No title available
hello vonnie
dirt enthusiast
almost home
pixel skylines
No title available
Today's Document
NASA
trying on a metaphor
Love Begins
izzy's playlists!
PUT YOUR BEARD IN MY MOUTH
Jules of Nature
@theartofmadeline
No title available
Sade Olutola
KIROKAZE
TVSTRANGERTHINGS
Xuebing Du
#extradirty
seen from United Kingdom
seen from Syria
seen from United States
seen from Morocco
seen from Netherlands
seen from United States
seen from Germany
seen from Türkiye
seen from Switzerland
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Japan
seen from United States
seen from Spain
seen from United States
seen from United States
@maracain
AIRSHIPS IN STEAMPUNK
One of the best feelings is when something finally clicks with a character you’ve struggled to write and you’re just like “oh, so THAT’S who you are!”
It’s like recognizing that - surprise! - the alleged stranger in front of you is actually an old friend you’ve known your whole life. Now you know how to tell the world all about them.
How to write a character-driven plot
The Character-Driven Plot Wheel
1. Emotions drive actions.
Make your hero act on their deepfelt emotions. This not only adds meaning to their actions, but also helps communicate to readers your hero’s core emotional struggle.
2. Actions trigger consequences.
When your hero acts, give their actions consequences that affect the plot, themselves, and/or the surrounding characters. For example, driven by curiosity, maybe your hero opens Pandora’s box; maybe they act recklessly and someone dies; or maybe they stand up for what they believe in, but at great personal cost. Consequences raise the stakes and empower your hero with agency.
3. Consequences compel change.
Use the consequences of your hero’s actions to create a crucible of growth — challenges and situations that force them to take the next step on their character journey. That step may be forward, or backward, and it may be large or small; but something inside them changes.
4. Change influences emotions.
When a character goes through a change, even a small one, allow it to affect them emotionally. Maybe they feel increasingly frustrated or guilty. Maybe they’re afraid, having just taken another step closer to abandoning their old way of seeing the world. Or maybe they finally feel peace.
Regardless of the form it takes, remember to reflect your hero’s change in their emotions. Then let their emotions drive action, to trigger consequences, which will compel further change.
Lather. Rinse. Repeat.
And there you have it! That’s how you write a character-driven plot.
So what do you say?
Give the wheel a spin.
— — —
Your stories are worth telling. For tips on how to craft meaning, build character-driven plots, and grow as a writer, follow my blog.
The Importance of Fashion in Fantasy
If your fantasy world has historical connotations then having a grasp on historical fashion is really important. Talking about clothes can add layers of depth to your world, like the keftas in Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo. In this post, I will mostly be focusing on historical fashion from Europe as this is what I know most about.
Class Hierarchy
If you want to show class and wealth differences, fashion can be key to doing so. However, this isn’t in the same way as we would see in modern times unless your world has the capacity for fast fashion. Being rich didn’t mean you had a closet the size of a barn with lots of floofy fabrics like in Bridgerton, it meant having a few garments in the latest fashion that you wore frequently. The less wealthy you were the more out of fashion your gowns or coats would be, however, gowns would often be altered where possible to fit the new style.
The poor would still wear imitations of high fashion, but in simpler ways with simpler fabrics. Second hand or homemade was the norm. Contrary to popular belief, being poor didn’t mean ceased to care about fashion and well get onto why later.
Regional Fashion
Just because something was the height of fashion in Moscow, doesn’t mean it was the heigh of fashioning Paris. On a smaller scale, fashions would take time to reach rural area’s and smaller cities, so fashion would differ from region to region within a country. If you want your world to feel vast, including differences in clothing preference from country to country and region to region could really help with this. Other characters can then identify more about a new character just by looking at them.
The Importance of Fashion
Historically, fashion held a much greater significance than it does today. This is because of what fashion meant in society. Through most of history in Europe, there have been very strict social rules that everyone had to abide by. Dressing in line with the fashion was a way of showing that you were in line with these social rules. This meant being fashionable wasn’t about setting trends and breaking out of the norm, it was about keeping to the norm as much as possible. Breaking out from the confirmative fashion could risk your place in society, affecting your relationships, marriage prospects and ultimately your livelihood.
Of course there were people who took risks that paid off and subsequently moved fashion onward, but fashion moved at a much slower pace due to the amount of time and expense required to make completely new garments and so these were relatively small changes.
Hope this was helpful!
[If reposting to instagram please credit @isabellestonebooks]
useful/fun character development questions for couples
there are a lot of “otp questions” lists out there but I just wanted to make a list that was specifically helpful for writers, especially for working out the technical stuff of conveying Romantic Love. so, here ya go, stuff to answer for each character
What, specifically, was the catalyst for their physical attraction (if applicable) to the other character? In other words, what in particular had them like “Oh, they’re...hot...”
Does this change over time? What things do they find “hot” about their partner after they’ve been together for some time, and have had more time to, well, notice and appreciate?
By contrast, what was the moment that first made their ~heart~ Soft for the other person? Not necessarily a conscious realization of “I love this person,” but a moment that had them like “Oh...I adore them...”
Does this change over time? What will always reliably make them melt with how much they adore the other character?
How do they consciously realize that they like the other character? Does it take them a while?
How do they react to the realization that they like the other character? Is it an “oh my god I’m never going to think about this again” thing, or are they pretty comfortable with it?
Do they (or would they) pursue the other character’s affection, and if so, how? Do they tell the other character how they feel? Try to earn their admiration? Woo them with romantic gestures? Flirt with them, skillfully or otherwise?
What do they think about romantic love? Do they have baggage surrounding it? Do they idealize it? Is it an object of longing and wanting, or were they really not thinking about it until they started falling for the other character? What are their expectations like?
What do they think about commitment? Is a long-term partnership the goal? Are they thinking about building a life with their partner, or are they focused on the present?
What scares them about entering a relationship?
What fears, past traumas, etc. would be hardest for them to talk about with their partner?
