gods, but that total includes chicken breasts, window mannequins, and an extract from the Song of Songs in the Bible. I hope this helps.

The fifteenth word of American Gods is "fuck", which is to help inform readers of a nervous disposition that they can stop reading there, or at least by the end of the extremely peculiar sex scene that closes Chapter 1. (I figure anyone who goes onto Chapter 2 can cope with breasts, even the ones that aren't chicken.)

[vintageandroid]

RELEVANT STORY TIME

I went to a conservative Christian university (partly because I was an Evangelical-raised teenager who wanted to learn more about the Bible, and partly because I was trying to make everyone around me happy) and about halfway through, I was thoroughly disenchanted, no longer believed in Christianity, etc. I also had sunk too many non-transferrable credits in this stupid college, so I stayed and faked it (because you literally had to sign a thing that you believed in Jesus or you might get your ass kicked out) for a few more years.

Chapel was required every weekday, with something like 14 skips allowed per semester (and I think more if you were a commuter student). It mostly consisted of speakers trying to enforce a "Christian worldview," i.e. "make sure you vote Republican like Jesus wants!" occasionally interrupted by worship music. In the last couple years I just sat in the back of the auditorium and read whatever books I felt like; I started actually finding it kind of relaxing. Anyway, one time chapel was more full than usual, so though I sat in the back, there was some dude sitting nearby.

I happened to be reading American Gods.

Specifically, I happened to be reading the weirdest sex scene ever put to paper.

To this day, I don't know if the guy was looking over my shoulder and reading about Bilquis literally eating a dude with her vagina, or if he just objected to the title implying that there were other gods and also that I was reading in chapel, but this guy (my age) actually stopped me on my way out and said, in a very serious, paternalistic way, "Do you really think that what you're reading is edifying to God? Are you reading things that bring your heart closer to Jesus?"

I'm a shy person by nature, and extremely non-confrontational, and back in my early twenties I was far worse. But at this point I was depressed, burnt out, hated where I was, and hated everything about this guy who I'd never met but felt I needed his spiritual guidance, so I looked him dead in the eye and said, "I don't see any problem with it" and left. For all I know he is still standing here, 12 years later.

Anyway yeah so I read American Gods in my super conservative chapel sessions and I am grateful for every mention of breasts, labia, "fuck," and everything else that got me away from that shit.

Also I'm a queer polyamorous pagan liberal who writes about sex for a living so I mean maybe he was right but I'm still grateful.

[neil-gaiman]

This is why we write.

[lgbt-tiktoks]

[whatsallthisnow]

[pe-ersona]

anyone have tips on editing and revising a first draft?

[zmwrites]

cry

[zmwrites]

ok so more seriously (these are not in chronological order) (also all of my experience is with sf/fantasy so that influences my advice):

1. Let it rest.

It can be SO tempting to dive right back into your work, but letting it rest (and letting yourself rest) can give you the distance needed to look at your work, your BABY, critically. It’s impossible to say how long of a rest you need bc it’s different for everyone, but give it space so you can look at it with fresh eyes when you go back to it. I usually start drafting another project at this time, or edit a WIP that’s been resting while I’ve written this draft. Some of my friends use this time to put time into their other arts.

2. If you didn’t work off of an outline (or didn’t stick to your outline), make a reverse outline.

A reverse outline, for anyone who doesn’t know, is an outline made after the draft is already written.

This will be INCREDIBLY helpful when it comes to knowing what you have so far. It also allows you to look at the story as a whole in a more simple format. You’ll also probably find threads of plot that you’ve accidentally left hanging when doing this. Make sure you note these down so you can fix them later (if they need to be fixed and aren’t intentional). You’ll also hopefully notice any plot things that don’t actually make sense.

I also make a timeline when I’m doing this, so I can see how much time the story takes place over. This is useful especially for longer stories that take place over a long period of time. Keeping track of passing seasons or months or whatever is useful to make sure you’re not missing any holidays that should reasonably be mentioned.

3. If you have a trusted alpha reader/critique partner, ask them to go over it.

I do this when I’m giving a WIP space after finishing it. Another set of eyes will be able to pick out the problems with the plot that you might not be aware of. But remind them: it’s a first draft, the only things you should be worried about fixing are the major structural things like plot and characters and world building (if applicable). Grammar and how many times your characters raise their eyebrows don’t matter at this stage.

4. Main Plot / Major Characters

Are you happy with your main plot? Does it make sense? 

Do your main characters go on the arc you want them to? Is their development believable?

Start with ONE of these sets of questions, depending if your story is plot-focused or character-focused. You need your core journey to be solid before you can start worrying about the other stuff that surrounds it. On your reverse outline, make notes or changes (depending on your level of confidence) to the story based on your answers to these questions to strengthen the core of the story.

After you’ve done one, then do the other. Both are important, no matter how focused on one or the other a story is.

5. World Building / Setting

If you’ve noticed any major world building gaps, or your setting isn’t developed as you want it to be, make notes as to where you can add these details. World building is always more important than you (read: I) think it’s going to be. 

