Marjorie's Place

Writing fanfiction and original fiction for the purpose of relaxation.

[amethystrosepheonix-deactivated]

Suspense Sentence Structure Techniques

Adverb Start - You can set the tone and atmosphere by just simply describing how the verb is being completed

Suddenly, he lunged for the knife.

Preposition Start - Draws out the sentence to keep the reader waiting and follows a trail of settings or objects and makes the reader wonder what’s at the end.

Behind the front brick terrace houses, over the deep, murky trench of a river, lay the vast skeletal remains of the “temporary accommodations” where he was supposed to be. 

Short Sentences - Speeds up the pace and creates a sense of urgency and panic.

Not here. Not near me. Why does he want me? Why is he following me?

Long, flowing sentences - It can draw out the scene so the reader has to wait, can suggest that events are happening in quick succession and contrast well with short sentences.

Another sweeping glance to the window revealed that his stalker was still present, striding along in large steps as if not comfortable in his present bone structure with a hunched back - not quite bent double but well on its way like the snivelling, snarling wolf that he knew his stalker was under that false face.

Non-Sentence - Speed up the pace and action and can sometimes reveal critical details in a scene but MUST NOT BE OVERUSED because they are not grammatically correct and you might give the impression of not knowing how to write with grammar.

The pocket watch. Covered in blood there and covered in fine silks here; somebody was going to die.

The more… the more - Conveys a particular detail in a scene and its effect.

The more he fought, the more the eye drained his power.

If, if, if, then - Emphasises the small probability of an event happening.

If only she had been born a boy, if only she had been born second or third, if only she had been born ugly, then she would not have been sent to live in such a dismal manor caring for a the vile beast which she knew would not remain faithful.

Adjective, adjective - Emphasised a certain idea about a situation and the characters within it.

Carved lit jack-o-lanterns warned them away, lit to warn them away from the land of the living.

Fronted adverbial phrases - Builds tension by prolonging the wait to find out what’s happening and describes the setting.

Heartbeat fading and breath slowing, he slumped down onto the decaying railings. (double)

Heartbeat fading and breath slowing, light fading from his eyes, he slumped down onto the decaying railings. (triple)

Repetition - Creates atmosphere and builds tension by reminding the reader of a particular idea or object.

Emptiness resided in his eye sockets, emptiness resided in the chest cavity and emptiness resided in his coat pocket where the empty box was found.

Dash - Can replace the comma, tag on extra information and speed up the pace.

It was not the particular vision of what now seemed to “live” in his home but rather who had recently decided to move back in after 17 and a half years, all bright, fresh and young - his dead wife.

Colon - The reader has to wait for the sentence to end to get an answer and the emphasis put on by the colon exacerbates the effect of what is after the colon.

Nobody should have to live like that: lonely.

[writingwithcolor]

Black Boy/White Girl Romance, Experiencing His Struggle and Avoiding Putting down Black Women

Anonymous asked:

so I’m currently writing a story where this white girl grows up with a crush on the black boy across the street and slowly gets closer to him and he starts to fall for her. after they start dating she starts to experience some of the oppression and racism he goes through (mainly with police brutality) I want to make it a cute relationship that still shows the issues of society today and I want to steer very clear of any stereotypes I sometimes see like black boys corrupting an “innocent white girl” or a white girl being more special or “different” from any of the black girls he knows. If anyone has any comments or input or help I would love to hear it, as I don’t want to perpetuate any damaging or negative stereotypes! also, before he starts dating the white girl, he had a casual thing with one of his black friends but broke it off…is this a good idea to even include or should I just not mention his previous relationships?

Racism and White Allies

The white girl is experiencing backlash due to associating herself with the Black boy, right? Because white people cannot experience racism, although they can certainly experience harm and prejudice, especially when they tie themselves so closely to a Black person. Just keep in mind and be clear that she’s experiencing it here because she’s associating herself with Blackness, not because she’s white and therefore the prime target.