How much independence do they prefer in a relationship—do they want to share their lives as much as possible with their partner, or do they prefer to mostly do their own thing and let their partner do their own thing?
What is their go-to for making a partner feel loved?
What makes them feel loved? Would they build up the courage to ask for it?
What, for them, constitutes a level of intimacy that they would only rarely share with someone? This can be physical, emotional, etc.
If they had the ability to just spend free time with their partner, what would they do? Would they go out or stay inside?
Under what circumstances would they want to be left alone by their partner?
They’re going through something incredibly difficult—perhaps they’re very sick, have lost a loved one, or have gone through a traumatic event. Do they ask for or accept support and care from their partner, or try to isolate themselves?
Are they okay with public displays of affection? Do they like them?
When would they say “I love you?” Do they say it first? Do they say it often, or is it reserved for special moments?
If sex is something that would be part of a relationship for them, do both or either of them have prior experiences? If not, how do they feel about it?
What does sex mean for them? Socially, religiously, what attitudes are they bringing with them? Is “virginity” something they care about? Do they want sexual experiences to occur within a certain “level” of relationship, or does that not really matter so much to them?
How comfortable are they talking about, and openly communicating during, sex?
What would their partner do that would really turn them on, perhaps unintentionally?
They accidentally hurt or upset their partner. What happened? How do they respond? What do they do to make their partner feel better?
They have an argument with their partner—what is it about? Do things stay respectful, or is there some shouting and accusing going on?
They have to apologize to their partner. Is this difficult for them? How do they approach it?
How do they feel about the prospect of parenthood? Do they plan on it? How would they react if they suddenly found out they were going to be a parent?
What compromises are they making in their relationship?
What completely petty topic (music taste, favorite food) do they find themselves completely at odds with their partner about?
What little thing do they find incredibly (though harmlessly) annoying about their partner?
How do their friends react to finding out they’re a couple? Do they have lots of mutual friends? Did their friends know, perhaps before they themselves did?
Under what circumstances would they feel jealous?
Under what circumstances would they feel protective?
Would they get a pet? What kind? Who brings up the idea, and who takes a little longer to convince?
Things to Keep Out of Your Healthy Relationships!
(Alternately: how to identify problematic YA romances.)
Written by yours truly, contributions from @jltillary, @theinkrepository, @time-to-write-and-suffer, and @sakrebleu.
Non-consensual physical intimacy, especially in situations where it’s portrayed as being done for the benefit of the victim or situations where the victim forgives the forced intimacy because they decide they like it after it’s already been forced on them. Examples:
Forcing a partner to accept physical comfort when they don’t want it.
Kissing a partner in the middle of an argument.
Framing consent as unnecessary simply because one person is attracted to the other.
Stalking the other person, even for their own safety.
Forcing the other person into some form of physical intimacy because they “liked it last time.”
Implying that it’s normal for a certain physically intimate act to hurt and/or their partner should grin and bear it.
Skipping over their partner’s preferred forms of intimacy in favor of what they want to do with/to their partner.
When in doubt: Consent should be explicitly given!!
Non-consensual communication. Examples:
Physically stopping a partner from leaving in order to continue talking with them.
Bringing up a topic the other person has made clear they don’t wish to discuss yet.
Forcing the other person into conversations with people they previously showed they did not wish to talk with.
Manipulating the conversation so that the other person shares a secret, especially one that doesn’t affect their partner.
Emotional manipulation. Examples:
Telling the other person to do something (i.e. ‘go away’) as a test, where the person is at fault if they follow through and do as their partner asked.
Blaming the other person for things beyond their control, especially “I wouldn’t be like this if not for you/your interests/your goals.”
Claiming they’ll die (or kill themselves) if the other person leaves.
Not wanting the other person to have friends of the same gender as their partner (i.e. a man not wanting his girlfriend to have any male friends).
“If you really loved me you would do x, y, and z.”
Demanding to be the most important part of their partner’s life, above and beyond their partner’s other responsibilities.
Cheating on their partner as a form of punishment.
Acting as though physical intimacy (or any other sort of intimacy) isn’t important, but then blaming the other person for not supplying it.
Acting distant or cruel until the other person does what they want, or because the other person didn’t do what they wanted.
Demeaning actions and words, especially in instances where they blame the actions and words on internalized sexism, racism, etc as a shield, in instances outside of high-stress arguments, and whenever the character isn’t sincerely sorry for what they did or makes no point to change. Examples:
Stating the other person’s interests or hobbies are inferior or a waste of time.
Telling them they were look better if they did x, y and z.
Demanding they stop doing something or start doing something else based on their gender, race, etc.
Placing the other person in a subordinate role without their partner’s explicit consent.
Not sharing certain pieces of information because they believe they know what’s best for their partner and don’t need the other person’s consent to act upon it.
Bonus: Glorification of a partner simply for not demeaning the other person, (i.e. for acting like an average, decent human being,) especially when the partner in question boasts how amazing they are for loving their “curvy”/non-white/bisexual/not-like-other-girls/etc partner.
Please add more, if you feel so inclined!
The Relationship Between Online Readers & Writers: Where Does This Leave Us?
Introduction | Part 1: What is this Relationship? | Part 2: Creating Motivation and Appreciation for Readers | Part 3: A Day in the Life of… | Part 4: Creating Motivation and Appreciation for Writers: Perspectives | Part 5: Creating Motivation and Appreciation for Writers: Implementation | Part 6: How to Write the Best Feedback | Part 7: Where Does This Leave Us?
Brevity is the soul of wit, and I’m afraid I haven’t been very brief this chapters.
So I’ll keep things simple this time.
I hope this resource has been eye-opening and beneficial to you. It was my goal to provide perspective and information for both readers and writers in this online community.
While feedback is, of course, useful to to me, the greatest gift, if you found this helpful, would be to share this with others.