In early drafts, it’s better to over-explain than to under-explain. If you need, take some time just to focus on developing the world itself. You don’t need to know everything (bc that would be exhausting and let’s be real not all of us are Tolkien) but enough to make the world feel real and lived in.

This doesn’t just apply to spec fic, either. If you’re setting it in the ‘real world’ with no extra stuff, the locations still need to feel real.

6. Take your notes, set your first draft to the side, and REWRITE.

I know. I know. I hate this advice too, bc it SUCKS. But rewriting from scratch will make your story stronger, and if you’re relying on your notes/reverse outline instead of your first draft, then you’re less likely to accidentally include any plot holes you meant to take out.

(This doesn’t mean throw out your entire first draft. If you have stuff that you love, you can absolutely take it word for word into your second draft. We are not killing any darlings if they still fit into the story.)

When you’re done rewriting, you should have a second draft that’s much more solid than your first draft, at which point you can either do more editing on your own, get beta readers, or whatever step you feel your WIP is ready for.

ALSO, PLEASE NOTE, just because this system works for me, doesn’t mean it’ll work for everyone! Writing advice is subjective and different things work for different people. No matter the advice, no matter who it comes from, if it doesn’t work for you, you should throw it away.

But I hope this helps you a bit. And good luck!!

[writingwithcolor]

Describing Black Hair in Fantasy (Locs, Braided Styles, etc)

Image: Describing Black Hair in Fantasy, Braided Styles

How do you describe afro hairstyles in a world where the words don’t exist? 

My advice for describing afro hairstyles effectively in fantasy is to:

Describe the style

Use words from the term in the description

Have someone read it; do they know what you’re describing?

Describe the style.

What does this hairstyle look like, exactly? What is a braid? What are dreadlocks? How do you braid, or how do you form this particular type of braid? 

Look up existing descriptions of the term, and use language from the definition. Combine, reword and trim as necessary. There’s no need to be wordy. A well-constructed sentence or two should serve its purpose.

Great sources are everything from hair glossaries (especially those found on Black hair websites) natural hair vlogs, and even the thesaurus.

Here are some word associations to play with:

General Textures & Looks

Tight

Loose

Thick

Thin

Dense

Light

Heavy

Springy

Silky

Sheen

Porous 

Afro Texture and Curls

Afro / Fro

Cloudy

Coils

Corkscrews

Crimped

Curly

Natural 

Poufy

Ringlets

Spirals

Texturized

Wavy 

Braids

Crossed

Folded

Interlaced

Layered

Looped

Plaits/Plaited

Rolled

Woven

These words can help be more specific with the look of their hair/hairstyle. Tight, tiny braids. Cloudy puffs of hair in twin pigtails.

Use words from the term itself in the description.  

Readers should get an “aha” moment when you do this. Twisted hair probably mean twists. Bantu knots resemble knots. 

Cornrows: 

Cornrows get their name from rows of corn with connections to African chattel slavery. Say you have a character with this style, but those historical connotations don’t exist in this world , or corn isn’t something your character would know about. There are still ways to make the connection.

Example: “She wore her hair in neat rows of braids along her scalp.” 

The key word here is rows.

Assuming you can use a part of a word that does exist in your timeline, use it for the strongest connection to its real world counterpart. See the next example:

Dreadlocks / Locs

Another Black hairstyle with history to its name, it may not make sense to use the term in your setting (and also, due to that history, “locs” is preferred term) However, you likely could still slip the word “lock or locked” into your description to clarify for readers what you’re getting at.

Example: “His skin was the same medium brown as her own and that of her people, but his hair was thick and coarse and pulled into the rough locks that looked like braids but weren’t, like the people to the south whose skin was darker.”

-By Shira Glassman, A Harvest of Ripe Figs, Mangoverse Book 3

What’s particularly great about this description is: 

The use of locks or locked hair to make the connection to dreadlocks.

Connecting the hairstyle to a certain people. It isn’t just a style anyone can wear, but it has regional roots and is worn by a particular group.

Adding other indications of race such as brown skin, and the nod to him coming from a place where the people have dark skin.

Have someone read it. 

Have more than one person read your description. It would be great if at least one of those people is Black (and/or familiar with the style). Does the reader know what you’re trying to describe? Are you being concise, or over explaining it to the point of confusion? If your readers can name the style or picture it relatively quickly, then you’ve got a winner. 

More reading:

Words to Describe Hair 

Describing Bantu Knots (Fantasy Setting)

Fantasy World and Non-Western Clothes

~Mod Colette

[iwhumpyou]

One of the best tips for writing descriptions of pain is actually a snippet I remember from a story where a character is given a host of colored pencils and asked to draw an egg.

The character says that there’s no white pencil.  But you don’t need a white pencil to draw a white egg.  We already know the egg is white.  What we need to draw is the luminance of the yellow lamp and the reflection of the blue cloth and the shadows and the shading.

We know a broken bone hurts.  We know a knife wound hurts.  We know grief hurts.  Show us what else it does.