Additionally, do your best to show her empathy without pity. Read up on how to be a proper ally without walking over the movement or speaking over Black voices. I don’t see how you would unintentionally show him corrupting her unless he got her involved in a life or crime or something, which i’m sure you would avoid! If she gets in trouble throughout the story, it should be directly from her doing and her choices, not from anything that the Black boy pressured her into.

Racist people might find a way to blame him for her problems, but such biased viewpoints cannot be controlled.

Avoid Tragedy Exploitation

First, establish just how much you want the story to deal with racism versus remain a straightforward cute romance. Because once you open the can of worms of social issues, you have to address each one before you can stuff them back in for the rest of the tale. Don’t unleash more than you can handle.

If it is meant to be a story that focuses on big social issues, i’d pick one macro issue,

work through that thoroughly, and then include related microaggressions and struggles along the side. But do keep in mind tragedy exploitation is not an ideal plot representation-wise, particularly written from an outsider’s perspective.

Otherwise, just keep it to micro-aggressions, some meaningful conversations here and there, and no more (e.g. no up close and personal police brutality and hate crimes)

The Black Boy/Relationships with Black Girls

I do think it’s a good idea to show the Black boy’s past, loving relationship with his Black ex-girlfriend. Current relationships would make this more complete. That love doesn’t always have to be romantic either. Does he recognize Black women as humans deserving respect, or does he avoid, scoff at and stereotype them?

I Encourage These Actions:

Black Girl Friends/Past Lovers: As mentioned, a healthy relationship or two with Black women is welcomed in these narratives. Does he have actively healthy, respectful relationships with Black women such as friends, a mother, cousins, an aunt, etc.?  Whether a romantic past, family or friendships, some example of love and kindness to Black women is nice in a world that goes out of its way to show resentment and lack of attraction to Black women. Portraying healthy bonds also helps diminish the perspective of him exalting white women over Black women.

Black Women Portrayed Complexly: The Black women in the story should not be two-dimensional, stereotypical, irredeemably villainous people. At least, the majority should not have these qualities. Aim for complexity and variety in the Black women included in the cast. Note this isn’t saying you cannot have bad guy Black women, but the only one(s) present most definitely should not be.

Establish why he likes the white girl: Do your best to establish that he is interested in her for her, not because she’s a white girl and that is enough. When did he start to like her? Why does he like her? What makes her special to him?

Establish why she likes him: It’s also important the girl respects him for him, too. Her love should not be based of fetishes, stereotypes (particularly hypersexualizing ones) or as part of a rebellion to prove something to racist parents. What made her develop a crush on him in the first place? What does she like about him? Physical attraction can certainly exist and be expressed (without food-centered or fetishizing language) but what else draws and keeps her there?

There is certain language that would indicate an exaltation of white women over Black women, as well.

Avoid these Actions/Language:

Fetishizing - Fascination with white and light skin, or any stereotypically- associated white traits.

Exalting Eurocentric Beauty - Overemphasis on light skin, straight hair and/or light eyes as a key point of attraction. He can show his attraction to her, but it shouldn’t be all that keeps him there or become an obsession.

Compare/Contrast - Contrasting White girls to Black girls (She’s not like those Black girls who are XYZ…)

Stereotypes - Upholding stereotypes of White girls being submissive and agreeable (therefore ideal), and Black women as brazen and disagreeable, or basically any language that summarizes women of any race to a few characteristics.

Excuses/Putting Down Black Women - Making excuses for not dating or staying with Black girls related to their inner and outer characteristics. One does NOT need an excuse to date within or outside of their race. They should just do it without putting down others. Period.

Discrepancy in Language: Avoid assigning white women “softened” infantilized language as the narrator and from the Black boy himself. EXAMPLE: White women are referred to as girls. Black women are females, or women even when they’re the same age as the white girls. Treat them equally in this regard. White women of the same age group should both be girls. Adults should both be women. And also, just avoid calling women females all together. 

Leaving or Cheating on Black Ex for White Girl - I’m sure this is not the case, but I would certainly advise against making the Black boy’s reasons for leaving the Black girlfriend because he would rather date the white girl. The ex does not need to be perfect, but making her a compilation of stereotypes is wordlessly erecting a situation where a Black woman is unpleasant and stereotypical, and so the Black man chooses a white woman who is free of those stereotypes and therefore better for him.