Remember that you are a part of this community, whether you’re a reader, writer, or a bit of both. Communities are created and maintained not by the efforts of one but by the collective endeavors of many, no matter how small the contribution.
So, writers: Value your readers, their input, their feedback, and keep them on the edge of their seat with your magnificent works. Understand that they are people, and give them the benefit of the doubt. Nurture that relationship.
And, readers: Show your writers what their efforts and craftsmanship are appreciated by providing them the much-needed support throughout their creative processes. A few minutes of your day can mean the world to a writer struggling with their muse and methods.
Only you have the power to facilitate change in your behavior. I hope this might be the start of it. If you learned something from this piece and found yourself nodding in agreement, please don’t just carelessly toss this to the side. I implore you to make a difference, to communicate with that human being on the other side of the screen — and, of course, humans both crave and benefit from kindness and gratitude.
Do your part, my friends. It begins with you.
This is also posted on AO3.
Hi! One of my POV characters is a pirate captain in a medieval fantasy setting, but I don't know anything about ships or sailing! I want the voice and descriptions to be convincing without being gimmicky, but I don't even know where to start. Do you have any tips/resources or even fiction recs, maybe? Thank you, and sorry if this has been asked before!!
Hiya! Thanksfor your question! Historical research is important if you want your story tobe accurate.
Pirate History Resources
Note: Theseresources apply to the Golden Age of Piracy (1690-1730).
Ships:
6 FamousPirate Ships
Typesof Pirate Ships
Pirate Glossary: Ships
Complete List ofSailing Vessels
Sailing:
Positionsand Duties on Board a Pirate Ship
How to Saila Full-Rigged-Ship (Video, old but accurate) Part 1 Part 2 Part 3
Weapons:
Pirate Weapons
Pirate Weapons– Different Types of Weapons Used by Pirates
PirateWeapons – Hand Weapons
Speech:
Historically,pirates didn’t really have any special slang. The terms they used wouldhave been used by any sailor or boat captain. That being said, speech patternsfor the general public were very different from how we talk today.
Howto Speak 18th-Century English
Ato Z Guide to Street Slang from the 1700s
Royal Navy Diction and Slang
Fashion:
Pirate and Privateer Clothing
TheGolden Age of Piracy – Fashion
Pirates and Their Clothes
Important Note!: “Walking the plank” was notan actual thing pirates did to their enemies. This was invented because itlooks cool in movies and sounds cool in books.
Thanks againfor your question! If you need help with anything else writing-related, feelfree to send in another ask. Happy writing!
- Mod Kellie
If you need adviceon general writing or fanfiction, you should maybe ask us!
Fantasy Guide to Ships, Boats and Nautical Lingo
Of all the ways to travel in fantasy and historical novels, there are two favoured ones: horses and ships. But I covered the horses already so here we have some ship terminology and kinds of ships.
Common Boat Terms
Aft/Stern - The back of a ship.
Bow - The bow is the front part of the ship, the pointy part or the place where Kate Winslet stood on in Titanic.
Port - The left side of the ship
Starboard - The right side of the ship
Windward - The wind the direction is blowing.
Hull- outside of the ship
Leeward - Or sometimes called the lee. This is the opposite direction of the wind is blowing
Boom - A horizontal pole extending from the base of the main mast. It adjusted toward the wind direction in order to harness the wind for the sails.
Rudder - The rudder is a flat piece of wood below the ship, used to steer the ship. It is connected to the wheel of the ship.
Tacking - A common sailing maneuver that involves turning the bow through the wind, to change the wind direction from one side of the ship to the other, making the boom move.
Underway- This is when the ship is moving
Astern- The ship is moving backwards
Amidships- Middle of the boat
Topside- when you move from the lower decks to the upper deck
Compartments of the ship
Most ships would have compartments inside the hull and underneath the deck.
Cabins- most war ships and merchant ships would only have one or two main cabin occupied by the captain and higher crew.
Galley- The kitchen on board the ship. The galley would be fitted with tables and cabinets. Galleys were built in such a way that they were more resistant to the heaving of the ship. Most galleys were built with special stoves to stop people from colliding with them and things from spilling out of pots and pans.
Wardroom- some ships are built with a common room for the crew. The wardroom acted as a common room as well as a dining room. It would usually be conjoined with the galley.
Sick Bay- is the compartment of the ship that is given over to the injured and sick. The sick bay would hold the medicines and medical devices and would often be under lock and key.
Hold- This will be the largest compartment in the ship were the cargo or the ship's weapons.
Crew and Positions aboard the Ship
Captain
When we think of captains we imagine them as blackhearted slave drivers (something akin to managers in the customer service industry) but on further research you will find that is not true. There are two kinds of Captains you find in history. Pirate captains and Legitimate Captains. Pirate captains were elected by their merit in battle and dedication to the crew. They were considered equal to the crew, only taking full charge during raids and battles. In the Navy or any legal-bound ship, captains were selected by rank and wealth. There was no equality between captain and crew as in pirate ships. Legal ships were Capitalists and the Pirates were Democratic.
First Mate
First Mate is the captain's deputy. They act as captain when the captain cannot. This was mainly seen in Navies and merchant ships as Pirates usually placed their quartermaster as their deputies.
Quartermaster
The Quartermaster was in charge of ensuring that the ship ran smoothly, rather like the ship's HR manager. The Quartermaster was in charge of supplies and had certain powers such as being able to punish the crew for minor infractions.
Sailing Master
These were officers in charge of piloting the ship. They would have to be educated enough to read a map and was a much desired position because it was a fair paying job. Pirates usually kidnapped sailing masters from ships they attacked to use aboard their own ships.
Gunner
Gunners were the overseers of any many qualified to load and fire guns. They were in charge of aiming cannons and making sure the crew were safely using guns. Most the guns were loaded by young boys called powder monkeys.
Boatswain
Boatswains or junior officers would act as supervisors, watching over the crew as they did their duties. If things were not going well they reported to the captain or quartermaster to punish the crew.
