you're the universe I'm helpless in

amaris. 22. he/she/they. white. tme. writeblr

[marimos]

| INTRO 🍃

Hello, hello! 💚 I’m Amaris, and welcome to my writeblr! I’m a speculative fiction writer (horror / scifi / fantasy) with far too many wips for my own good. I’m 22, bisexual and nonbinary, and use he / she / they pronouns (you can choose one, or switch it up). I also occasionally write some contemporary, historical fiction, and I write short stories too -- that might be released here one day, hopefully! Don’t be afraid to dm me if you ever wanna chat; I don’t bite.

| NAVIGATION 🍃

longer about | wips | my writing | atlas

[goose-books]

VALENTINE VAN VELT IS DEAD ↳ WEEK ONE

I know what you want to know — how I got here, what brand of crazy I am, why the car hit me — but I’m not going to tell you that. What kind of person would I be if I just told you everything you wanted to hear? A sycophant. More like a psycho-phant, really. Get it? Since I’m in the mental hospital?

ladies, gentlemen, and those of us who know better: welcome to the shitshow. that is, The Book I Am Releasing For Free Which You Can Read More About Here Or Just Click On The First Chapter Without Any Prior Knowledge If You Want!

[google docs link (commenting open, allowed, & encouraged!)]

[if you’d prefer the story in PDF or EPUB format, find those (hopefully downloadable) here!]

general story cws: car crashes, discussion of suicide and self-harm

cws for the first chapter: minor ableism from the narrator

valentine van velt is dead is entirely free and being released in weekly intervals! the masterpost is here; tune in next week (9/24/21) for therapy musings, valentine’s mission, and a rather unfortunate train ride.

[goose-books]

VALENTINE VAN VELT IS DEAD HAS A POSTING SCHEDULE

(cover by @athenapollo my beloved)

WHAT: A story told over the course of eight weeks in a mental health program, by an anonymous, over-opinionated, self-admittedly unreliable narrator. A story about… WHO: Valentine van Velt, a sour-faced seventeen-year-old trust fund baby who’s just been kicked out of private school… for the third time. Now they’re headed to New York City, on the trail of a seventeen-year-old family secret… THE CATCH: In four days, Valentine van Velt is going to get murdered. But don’t worry. If you take the narrator’s word for it, they probably deserve it.

at last! The Thing! aka “holden caulfield goes to exposure therapy;” aka “this isn’t actually a murder mystery / it’s about mental health / i apologize to all fans of thrillers”

the project is a little over 60k words and split into seven segments; i’ll be posting one segment per week, on fridays!

WEEK ONE // coming september 17th WEEK TWO // coming september 24th WEEK THREE // coming october 1st WEEK FOUR // coming october 8th WEEK FIVE // coming october 15th WEEK SIX/SEVEN // coming october 22nd WEEK EIGHT // coming october 29th

i’ll be posting each chapter as a google doc, a PDF, and an epub, so you can read however you’d like! every chapter post will be linked on this masterpost; once every chapter has been posted individually, i’ll also release the full project in the same formats. any and all commentary is accepted and invited and very much welcome (even concrit, if you are so inclined).

trigger warnings will also go up with each post, but the general trigger warnings for the project are car accidents, suicide, and self harm (neither of the latter two happen on page, but both are discussed)

fridays are officially valentinedays! mark your calendars! tell your friends and nemesi! get excited! get hype! and i’ll see you there!

[lets-get-fictional]

I have problems finding different "voices" for each of my characters. Could you help me by maybe explain the different aspect that can change one's voice? Thank you!

Hi, love!  Thanks for your question and your patience :)  I love writing unique character voices, both in dialogue and narration, just because it can make a story completely different just through the way it’s told.  There are a lot of different aspects to a character voice, though, so I’ll just go through the basics I run in my mind when I develop voices.

Aspects of Character Voice

Education – To be as realistic for your character as possible, you need to consider the level of education they received growing up.  There are too many characters in modern fiction who speak eloquently, confidently, and grammatically correct, yet don’t have the educational backstory to support this.  This is especially important if the character has to speak publicly, which many overlook as a skill that must be developed.

Influences – People learn how to speak, how to joke, and how to appeal to others from their family, friends, and idols.  For example: my aunt is much more reserved than my father and uncle.  She’s a quiet, thoughtful psychologist – but every once in a while, she shows her roots over her education by engaging in some of the awful puns that run in my dad’s side of the family.  Puns seem uncharacteristic of her at first glance, but it adds depth to who she is by reaching back into her childhood.