I hope these pointers help you establish a healthy, happy relationship between your characters!

~Mod Colette

[firemoon42]

Ways to un-stick a stuck story

Do an outline, whatever way works best. Get yourself out of the word soup and know where the story is headed.

Conflicts and obstacles. Hurt the protagonist, put things in their way, this keeps the story interesting. An easy journey makes the story boring and boring is hard to write.

Change the POV. Sometimes all it takes to untangle a knotted story is to look at it through different eyes, be it through the sidekick, the antagonist, a minor character, whatever.

Know the characters. You can’t write a story if the characters are strangers to you. Know their likes, dislikes, fears, and most importantly, their motivation. This makes the path clearer.

Fill in holes. Writing doesn’t have to be linear; you can always go back and fill in plotholes, and add content and context.

Have flashbacks, hallucinations, dream sequences or foreshadowing events. These stir the story up, deviations from the expected course add a feeling of urgency and uncertainty to the narrative.

Introduce a new mystery. If there’s something that just doesn’t add up, a big question mark, the story becomes more compelling. Beware: this can also cause you to sink further into the mire.

Take something from your protagonist. A weapon, asset, ally or loved one. Force him to operate without it, it can reinvigorate a stale story.

Twists and betrayal. Maybe someone isn’t who they say they are or the protagonist is betrayed by someone he thought he could trust. This can shake the story up and get it rolling again.

Secrets. If someone has a deep, dark secret that they’re forced to lie about, it’s a good way to stir up some fresh conflict. New lies to cover up the old ones, the secret being revealed, and all the resulting chaos.

Kill someone. Make a character death that is productive to the plot, but not “just because”. If done well, it affects all the characters, stirs up the story and gets it moving.

Ill-advised character actions. Tension is created when a character we love does something we hate. Identify the thing the readers don’t want to happen, then engineer it so it happens worse than they imagined.

Create cliff-hangers. Keep the readers’ attention by putting the characters into new problems and make them wait for you to write your way out of it. This challenge can really bring out your creativity.

Raise the stakes. Make the consequences of failure worse, make the journey harder. Suddenly the protagonist’s goal is more than he expected, or he has to make an important choice.

Make the hero active. You can’t always wait for external influences on the characters, sometimes you have to make the hero take actions himself. Not necessarily to be successful, but active and complicit in the narrative.

Different threat levels. Make the conflicts on a physical level (“I’m about to be killed by a demon”), an emotional level (“But that demon was my true love”) and a philosophical level (“If I’m forced to kill my true love before they kill me, how can love ever succeed in the face of evil?”).

Figure out an ending. If you know where the story is going to end, it helps get the ball rolling towards that end, even if it’s not the same ending that you actually end up writing.

What if? What if the hero kills the antagonist now, gets captured, or goes insane? When you write down different questions like these, the answer to how to continue the story will present itself.

Start fresh or skip ahead. Delete the last five thousand words and try again. It’s terrifying at first, but frees you up for a fresh start to find a proper path. Or you can skip the part that’s putting you on edge – forget about that fidgety crap, you can do it later – and write the next scene. Whatever was in-between will come with time.

[theinkstainsblog]

*Blinks* I-I’m not the only one to call writer’s block needing to un-stick the story? 

[the-writers-society-deactivated]

Are These Filter Words Weakening Your Story?

After putting my writing on hold for several weeks, I decided to jump back in. I expected to find all sorts of problems with my story–inconsistencies in the plot, lack of transitions, poor characterization–the works. But what began to stick out to me was something to which I’d given little thought in writing.

Filter words.

What are Filter Words?

Actually, I didn’t even know these insidious creatures had a name until I started combing the internet for info.

Filter words are those that unnecessarily filter the reader’s experience through a character’s point of view. Dark Angel’s Blog says:

“Filtering” is when you place a character between the detail you want to present and the reader. The term was started by Janet Burroway in her book On Writing.