Surgeons
Surgeons handled any diseases and wounds. Since being at sea limited the amount of medicine available. Most ship's surgeons were forced to cut off limbs to avoid infection pike gangrene. Surgeons may not always be found on ships. Cooks or carpenters were often pressed to do amputations: meat was meat and cutting was cutting.
Cooks
All ships needed somebody to cook. Navies and merchant ships would often have trained cooks while on pirate ships it was just a crewmember who was handy in the kitchen.
Kinds of Ship
(Not a complete list, may post more later.)
Brig- A brig is the ship that one most thinks of when you think of a ship. The brig is a large vessel, set with a pair of square-rigged masts. Brigs were fast ships and highly maneuverable. They were used as merchant ships and warships.
Galley- The galley is propelled via oars. The hull is long and slender and most of them featured larger sails. Galleys often were rowed by slaves and used in war.
Galleon- Galleons were large ships, built with multiple decks, carrying three or more masts with square raised stern. The Galleon was usually rigged with square sails on the fore-mast and main-masts.
Caravel- The caravel was a small ship with triangular sails, famed for its manoeuvrability and speed.
Longship- The longships were the ships of the Vikings. They were slender ships, narrow. They were able to keep afloat in shallow waters as well as the deep sea. Longships were able to reverse quickly, a very important skill. The longship was a warship, a raider's ship propelled by oars.
Carrack- the carrack was a large ship, often built with mass cargo holds making the most popular ship to go on long voyages on. The carrack had three or four masts.
Cog- This ship was a large vessel, the hull wide and large. The ship is propelled by a great single sail flown from a tall mast.
Junk- The junk or Chinese junk was a kind of coastal or river ship used as merchant ships, pleasure ships and sometimes houseboats. They are small ships and made with battened sails rather resembling wings.
Trireme- the trireme was a slender ship set with three banks of oars pulled by one man each. The trireme had a concave hull and usually had an underwater ram at the prow of the ship.
For @viola-cola
Redemption and Degeneration Arcs: A Study.
Because I was awakened at five in the morning by a pouncing 65-pound dog I do not own that demanded a 2-mile walk, I got a neat idea which made me start thinking about redemption and degeneration arcs, so here’s a REALLY long post compositing my thoughts on the subject, mostly for personal use.
Redemption Arcs:
Obviously, the best redemption arc in media history is Zuko, so here’s what I learned about making good ones from him.
1. Constant Positive Influence. The roots of a redemption arc should be introduced as early as possible. In fact, the start of redemption is the introduction of a positive influence in the Redeemed’s life. Zuko had Iroh to help him make good decisions, and when Zuko didn’t have Iroh, his forward progress was halted.
2. Goodness Within. A positive influence isn’t there to plant goodness, it’s there to bring out the goodness already within a character, even if it’s hidden. We see Zuko’s goodness in the actions he does unprompted and alone, like when he rescues Aang as the Blue Spirit, or when he doesn’t rob a couple when he sees the woman is pregnant, and later saves an entire village.
3. Struggle. The change shouldn’t be overnight, but it shouldn’t be gradual either. Characters should struggle with the inner conflict of changing and have dramatic ups and downs (because that’s when major breakthroughs can happen). Zuko’s ups and downs are obvious, so another example is when the Beast, in a single moment, lashes out against Belle but saves her from wolves right after. His temper and internal goodness are struggling; it should be an epic battle, not one suffocating the other in its sleep!
4. Redemption is Earned. A struggle is good, but the consequences are even better. Actions are pretty loud, but words must have their place, too. A character should admit to being wrong and confess a desire to be better. Part of that is paying the price of previous actions, and doing the hard work of current good actions. Zuko’s bad deeds always catch up with him, and even when he becomes a member of the Gaang, the others don’t trust him right away; not until he helps Katara get closure, and Sokka save his father, and Aang learn to firebend does he gradually earn his way into their family. But remember, he’s rewarded for his good actions, too (motivation for continued goodness!).
5. Negative Traits and Problems Don’t Disappear. An antagonist doesn’t leave their personality behind when changing their goals, methods, and motivations. Zuko was a pessimist as a child (he’ll never be as good as Azula!), a pessimist as a bad guy (it just keeps blowing up in my face!), and a pessimist as a good guy (I’m never happy). He’s solemn and sulky and never becomes a bubbly optimist like Aang. And that’s because no matter how he changes, he will always have grown up with an abusive father and sister, and he will always have lost the people he loves. The struggle to achieve goodness is awesome, but maintaining it should still be a struggle.
5.1. The Traits That Lead to Downfall Are Transformed Rather Than Lost. One of Zuko’s major problems was pride: he spoke out when he shouldn’t have, he had trouble admitting when he was wrong or had failed. But over time, his pride becomes confidence. Another amazing redemption arc is found in Deep Space Nine. Garak goes from high-ranking Cardassian spy, to exile, to helping the Federation end a destructive war. He’s a minor character, so we don’t get to see the beginning of his character arc, but some negative traits of his are extreme secretiveness and lying; by the end of the show, and after his own requisite flip-flopping struggles, these were not lost but transformed into protectiveness.
6. Confrontation With Good and Bad. To solidify and end a redemption arc, the redeemed character should confront an external negative influence in order to finally put the past behind them. In Zuko’s case, his redemption is finally complete when he wins the Agni Kai against Azula. This is the moment where he faces his final demon and acknowledges his victory over his past. Azula can’t sway him again! But before this battle, another confrontation happens: Zuko humbly, and without expecting anything, asks for Iroh’s forgiveness, and receives it unconditionally. I think this is where we really forgave Zuko, too, which allowed us to celebrate his final victory with him.
Degeneration Arcs:
The absolute best degeneration arc I’ve ever seen is Slaine from Aldnoah.zero, with Michael Corleone from the Godfather as a close second. I’ll be using these guys to illustrate my points. (Side Note: I adore degeneration, if you know of any good ones, let me know.)