Communication Style – I touched on this in my post on character traits, and it probably applies even more here.  Your characters aren’t all going to speak up at the same times, about the same things, in the same ways.  Some people avoid confrontation; some people can’t ignore irritants.  Some people are open about their personal affairs; some don’t feel comfortable sharing their middle name with friends.  Some people think out loud, and occupy the room subconsciously.  Some people use humor to mask their feelings, and rarely speak without a hint of irony in their voice.  Some people are horribly self-aware, and some people talk without really hearing or filtering themselves.  It’s all important.

Demeanor – Mood, countenance, disposition – basically, what is the character’s general attitude?  If someone were to describe them in a couple of words, what would they be?  Some people are generally positive, and some are generally negative, or irritable, or uncomfortable, or emotional, or just really strong in whatever direction.  I had a friend in theatre describe me as “anxious at rest”, and I think that pretty much covers my demeanor.  Now, no one behaves one way all the time – this is just more of a “default emotion” that colors how they approach certain situations.

Example: Because I’m “anxious at rest”, I feel happiness like butterflies in my limbs, and sadness like it’s raining bullets in my stomach.  Because my brother is naturally chill as hell (my words), he feels happiness like a warm, gooey piece of pie, and sadness like a thin, wet sheet clinging to his skin.

Social Skills – This can tie into education and influences, but also has a lot to do with personality.  A character can be raised to know and value social convention, or they can pick it up themselves; or they can disregard social “rules” despite any kind of education.  How does your character handle awkward situations?  Are they blunt with strangers?  Are they respectful to authority?  Do they keep their opinions to themselves, or speak up no matter what?  Do they at all change themselves or their behavior to adapt to new situations?  There’s a spectrum there, between 100%-Integrity and Chameleon status, and your character’s somewhere on it.

Sense of Humor – I’ve talked about this before, too, but for posterity, I’ll add it here.  When writing a character’s voice, you have to think about what amuses them – and it’s not necessarily what amuses you.  I think of the show The Office, which is basically a playground of different senses of humor.  There’s Michael Scott, who works with things like “that’s what she said” and celebrity impressions; there’s Jim Halpert, who’s both sarcastic and a diehard prankster; there’s Pam Beesly, who can only offer puns along the line of, “I’ll put out an A.P.B. – an Ask Pam Beesly.”  These small details make characters sound distinct from each other.

Introversion/Extroversion – Lastly, a lot of how a character communicates depends on how they experience social interactions.  Are they energized by conversations and social events, or do these things drain them?  Do they seek out others, or do they wait to be addressed?  Are their thoughts focused outwardly – on what’s going on around them, what others are saying or thinking, on how they appear to others – or inwardly – on their internal thoughts and interests, on what they’re thinking and feeling?  This will affect how they speak and how they narrate the story, even if you’re not writing in first-person.

Anyway, that’s basically what came to mind when I saw your question.  If this doesn’t help you, be sure to send us another ask with more information :)  Good luck!

– Mod Joanna ♥️

If you need advice on general writing or fanfiction, you should maybe ask us!

[beguines]

Yes, there is a place / where someone loves you both before / and after they learn what you are.

Neil Hilborn, "Lake", The Future

[sunlightwriter]

The Realm of Staterra The World Map & Notable Places

Map above was created using the free tools on Inkarnate!

The Realm of Staterra is a place filled to the brim with magic instilled in it by the Realm’s Goddess. It is a large landmass, oval in shape and with a diverse ecosystem. Through the middle of the Realm runs a canyon, splitting the entire Realm in two halves. On one side once sat the Dark Kingdom’s territory (as coloured darker grey above), covering all of the Northern portion of Staterra, as well as some surrounding islands. On the other side, the Southern portion of Staterra sits the Light Kingdom’s territory (coloured light grey above).

The two Kingdoms have a long history of war and disagreements, and were near a semblance of peace until came the rule of the Light Kingdom’s new Queen, Lucielle, who quickly staged a siege on the Dark Kingdom’s capital.

Keep reading

[writingquestionsanswered]

Do you have any tips on identifying plot holes during revisions?

10 Tips for Identifying Plot Holes

1) Create a "Big Picture" Overview of Your Story

Whether you use a scene list, chapter by chapter summary, timeline, flow chart of events, or some combination of the above, having a "big picture" overview of your story allows you to see all the smaller parts and how they fit together. Not only can it help you spot problems as you're creating it, it also gives you something to follow as you're revising to help make sure everything makes sense.

2) Create a List of Plot Points and Subplot Points

Make a list of your story's plot points and subplot points. Once again, not only can the creation of this list help you spot potential problems, it will also be a crucial tool during the revision process as well as helpful for the next exercise.