In terms of example, you should watch out for:

To see

To hear

To think

To touch

To wonder

To realize

To watch

To look

To seem

To feel (or feel like)

Can

To decide

To sound (or sound like)

To know

I’m being honest when I say my manuscript is filled with these words, and the majority of them need to be edited out.

What do Filter Words Look Like?

Let’s imagine a character in your novel is walking down a street during peak hour.

You might, for example, write:

Sarah felt a sinking feeling as she realized she’d forgotten her purse back at the cafe across the street. She saw cars filing past, their bumpers end-to-end. She heard the impatient honk of horns and wondered how she could quickly cross the busy road before someone took off with her bag. But the traffic seemed impenetrable, and she decided to run to the intersection at the end of the block.

Eliminating the bolded words removes the filters that distances us, the readers, from this character’s experience:

Sarah’s stomach sank. Her purse—she’d forgotten it back at the cafe across the street. Cars filed past, their bumpers end-to-end. Horns honked impatiently. Could she make it across the road before someone took off with her bag? She ran past the impenetrable stream of traffic, toward the intersection at the end of the block.

Are Filter Words Ever Acceptable?

Of course, there are usually exceptions to every rule.

Just because filter words tend to be weak doesn’t mean they never have a place in our writing. Sometimes they are helpful and even necessary.

Susan Dennard of Let The Words Flow writes that we should use filter words when they are critical to the meaning of the sentence.

If there’s no better way to phrase something than to use a filter word, then it’s probably okay to do so.

Want to know more?

Read these other helpful articles on filter words and more great writing tips:

Filter Words and Distancing Point of View

The Reasons Editors reject Manuscripts

Filter Those words and Strengthen Your Writing

[fixyourwritinghabits]

10 Writing Mistakes that Kill Your First Chapter

By Marcy Kennedy (@MarcyKennedy) I’m teaching at a writer’s conference this week, so instead of one of my in-depth posts, I thought I’d create a quick checklist for you. Here are 10 writing mistake…

A good checklist for your first chapters. Also, am I the only one who thinks that first comment is Peak Mansplaining? – Aliya

[writersrelief-deactivated202404]

Write Strong Female Characters Without Being Cliché

Writers and readers talk so often about strong female characters that the phrase has become a publishing buzzword. Writers try to entice…

Happy International Women’s Day!

[1000storyideas]

10 outline techniques for writers

With this post I listed 10 outline techniques to help writes move their story from a basic idea to a complete set of arcs, plots, sequences and/or scenes. Or to simply expand whatever you have in hands right now.

If you have a vague story idea or a detailed one, this post is for you to both discover and organize. A few technique will work perfectly. A few won’t. Your mission is to find the one that works best for you. That said, I advice you to try out as many techniques as possible.

So, are you ready? Open your notebook, or your digital document, and let’s start.

1. Snowflake method: Start with a one-sentence description of the novel. Then, develop this simple phrase into a paragraph. Your next step is to write a one-page summary based on the paragraph, you can write about characters, motivations, goals, plots, options, whatever you feel like. From this point on, you can either start your book or expand the one-page summary into four pages. And, at last, four pages into a brief description of known sequences of scenes. Your goal is to make the story more and more complex as you add information, much like a forming snowflake.  

2. Chapter by chapter: List ten to twenty chapters, give each chapter a tittle and a brief description of what should happen. Then, break each chapter into three to five basic sequences of scenes. Give each sequence a title, a brief description and a short list of possibilities (possibilities of dialogues, scenarios, outcomes, moods, feelings… just play around with possibilities). From this point on, you can either create the scenes of sequences with a one-sentence description for each or jump straight to writing. Your goal is to shift from the big picture to a detail-oriented point of view.

3. Script: This might sound crazy, but, with this technique, you will write the screenplay of your story as if it’s a movie. No strings attached to creative writing, just plain actions and dialogues with basic information. Writing a script will take time, maybe months, but it will also enlighten your project like no other technique. Your goal is to create a cinematic view of your story. How to write a script here. 