1. Source of Degeneration is a Virtue Taken to Extremes. No one starts out as a bad person; there has to be some kind of source for future downfall, one that can be relatable to a certain point before crossing a line into villainousness. In Aldnoah.zero, everything Slaine does is out of loyalty to the princess who saved his life. He kills to protect her, he wages war in her name. Which, you know, would be fine: except she didn’t ask him to do that. The bad choices were still entirely his, built from his too-extreme loyalty.
2. Motivation is Personal. A character needs a goal to motivate their actions - we all know that. But downfalls rarely happen because of a vague cause off in the distance. Causes are hero stuff. Villains take things personally. This is the call-to-action of failure and should connect to the extreme value mentioned before. The most common motivation for degeneration is revenge. Season 2 of Aldnoah.zero shows an epic personal fight between Slaine and the protagonist, Inaho (Side note: an amazing part of the series is that Inaho and Slaine have the same goals and motivations, to protect the princess and take revenge, and this beautiful tension arises from the fact that they go about it differently. Man, I need to rewatch this show). The same is true of Michael Corleone! He’s willing to kill two people and go into hiding because his father was shot. That’s another point: specific motivation should come from their values; Michael values family above everything, just like Slaine values the princess.
3. The Environment Encourages Their Bad Behavior. It’s really hard to have a downward character arc when surrounded by friends and family telling you to do the right thing. But both Slaine and Michael are in the middle of an all-out war. Murder and plotting are all around, are excused and even rewarded, and are valuable to the other characters.
4. Badness Comes Easily. As mentioned before, it’s a character’s values taken to extremes that contribute to the degeneration, and just like the redeemed has goodness in them, a degenerate should be somewhat suited to degeneration, in terms of personality or intelligence. Artemis Fowl is a complicated character with many different arcs, but when he does bad things, it’s because his intelligence makes scheming a simple task for him. When it comes down to it, even though it’s against Michael’s values and he wants the family business to go straight, he’s really good at being the Don because he has intelligence, patience, a bad temper, and excellent self-control. Degeneration should still be an up and down struggle, but it should come much more easily than redemption.
5. Consequences and Success. This really depends on the story you want to tell, but usually the consequences of degeneration should be pushed towards the end of the arc where they finally culminate in complete destruction. This is because constant punishment or failure will prevent future negative actions. If you’re burned, you’re not going to touch the stove again. But you can gradually raise the temperature without noticing until you’re cooked. Slaine is actually winning the war for a long time - he becomes more powerful, more respected, and more successful - until he’s defeated, loses everything, and spends the rest of his life in prison. Degeneration should ironically have positive results…until suddenly it doesn’t, and a character has lost everything, whether they admit they were wrong or not.
6. Suffering. A lack of immediate negative consequences for actions does not eliminate suffering. In fact, suffering is the momentum of degeneration. It can be a force that keeps them on the wrong path. Slaine endures torture to protect his princess, and later he kills his father figure. Michael finds out his brother betrayed him, and later his wife leaves him. The interesting thing here is that they suffer without failing at their greater goal. Another thing is the mix of forced suffering and chosen suffering. They didn’t ask to be tortured or betrayed, but Slaine pulled the trigger himself, and Michael knew his wife was unhappy.
7. Remorse. This again depends on the story, but regret (if not repentance) concludes a degeneration arc, and it is oh so juicy. They don’t have to regret what they did, but they should at least regret that it didn’t work. If a character does not realize they were wrong or does not acknowledge they have failed in some way, then their arc, at least from their perception, never degenerated at all. Just look at this last glimpse we have of Slaine and tell me the pain in his eyes is not so satisfying you can’t even.
That’s it! Bye!
im going to have a stroke
Instead try… Person A: You know… the thing Person B: The “thing”? Person A: Yeah, the thing with the little-! *mutters under their breath* Como es que se llama esa mierda… THE FISHING ROD
As someone with multiple bilingual friends where English is not the first language, may I present to you a list of actual incidents I have witnessed:
Forgot a word in Spanish, while speaking Spanish to me, but remembered it in English. Became weirdly quiet as they seemed to lose their entire sense of identity.
Used a literal translation of a Russian idiomatic expression while speaking English. He actually does this quite regularly, because he somehow genuinely forgets which idioms belong to which language. It usually takes a minute of everyone staring at him in confused silence before he says “….Ah….. that must be a Russian one then….”
Had to count backwards for something. Could not count backwards in English. Counted backwards in French under her breath until she got to the number she needed, and then translated it into English.
Meant to inform her (French) parents that bread in America is baked with a lot of preservatives. Her brain was still halfway in English Mode so she used the word “préservatifes.” Ended up shocking her parents with the knowledge that apparently, bread in America is full of condoms.
Defined a slang term for me……. with another slang term. In the same language. Which I do not speak.
Was talking to both me and his mother in English when his mother had to revert to Russian to ask him a question about a word. He said “I don’t know” and turned to me and asked “Is there an English equivalent for Нумизматический?” and it took him a solid minute to realize there was no way I would be able to answer that. Meanwhile his mom quietly chuckled behind his back.
Said an expression in English but with Spanish grammar, which turned “How stressful!” into “What stressing!”
Bilingual characters are great but if you’re going to use a linguistic blunder, you have to really understand what they actually blunder over. And it’s usually 10x funnier than “Ooops it’s hard to switch back.”
I use Spanish and English daily, none is my native language. When I’m tired or did not have enough sleep I loose track of who to address in which language; I caught myself explaining something in Spanish to my English-speaking friends more than once. When I’m REALLY tired I’ll throw some Polish words in the mix.
There is nothing more painful than bad fake Spanglish by an American writer. Bilingual people don’t just randomly drop words in nonsensical places in their sentences ffs. “I’m muy tired! I think I’ll go to my cama and go to sleep!“ Nobody does that.