3) Follow the Chain of Cause and Effect

Good continuity in your story means having a tight relationship between cause and effect. For each plot point and subplot point, you should be able to ask "why did this happen" and answer "because this other thing happened." You should also be able to look at each plot point or subplot point and say, "Because this happened, this next thing happens."

4) Look at Character Choices

Since stories are ultimately about people who want something trying to get that thing, plot points and subplot point are often the result of character choices and actions. So, for every choice a character makes or action they take, ask why? Did that choice make sense for that character's personality, situation, and back story? Did it make sense for that particular moment?

5) Make Sure Subplots Are Tied Up

Make a list of your subplots and make sure they're all tied up by the end. Pay attention to how and when they branched back into the story and what they accomplished.

6) Create Character/Setting Continuity Tables

Create a table of important characteristics like hair color, eye color, current age, birthday, etc. and when you're reading through your story, any time a detail like that comes up, check it in the table to make sure you've got it right. You can do the same thing for setting details.

7) Create a Technical Detail Checklist

For every technical detail you include in your story, whether that's the moon being out and in a certain phase in a particular scene, the amount of time it takes to travel a particular distance, how a particular weapon works, the ingredients of a particular spell or potion, the types of berries your character forages, an historical garment or costume... put it in a checklist. Then, when you're revising and you get to that item, double-check the details you've included in the actual story against your research (or look them up again), and check them off when you're sure they're accurate.

8) Create a "Things That Need Reviewing" Checklist

You can do the same while you're writing/editing for general things you want to double-check, like maybe you recall your character mentioning something about their childhood home in a chapter, and now they're saying something else about it and you want to go back later and make sure the two things are coherent.

9) Review Your Manuscript with Fresh Eyes

When you've been with your WIP for weeks or months or years, it becomes tough to see mistakes that would be obvious to anyone else. If you can, try stepping away from your manuscript for a few days or weeks so that you can come back to it with fresh eyes. Another trick you can use (especially if you can't step away for long or at all) is to change the font style and/or color in your manuscript. This can trick your brain into feeling like it's seeing everything for the first time. Reading it out loud or trying to to visualize it like a movie can also help.

10) Get Feedback from Other People

If you plan on posting or publishing your story anyway, it's crucial to get critical eyes on your story during your revision process. Critique groups, writing groups, critique partners, beta readers, and editors are all great ways to get feedback on your story before publication. These folks can help you spot problems, like plot holes and continuity errors, before you share, query, or publish your story.

I hope that helps!

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[ancientsstudies]

Wilderness of water. x

[marimos]

graphics for palace of thorns’ new intro are done, now i just have to write up all the info!

[marimos]

hi! do you have a tag list for palace of thorns? if so i’d love to be on it, it looks so interesting :-)

added!! tysm !! 💚

[lionfloss]

Google Earth View

[anditslove]

Ocean Vuong, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous

[miawasi]

Blood Fest (2018) dir. Owen Egerton

[marimos]

might release a link to my wip server in the next few days! 💚

[caninemotiff]

- song of the raven, introduction;

genre: high fantasy

pov: third person limited

status: writing / first draft

pitch: ursula le guin's earthsea cycle meets tamora pierce's circle of magic

- aesthetic;

- blurb;

In the age of sanctamonium, the gods spoke life into existence in their divine tongue, weaving the song of everything that has ever existed. Although they no longer walk the archipelago world of Kya, through the sanctra, those few of humanity who still hear and speak the language of the gods, their influence is still shaped.

When Arn was born he did not cry, his first breath was made of song and in it was the truth of everything. Like all sanctra he never knew his parents, his first memory was of the Temple as is every memory ever since, surrounded by song. But as the islands of Kya begin to fall to a strange illness, an illness that has its roots in the corruption of the song, Arn's quiet existence shatters. He must leave the Temple and find the source of the twisted song, before the nation of Miria falls into ruin.

The streets of Miria are so very different from the halls of his Temple.

- first line;

The song of Miria had changed, one night in the height of the season of storms, and Arn had not slept properly since.

- taglist (ask to be +/-);

@piyawrites / @ladywithalamp / @chariklos / @writeblrfantasy / @wickerring

[marimos]

bad wip sypnosis

tagged by @sunlightwriter (thank you babe! 💚)

Rules: describe your wip synopsis in the worst way possible.

Borne: boy and his alien but fucked up. E.T meets Annihilation

I Know the End: what to do when god wants you to kill your bestie? gay awakening in all the wrong ways

Palace of Thorns: beauty and the beast but what if belle tried to assassinate the beast and the beast was kinda into it

tagging @thelittlestspider, @lunarmoment, and @artbyeloquent! no pressure to do it if you don’t want to!

[sioltach]

— Biology: evolution, diversity, and the environment by Sylvia S Mader, 1985