4. Free writing: No rules, no format, no step, just grab a pen or prepare your fingers to write down whatever idea that comes up. Think of possibilities, characters, places, quests, journeys, evolutions, symbolisms, fears, good moments, bad moments, clothing, appearances. Complete five to ten pages. Or even more. The more you write, the more you will unravel. You can even doodle, or paste images. Your mission is to explore freely.

5. Tag: This technique is ideal if you have just a vague idea of the story. Start by listing ten to fifteen tags related to the story. Under each tag, create possible plots. And, under each plot, create possible scenes. Grab a red felt pen and circle plots and scenes that sparkle your interest.

6.  Eight-point arc: With this technique you will divide your story into eight stages. They are Stasis, Trigger, Quest, Surprise, Critical Choice, Climax, Reversal and Resolution. The Stasis is the every-day-life of your main character. Trigger is an event that will change the every-day-life of your character (for better or for worse). Quest is a period of your main characters trying to find a new balance, a new every-day-life (because we all love a good routine). Surprise will take your character away from their new found every-day-life. Critical Choice is a point of no return, a dilemma, your character will have to make the hardest decision out of two outcomes, both equally important. Climax is the critical choice put to practice. Reversal is the consequence of the climax, or how the characters evolved. Resolution is the return to a new (or old) every-day-life, a (maybe everlasting) balance.

7. Reverse: Write down a description of how your story ends, what happens to your characters and to those around them. Make it as detailed as possible. Then, move up to the climax, write a short scenario for the highest point of your story. From there, build all the way back to the beginning. 

8. Zigzag: Draw a zigzag with as many up and downs as you want. Every up represents your main character moving closer to their goal. Every down represents your main character moving further from their goal. Fill in your zigzag with sequences that will take your character closer and farther from the goal.

9. Listing: The focus of this technique is exploring new ideas when your story feels empty, short or stagnated. You’ll, basically make lists. Make a long list of plot ideas. Make another list of places and settings. Make a list of elements. And a list of possible characters. Maybe a list of book titles. Or a list of interesting scenes. A list of bad things that could happen inside this universe. A list of good things. A list of symbolism. A list of visual inspiration. A list of absurd ideas you’ll probably never use. Then, gather all this material and circle the good items. Try to organize them into a timeline.

10. Character-driven: Create a character. Don’t worry about anything else. Just think of a character, their appearance and style. Give them a name. Give them a basic personality. Give them a backstory. Develop their personality based on the backstory. Now, give this character a story that mirrors their backstory (maybe a way to overcome the past, or to grow, or to revenge, or to restore). Based on your character’s personality, come up with a few scenes to drive their story from beginning to end. Now, do the same thing for the antagonist and secondary characters.

So, when is it time to stop outlining and start writing?

This is your call. Some writers need as many details as they can get, some need just an basic plot to use as a North. Just remember, an outline is not a strict format, you can and you will improvise along the way. The most important is being comfortable with your story, exploring new ideas, expanding old concepts and, maybe, changing your mind many times. There’s no right or wrong, just follow your intuition.  

[fixyourwritinghabits]

10 Writing Mistakes that Kill Your First Chapter

By Marcy Kennedy (@MarcyKennedy) I’m teaching at a writer’s conference this week, so instead of one of my in-depth posts, I thought I’d create a quick checklist for you. Here are 10 writing mistake…

A good checklist for your first chapters. Also, am I the only one who thinks that first comment is Peak Mansplaining? – Aliya

[actorsandcanines]

Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki

[marjoriek-blog1]

For my writing buddy! LOL

[thewordriven]

Write Your Novel In A Year – Week 29: 3 Things To Remember About Dialogue

Write Your Novel In A Year – Week 29: 3 Things To Remember About Dialogue

Welcome to week 29 of Anthony’s series that aims to help you write a novel in a year. Read last week’s post here.

Goal setting

Continue writing the scenes or chapters of your novel.

Breaking it down

1. Dialogue is about character

When characters speak, readers listen. In fact, they probably pay more attention to dialogue than narrative. It’s a way for the them to get information about the characters in your novel.

The other day, a friend of mine made some off-hand comment about photographers. ‘Photographers are always seeing the deeper meaning – it’s never just a picture of a cup of coffee.’