From my bilingual parents:
- Only being able to do math in their original language. “Ok so that would beeeeee … *muttering* ocho por cuatro menos tres…”
- Losing words and getting mad at you about it. “Gimme the - the - UGH, ESA COSA AHI’ CARAJO. The thing, the oven mitt. Christ.”
- Making asides to you in Spanish even though you’ve told them to not do this as lots of people here speak Spanish. “Oye, mira esa, que cara fea.” “MOM FFS WE’RE IN A MEXICAN NEIGHBORHOOD.”
- Swears in English don’t count.
- Swears in Spanish mean you’d better fucking run, kid.
- Introducing you to English-only Americans using your Spanish name so that they mispronounce your name for all eternity because that’s what your mom said your name was. “Hi Dee-yanna!” “sigh, Just call me Diana.” “Yeah but your mom said your name was Dee-yanna.”
- Your parents give you a name that only makes sense in Spanish. “Your name is Floor?” “No, my name is Flor.” “FLOOR?” “Sigh.”
- conjugating English words with Russian grammar and vice versa. Sometimes both at once, which is extra fun. самолет -> самолетас -> самолетасы
- when vice versa, dropping English articles entirely. The, a, an: all gone. e.g. “I go to store and buy thing, I fix car and go to place.” This also happens when i am very tired
- speaking English with heavy accent you don’t actually have - when my family and I are switching over fast, we say the English words in a very heavy Russian accent that mostly doesn’t show up otherwise
bonus:
- keysmashing in the wrong language when your keyboard is still switched over
- using ))))) instead of :))) or other culture-specific emoji/typing quirks
all of the above
I don’t actually speak Tagalog, but my mom’s Filipino. One of my favorite things is when she forgets how to preposition, so something is ‘in the table’.
SOMEHOW I NEVER REBLOGGED THIS?!?!?!?!? this is one of my absolute favorite posts on all of tumblr also, to add to the pile of fun things bilinguals do: cackling over bilingual puns that nobody else in the room will get and then being completely unable to explain why this is funny
I’m not bilingual, but I was almost fluent in Japanese when I lived there. One thing I still have trouble with is pronouncing an English word in a Japanese sentence without saying the English word in a Japanese accent. Even my name becomes katakana-fied if I stick it into a Japanese sentence.
Your character is driven by 3 emotional motives. See? I even made a graphic.
(I’m proud of the graphic, too.)
Mood: The immediate (and temporary) emotions of your character. A feeling of joy after kissing the girl they like; frustration after a busy day working a summer job at the fair; despair after somebody eats the last Oreo.
Situation: The plot and relationship contexts of your character. The apprehension they feel with a friend in the weeks following a nasty fight; the nerves felt in the week leading up to their big championship game; the frustration and boredom of being grounded after crashing the family car into the county creek.
Struggle: The core, deepfelt pain of your character, which often emerges from their background. The fear of failure from overly demanding parents; a deep longing for a family they never knew; a desperate need to be accepted after spending years as an outcast.
How these 3 motives influence your character
The above emotional motives all play an important role in driving your character’s actions, muddying or even overriding their more logical intentions — just as it happens to the rest of us. (We’re all human, after all.)
That being said, while your character’s mood and situation will shift throughout the story, their struggle will remain constant: their true north, emotionally speaking. This struggle will always be at the root of their actions, even as you swap in new situations and moods.
Take Bethany as an example
Let’s say your character’s name is Bethany, and her struggle is this: a deep fear of failure, stemming from her parents’ impossible academic expectations, which conflicts with her own desire to finally experience the life she sees passing her by.
Her actions, while primarily driven by that struggle, are going to vary quite a bit depending on her situation and mood. For example, if it’s the night before a big test, she might blow off a friend’s invitation to a party so she can study.
But if the party is a week before the big test, and she finds a handwritten invitation in her notebook from Emma (the girl on the lacrosse team she has a crush on), Bethany might act differently. Maybe she feels a lightness and warmth in her cheeks as she reads Emma’s note. Maybe she puts those textbooks away, and maybe, just maybe, she sneaks out the window and goes to the party.
But if Bethany finds the note after her parents just chewed her out for being ungrateful and not studying hard enough? Maybe Bethany doesn’t go to the party. Instead, maybe she reads Emma’s note, trembles, then rips it in two, knowing she can’t disappoint her parents like that. Then she spends the rest of the evening studying. Alone.
Mood. Situation. Struggle.
All three kinds of emotional motives are important. Your character’s struggle is the anchor, but their mood and situation are the ever-shifting masks you use to express their struggle in fresh ways.
And by the end of the story, hopefully your character will overcome their struggle — putting away the textbooks, sneaking out the window, and meeting their crush at a party. Maybe even having their first kiss.
Whatever the character, and whatever their struggle, I’m sure you’ll do great.
So good luck! And good writing.
— — —
Your stories are worth telling. For tips on how to craft meaning, build character-driven plots, and grow as a writer, follow my blog.
Hii!! I just want to ask if you have any tips or resources in writing character relationships?? Like I want to build a relationship between two characters in a relatively short time but i dont want it to feel rushed,,,,thank you so much!! Your blog has helped me alot!!
I have quite a few resources and advice on the topic of building romantic relationships in a story, so I’ve linked some relevant resources below that you might find useful:
How To Fit Character Development Into Your Story
Creating A Love Interest For An Introvert
Writing Opposites Who Attract
Resources For Plot Development
Guide To Plot Development
Describing Heartbreak
Developing Complicated Plots Around Characters
Writing Great Fanfiction
How To Write The Perfect Kiss
On Romantic Subplots
Resources For Romance Writers
Tips On Writing Skinny Love
Guide To Writing Friends To Lovers
Guide To Writing Enemies To Lovers
Guide To Writing Faded Love
Resources For Writing YA Fiction/Romance
Guide To Writing Will-They-Won’t-They
Rivalry vs. Abuse
Guide To Writing Forbidden Love
20 Mistakes To Avoid in YA/Romance
Balancing Fluff and Conflict
Best Friends To Lovers Resources
How to develop an Emeies-To-Lovers story
—
This blog is now my full-time job and first priority, so your support and engagement is critical to keeping this content regular and free of charge. Please consider Buying Me A Coffee for $3 or supporting me on Patreon for $5 a month (or more if you’d like).