You don’t need to describe the character in pain.  You need to describe how the pain affects the character - how they’re unable to move, how they’re sweating, how they’re cold, how their muscles ache and their fingers tremble and their eyes prickle.

Draw around the egg.  Write around the pain.  And we will all be able to see the finished product.

[bansheeparty]

but eggs are brown?

[cavewriter]

ya usually but i think america or something has white eggs?

[bauliya]

i think villains in general provide better, more epic romances because they're allowed to go to extremes. they're allowed to put their love over the greater good. they're allowed to be selfish. the best a hero can offer you is number two, because their duty comes first. villains, though. villains will burn down the world for a last kiss goodbye.

[cake-writes]

[divinesong]

Yea, sure. Until YOU or people you love are among the victims for someone else’s love and the villains won’t care. Would also like to point out that some villians(Kuvira, for example) have been willing to sacrifice/throw away love interests for their own goals.

[bauliya]

idk about you but existing in the real world gives me and my loved ones immunity from the actions of fictional villains. hope you manage to get your family out of star wars.

[inthemidstofbuddie]

how to properly structure a query letter!*

Dear [Agent], 

[An optional brief introduction, no longer than 2 - 3 sentences, perhaps where you elaborate on the #ownvoices of your manuscript, or pointing out certain things in your manuscript that the agent asks for. I reiterate that this paragraph is optional. Unless you have a very specific reason to be querying this agent—for instance, if they tweeted an MSWL for a heist novel and you’re querying a heist novel—there is no relevance, so don’t include this paragraph.]

[The first paragraph of your summary introduces the world, the main character, and their Normal. For instance, Cynthia lives in the times of a pandemic and works to continue living in their new normal. Every day, Cynthia choose to get up and keep living and making the most of their situation while trying to find something to do to be useful.] 

[The second paragraph of your summary introduces the plot. To continue with the above idea, Cynthia has been tasked with trying to find a cure to coronavirus, but all they have to work with in their home is duct tape, tangerines, Tylenol, and a never-give-up attitude.] 

[The third paragraph introduces stakes, aka what will happen if Cynthia doesn’t discover a cure with the resources they have at home. Luckily for them, however, a woman named Jane they had a one night stand with needs a place to crash after she was evicted. Cynthia agrees to let her stay as their roommate, especially because Jane brings with her the missing ingredient to the cure for coronavirus, a magic bean she stole from a giant–but there’s only one magic bean. If Cynthia and Jane can’t find a way to make more beans, they might be sent to the realm of giants forever.] 

[The closing paragraph goes like this: Complete at 89,000 words, THE MAGIC BEAN is an Adult contemporary fantasy with potential for a companion novel. I believe it will appeal to fans of Erin Morgenstern and Naomi Novik. Briefly explain who you are and share what you’re comfortable with about yourself—I say I’m 26, headed to grad school for archiving, and that the book is #ownvoices for genderqueer representation. Also mention if you have any connection to the publishing industry. I mention who I was previously represented by, why we amicably parted ways, and that I’ve mentored in many writing contests.] 

[Final closure: Thank you for your time and consideration. I look forward to hearing from you again!] 

[Best,]

[My name]

[My phone number and, though optional, my twitter handle] 

*i’ve been in the publishing industry for nine years now, have mentored many authors who went on to be published by the Big 5, and worked in writing contests to help writers, not only with their manuscript, but with their pitch and query letter and comps etc. i know what i’m about 😉

[faustandfurious]

Imagine if female authors could get away with simply not having men in their novels because they “don’t understand them”

[handful-ofdust]

imagine if we weren’t raised to understand more about men than we understand about ourselves

[bred-by-insanity]

Does this mean I don’t need to write anymore males into my story

[fangirlofall]

Absolutely wild is that the way you write a female character is to write a character then have her be female

[adreadfulidea-deactivated202402]

I think a surprising amount of writers don’t realize that tragedies are supposed to be cathartic. They’re intended to result in a purging of emotion, a luxurious cry; the sorrow caused by a great tragedy is akin to fear caused by a good horror movie – it’s a “safe” sorrow, one that is actually satisfying to the audience. It can still be beautiful! It’s isn’t supposed to just be salting the earth so nothing can grow.

But that’s how you get grimdark: writers who don’t realize that they’re supposed to be doing something with the audience instead of to the audience.

[jadewhisper]

#i once heard a lecture where someone said that the great appeal of tragedy is to see terrible things happen to people you’re supposed to#empathize with and see yourself in#and that the catharsis comes from seeing someone’s life go horribly wrong and still have the author hold your hand and tell you#‘this story mattered. even though it had a sad ending it still mattered. even if you don’t succeed your attempts matter’#grimdark tells you that the world sucks and nothing you do matters#well-written tragedy tells you that sometimes the world sucks but everything you do matters so so much#your story is still worth telling even if you never achieve that happy ending#or if you lose it along the way#people have inherent value and their stories deserve to be told no matter if they turn out okay or not#and in a reality that has no concept of ‘fair’ that shit just hits good man!!! feels good!!!!! it’s COMFORTING