This got me thinking about Jenna, my main character. She is a photographer. Obsessed with getting the perfect shot to tell the perfect story. How does this inform her dialogue? She can be quite critical – probing, incisive, intelligent.

Here’s another example. For my antagonist, Monty, finding his speech patterns was a bit easier. He is a dreamer. So his dialogue is always about the future – about wish fulfilment. He very seldom tells the truth – he reinvents the past and the future is always ‘make believe’.  Knowing this about him has really helped me with his dialogue.

2. Dialogue is about moving the story forward – or back

Readers are also looking to dialogue to give them information about the story or plot. They get to know  this through a character’s intentions and decisions – what are they going to do next in the story? That’s why stating these decisions in dialogue is a great idea – they register with the reader. For example: ‘We’ll go to the police first thing in the morning.’ ‘Let’s ask my father for help – he’ll know what to do.’ ‘We have to stop him before he takes this too far.’

Dialogue is a great way to avoid using long passages of back story. In my novel, it’s important to introduce some information about a holiday Matt and Jenna took in the past.

Instead of writing it as a flashback, I have the two lovers reminiscing about the holiday in dialogue. I also have other characters speak about this holiday in the story.

By using snippets of the information about the holiday in dialogue, I’m not forced to reveal the whole truth about what happened on the holiday – only through the memories of my characters.

3. Dialogues is about contrasting words with actions

The reader is also looking for the promises one character makes to another character – and to see if they keep those promises. Do we believe what the character is saying? Do we trust them?

In my novel, Matt, Jenna’s boyfriend, is always making promises that he never seems to keep.

This gives the reader a heightened awareness of the ‘fault lines’ in the relationship between Matt and Jenna. I want them to ask: Why does she believe these promises?  The contrast between a character’s actions and their words is very often what creates tension in a story.

One of elements I love about writing my novel is finding the voices of my characters – I start to see them in my mind, the story becomes kinetic, and I’m able to move the story forward.

Timelock — 2.5 to 5 hours

Write for half an hour or an hour a day on your scenes or chapters.

5 Quick Hacks

Download some movie scripts and read some published plays. Observe how dialogue moves the story forward.

Act out or speak aloud the dialogue in your novel.  Write out a scene as a dialogue-only script and ask a friend to play one of the ‘parts’. How does it sound?

Write some Facebook or Twitter posts for your characters. Does it capture the ‘personality’ of your character?

Take a flashback (if you have one) and  re-write it as a dialogue in a current scene.

Imagine your character has lost their voice. How would they express themselves in body language?

Pin it, quote it, believe it:

‘Go ahead, make my day!’ — Dirty Harry

[dammiticantdeactivateblog]

Talk to me.   I’m scared. Of what? Everything. The future. I don’t know what’s gonna happen, Matt. That’s why they call it the future. One thing I know will happen for sure… You and I are gonna face it together.

[sawyersscribbles]

50 Character Archetypes!!

Ever not know how to give your characters depth without going too far or not far enough? I’ve made a list of fifty character tropes, some you hopefully haven’t seen before, to try and help. Adding them to any character would immediately spice up how the reader sees them and is sure to make your characters more interesting. So here we go!

“The Whole Plot Happens to Them by Accident so they Learn on the Way”

“The Predestined Hero”

“The Unwilling but Wanting to Do Good”

“Retired Hero Back in Action”

“The Volunteer for the Big Journey”

“The Average Kid Turned Protagonist”

“The Sarcastic Best Friend”

“The Willful ‘Little Sibling’” (Note: does not actually have to be a little sibling)

“The So-Selfless-They’re-Reckless Type”

“The Wants-Recovery-But-Doesn’t-Know-How-to-Get-It”

“The Learned-From-Bad-Experiences Mentor”

“Stays-Strong-for-Others-Not-Self Type”

“Takes Out Conflicts on Others Type”

“Takes Out Conflicts on Others Type, but they feel guilty later”

“Unsuccessful Artist”

“The Unnatural Leader”

“The ‘It’s Never Enough’ Perfectionist”