$5+ Patrons receive the following immediately upon pledging: early access to all wordsnstuff content, participation in polls to choose upcoming wordsnstuff content, downloadable PDF articles, requests prioritized, direct advice chat with me, Access to patron discord server with fellow writers, and much more!
Do you have any tips for writing enemies to lovers?
Hi, love! Thanks for your question and your patience<3 I’m currently writing somethingsimilar to this, so I hope my experience can help you here!
Enemies-to-lovers is a popular trope, but it’s often treatedcarelessly by writers – especially TV/movie writers who rush through thetransition to fit a single movie or episode arc. There’s nothing worseyou can do in this situation than to rush your arc. Falling in love isalready a time-consuming plotline – but transitioning from enemies, who arealready shutting each other out, to lovers? The quicker it happens, theless believable it becomes.
I have a lot of notes on how to write enemies to lovers, sobear with me as I list them out.
Writing Enemies to Lovers: The Basic Ingredients
1. Give them some similar traits.
No matter what, two people can’t fall in love if they don’trelate on some level. The first step to creating possible love interestsis to find where they’ll connect. Are they a hero and a villain? Evil and good? Night and day? I bet they both love animals. Maybe they’re both way into politics. Maybe they share a commonenemy. Maybe they’re both neat freaks or a bit sassy or super gay or lovethe same music. It can be a few important things or a bunch of superficialthings – just make sure they have something that can tie themtogether.
2. Put them on the same side of something.
When two people are mortal foes, it can be hard for them tosee each other in any other light. Bringing in a common enemy (ananti-hero, a natural disaster, a person in power), or a common interest (amutual friend, a school play, a moral cause), can land foes on a teamtogether. This forces them to become aware of each other’s strengths, andto consider (and worry about) each other’s weaknesses. This is perfectfodder for an eyebrows-raised, “Hey, they don’t suck at this particularthing,” moment.
3. Get them alone.
With other people watching (especiallyfriends/coworkers/allies), little groundwork can be made for your twohate-lovers. If you get your characters alone together, you’re given abounty of opportunities to bond them, including but not limited to: actualconversations, accidental (or faux-accidental) physical contact, the sneakymoment of checking each other out, etc. etc. etc. People are differentwhen you get them away from their friends – less extreme, less rowdy, lessunreachable. If you have to trap your characters in an elevator theold-fashioned way, damn it, you’re the only one who can do it.
4. Let them fight their feelings.
If these two are truly enemies, there isn’t going to be amoment of, “Oh, I like them. Huh. Neato.” Oh, no. There will be internal backlash – they will beat their emotions back with abroom, and deny them to anyone who asks. There will be extra hatefulglares, more middle fingers, and basically anything they can do to remindthemselves that they don’t like this person. If you show thisinternal conflict, it both (a) makes the feelings seem real, organic, and (b)creates a more realistic transition from hate to love.
5. Love can sound like hate.
There’s a reason people say indifference is the trueopposite of love. When your two enemies start to feel things foreach other, this will probably spark a lot of ranting, arguing, anddoor-slamming. It creates a fixation – you sit there and you stew andyou tell your friends, “Remember when they did thatstupid thing? Yeah. Screw them.” Your friends roll theireyes. When will you stop talking about this person? Just kiss themalready.
6. Sexual tension is a powerful tool.
If your characters experience sexual attraction, this is agreat way to accelerate their relationship against their will. It’s theage-old, “My mind says no but my body says yes,” dilemma. Yourcharacters can’t stand each other, or the image they have of each other, butthey’re attracted like magnets and can’t shake it. This can make for somepretty hot – or pretty hilarious – scenes.
7. Give them a moment of horrified realization.
Eventually, the feelings will grow strong enough that one orboth of them will have to sit there, probably on the bathroom floor a littlebit drunk with one sock on, and realize: “I love that f*cker.” It’llbe a scary moment for them. It’s not that they haven’t known it – theyjust have yet to accept that it’s something to deal with, until now. Thiscan be prompted by a dangerous situation, a shared activity, or a failed attemptat another romance – so when they really sit and think about it, theyknow. Then it becomes a question of either “how do I get rid of this?”or “how do I pursue this?”.
8. Try their hand at flirting.
Whether one or both characters have come to accept theirfeelings, someone’s gotta start flirting. A glancing touch across thearm; a small comment that could kind of be construed as amicable; a lingeringglance; that first peek at their enemy’s smile. Something cute and quickand immediately followed by an existential crisis will do in a pinch. Without this water-testing, readers won’t have any image of what thisrelationship will look like – and if it can succeed.
9. Craft the perfect kiss/hug/confession.
When the time is right, create an undeniable display ofattraction to transition into a new phase of their relationship:the “welp-we-both-like-each-other” phase, which comes right beforethe “we-decided-to-(stay-platonic/start-romancin’)” phase. The BigKiss/Confession is the most iconic climactic love scene, in which the twocharacters take a chance and become vulnerable with each other – and kiss, orsay, “I love you,” or do anything that can’t be construed in any otherway. Want to extend the drama? Interrupt them, or have it beone-sided, or let it turn into a fight until they decide, “Forget it, thiswas stupid.” Readers will swoon.
10. Finish up with an awkward adjustment period.
If and when your characters do enter a relationship, makesure it’s a little tentative at the beginning, to keep it realistic. Yourcharacters have made a huge shift in their dynamic – there will be somelingering arguments and love-hate, and maybe a bit of discomfort going publicwith their romance. Then come the usual growing pains of a new relationshipgetting serious – figuring out how to navigate each other’s flaws, learning tobe open with their feelings, dealing with unresolved fights from before theirrelationship. It won’t be perfect right away. That’s the beauty of it.