“The Calculator”

“Expresses Emotions with Actions Type”

“The Trying-To-Keep-Up Type” (Note: Usually used when a character has self-doubts about abilities while in a talented group of people)

“The (usually not listened to) Voice of Reason”

“The Expositionist”

“The More-Than-Meets-the-Eye Type” (Note: Usually used with a character thought to be superficial)

“The New-to-the-World Type”

“The Philosophical Thinker”

“The Worried Caregiver”

“The Overbearing Guardian Figure”

“The Tyrannical Zealot”

“Connects More with Nature/Machines Type”

“The Connections Maker” (Note: Usually used in large city settings with black market/illegal dealings)

“The Storyteller”

“The Calming Presense”

“The Influencer”

“21st Century Tech-Savvy Mogul”

“The Narcissistic Anti-Villain”

“The Arms Dealer”

“The Traveler” (Note: Usually used with characters who make big impacts in peoples’ lives but only for a brief time before leaving) 36!!!

“The On-Top-of-Everything Assistant”

“The ‘At the Top but is Miserable’ Type”

“The Moralistic Murderer/Assassin/Warrior”

“The Angry Parent” (Note: Usually used in a positive way with parents who would fight to the death for their kids)

“The All-Bark-No-Bite Type”

“The Sassy ‘You need me, I don’t need you’ Type” (Note: Usually used with a character the protagonist comes to for help)

“The Bullied Genius”

“The Questionable Scientist”

“The Doomed-from-the-Start Type”

“The Survivalist”

“The Conspiracy Theorist”

“The International Person-of-Interest”

“The Pop Culture Know-it-All”

“The Smiles-in-the-Face-of-Death Type”

Aaaaand, we’re done! Those were fifty character archetypes you might not have thought of before to liven up your characters! Be sure to mix and match or use some traditionally protagonist types for your villain, as well. Good luck, and happy writing!

[dammiticantdeactivateblog]

Talk to me.   I’m scared. Of what? Everything. The future. I don’t know what’s gonna happen, Matt. That’s why they call it the future. One thing I know will happen for sure… You and I are gonna face it together.

[marjoriek-blog1]

Love Dawsey!

[hollyand-writes]

A writer is a writer because even when there is no hope, even when nothing you do shows any sign of promise, you keep writing anyway.

Junot Díaz (via hollyand-writes)

[thewordriven]

[writinghelpers]

Writing Crime

Anonymous asked: I’m doing crime fiction in school and have to write a short story, but I’ve never written crime before and I don’t really know how. Do you have any tips? Maybe something on writing action scenes, creating suspense, and leaving clues? Thanks for any help you can give me!

[writinghelpers]

Crime fiction is most definitely one of my favorite genres to read, so I’m so happy that you’ve given me the chance to look these things up!

Action Scenes

Writing Action Scenes

How Do I Write Better Action Scenes?

Writing the Action Scene

10 Tips for Writing Good Action Scenes

Punch Up Your Fight Scenes: Three Techniques To Knock Readers Out

Writing Tense Action Scenes

Creating Suspense

Ten Tips for Building Suspense in a Novel

Foreshadowing and Suspense

How to Keep Them Reading

9 Trick to Writing Suspense Fiction

5 Simple Steps on Creating Suspense in Fiction

Leaving Clues

Don’t Drop Clues; Place Them Carefully

Effectively Leaving Clues in Mystery Stories

False Clues and “Red Herrings”

Crime Fiction

Writing Crime and Suspense Fiction

Crime Fiction Writing: Ten Clichés to Avoid

Tips for Writing Crime Fiction and Thrillers (I would focus on tips 1-7)

I hope these links can help you. If you have any further questions, let me know!

[Made rebloggable by request]

[marjoriek-blog1]

Great Resource

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Write Your Novel In A Year – Week 17: Expect The Unexpected

Write Your Novel In A Year – Week 17: Expect The Unexpected

Welcome to week 17 of Anthony’s series that aims to help you write a novel in a year. Read last week’s post here.

Goal setting

Continue writing your scenes.

Look for opportunities for cliff-hangers.

Identify character quirks for your main characters.

Breaking it down

Looking for the unexpected

When it comes to keeping your characters – and your readers – on their toes, you have to look for opportunities to throw some unexpected roadblocks in their path. These can be small or big – but they need to add a bit of a twist to the plot, or show your character in a different light.

I’m reading a story now. A journalist is flying to London to start a new assignment for a magazine. After heavy turbulence, the plane is forced to land in Frankfurt. The character certainly wasn’t expecting this and, as a reader, I wasn’t expecting it. What will happen during this layover?

Remember even a short trip to the corner supermarket or dropping the kids off at school can offer you an opportunity to change your characters’ lives in some way. What if there’s a gunman at the supermarket? What if the bedraggled single mom bumps into her handsome ex-boyfriend? What if he’s the new headmaster? Look for these opportunities in your synopsis – and see if they can add a twist to your novel.

As I said, the unexpected can be a reaction by a character. In the exquisite novel, Forbidden Colours, by Yukio Mishima, the main character is an ageing novelist. When he discovers his young mistress is having an affair, he follows her and her new lover to the coast.  Instead of confronting her, he instead becomes obsessed with her young boyfriend and starts a dangerous friendship with the boy.

In my novel, I have a similar character turnaround.  As I get to know my heroine’s boyfriend, Matt, a bit better, I’ve realised he could have a very strong reaction to the young interloper in their relationship, Monty. His jealousy of Jenna and Monty is unpredictable and could push him to the edge. It makes for exciting writing.

Quirky does it

My friend André can blow smoke rings. Not just normal smoke ring – he can blow a giant smoke ring and push smaller concentric rings through the middle of it. This was something I had to ‘steal’ for one of my characters and immediately told him as much. ‘I’ll have to watch what I say and do around you,’ he said. ‘Do writers steal everything?’ (The answer is, of course, yes.)

The quirks of our friends, families, and loved ones are what endear them to us. It makes sense then to make sure your characters also have little idiosyncrasies that will make them seem real not only to your readers, but also to you as the writer.

It’s even better when you can link a habit to a plot point. In my novel, for example, my heroine, Jenna habitually walks barefoot when at home – when she cuts her foot on some broken glass, she is not as agile as she normally is. Who knows? This could slow her down when she’s trying to run away from, say, an obsessed stalker.

What ever happened to…?

Sometimes, when I’m stuck on a particular scene or just need a break, I plonk myself down in front of VH1 and take a short nostalgia trip into the land of 80s and 90s pop music. Watching Christopher Cross’s ‘Arthur’s Theme’, I wondered what became of this artist, the Ed Sheeran of his day? A quick Google search showed me he is still making albums and touring. (Ha, fancy that!)

Another way to bring in the unexpected into your novel is to introduce old friends, colleagues, or lovers into the storyline. This worked well for me. While out dining, Jenna and Matt run into Jenna’s ex-boyfriend, Tate. In fact, Tate is a catalyst for what happens in the early part of the story.

Who could you bring into your story from your characters’ pasts? Maybe it’s a great aunt, an old school chum, or the priest that baptised your villain.  Look for ways to bring them into the story.

Timelock — 2.5 to 5 hours

Try writing for a half hour or full hour each weekday on your scenes.

5 Quick Hacks

‘I didn’t expect to …’ Use this as a prompt, and come up with as my ways to finish the dialogue as possible. Try it with different characters.

‘Early’ and ‘Late’ are both good hooks to hang the unexpected on. A baby that arrives three weeks before its due date. A late arrival at a party upsets the whole evening. The possibilities, as they say in the classics, are endless.

Keep an open list of your characters’ habits. Do they bite their nails? Do they sleep on their stomachs?

Who was your character’s favourite pop group growing up? Try to imagine them as a teenager listening to this music. What did they wear? Who were their friends?

Take note of the people around you this week. Watch for any habits or quirks – see if you can steal them.

Pin it, quote it, believe it:

‘A cliff-hanger provides a great opportunity to transition to another point of view or transition in time.’ — Randall Platt