I hope this helps you, love! I adore love-haterelationships, and I hope you enjoy crafting your own enemies-to-lovers as muchas we’ll all love reading them :) Good luck!
– Mod Joanna ♥️
Ifyou need advice on general writing or fanfiction, you should maybe ask us!
Building a magic system
A little guide to help you with your magic system.
1. Source
- External source: Energy from the outside that the mage can draw upon or convert into magic energy.
Earth
The atmosphere
Drawn from elements
From another dimensions or realms
Gods
Supernatural entities
Star or planet constellations
Weather phenomena
Magic as life energy
Magic as omnipresent energy that flows through everything
- Internal source: Magic coming from within the body of the mage, generated by him
Coming from the mind
Generated by the body
From the soul
2. Magic control through:
Incantations
Hand gestures
Written symbols
Focus/concentration/will of the mage
By connection to the source (object, supernatural creature, another realms etc)
Rituals
Blood
Sacriface
Emotions
3. Magic limits - what can’t be done by magic
Range of effect
Lenght of effect
Limited by the mage’s focus
Limited by the mage’s stamina
4. Magic costs
Exhaustion of stamina
Pain
Gradual loss of senses
Burning off the mage’s soul
Buring off the mage’s life span
5. People who can use magic:
Born with it
Trained
Bestowed upon them
Awakening magic in some way
Ritual
Deal with a supernatural entity
Consumption of blood of a supernatural creature
Acquiring it from a near-death experience
6. Mages regarded by the society:
Hidden from it
Led by it
Feared
Expelled/hated
Worldbuilding Questions: Links
I have recently compiled several lists of worldbuilding questions. In case you missed the others and wanted to peruse them, I have linked them all here.
Clothes and Beauty
Economy and Trade
Education
Entertainment
Family and Marriage
Flora and Fauna
Food and Drink
Geography
Government
Health
History
Housing and Building
Language and Communication
Law and Order
Race and Class
Religion and the Supernatural
Sky and Space
Social Rules
Things That May Have Been Missed
Time
War
And while they are not technically worldbuilding questions, they do help with worldbuilding: Building a Revolution
Magic and Rules
hello! I want to know how to redeem a villain without making it seem forced or inevitably "powering down" the villain
How to Write A Villain Redemption Arc
Villain redemption seem to be the new hot commodity for current fiction. The villain, after wreaking havoc, realizes the error of their ways and joins the side of the good guys.
However, there are a lot of things that can make this trope fall flat; it’s much easier to upset your readers than it is to please them, so you have to make sure to work very carefully when writing your villain redemption arc.
If you’re having trouble creating your villain in the first place, then perhaps you should check out my post here!
1. You have to make sure they’re actually redeemable
Sometimes giving a villain a redemption arc is actually detrimental to the story.
If your villain is a genocidal maniac who’s slaughtered millions of people, then perhaps they’re not the best candidate for a redemption arc. Not all villains are worth saving, and even if they are, not all villains should be redeemed even if they’re eligible.
A villain drives the plot. They make the protagonists go through the wringer to stop their evil deeds, and sometimes a few “im sorry”s and “you don’t have to do this”s and “what would (insert villain loved one here) think?”s just won’t cut it.
Having them all be friends at the end and sing kumbaya just isn’t the right direction for many novels out there, so don’t feel pressured to redeem your villain even though it seems to be all the rage these days.
Don’t confuse redemption with dimension. Just because a villain is redeemed doesn’t mean that they are inherently a better-developed character than a villain who isn’t.
The picture above really sums it all up.
SOME VILLAINS ARE VILLAINS FOR A REASON. YOU’RE ALLOWED TO HAVE COMPLETELY COLD-BLOODED ANTAGONISTS IN YOUR STORY.
2. They have to have a reason to change their mind
Villains don’t just automatically switch sides. Having a sudden epiphany that’s completely out of character can spell disaster for your whole story arc.
A sad backstory is not a redemption arc.
JK Rowling tried to redeem Severus Snape after years of abusing children, Harry specifically, by announcing that he was rejected by Harry’s mother and that’s why he was so cruel and terrible to her son.
That doesn’t cut it, and that’s why there are many, many Harry Potter fans who agree that Severus Snape is a very poor example of a “redeemed” villain.
Here are a few examples of how a villain could change their mind:
They knew all along that they were doing a bad thing and their guilt finally caught up to them
They have connections to one or more of the protagonists and realize that their dastardly plot is not worth hurting them
They realize that a fellow villain has been manipulating them all along
They were actually right the whole time
It’s a better option for them (for selfish reasons) to not be a villain, whether it be due to safety, money, security, satisfaction, etc.
They realize their motivation to be a villain was futile all along (i.e. “ wow, maybe turning everyone into llamas seems like a bad idea when I actually stop to think about the consequences”)
They do a major heroic deed (i.e. save the protagonists/side characters and do the right thing)
3. Redemption Arcs– The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly
Examples of Good Redemption Arcs
Loki, Avengers
Zuko, The Last Airbender
Theon Greyjoy, Game of Thrones
The Hound, Game of Thrones
Castiel, Supernatural
Kaz Brekker, Six of Crows
Guy Montag, Farenheit 451
Luke Castellan, Percy Jackson
Examples of Bad Redemption Arcs
Snape, Harry Potter
Rejection by your crush is literally no excuse to be an absolute terror to her child and repeatedly try to kill him and/or put him in danger. A SAD BACKSTORY IS NOT A REDEMPTION ARC.
Jaime Lannister, Game of Thrones
Technically, this wasn’t a redemption arc because he never redeemed himself. The problem is that it was an amazing redemption arc before the last season; his friendship and pining with Brienne was helping him grow and develop as a person and perhaps realize that “Hey maybe my tyrannical sister isn’t the best person to be with or support.” All of this careful construction was completely trashed by lazy writing and completely out-of-character last-minute decisions.
Hope this Helped!
