long live the author;

met·a·fic·tion (n.): fictional writing which draws attention to its own artificiality in order to pose questions about the relationship between fiction and reality. bubbles, 23. writing purple prose since 2007.

[headspace-hotel]

What some person says: You need to do research for fantasy and think critically about how your world functions. How did they domesticate those creatures, and how are they feeding them? How are your cities fed, and what happens to their waste? How are all those soldiers trained and paid? Have you googled feudalism? 

What y’all think they mean: fill your book with unnecessary factual details about your fantasy world that no one cares about 

What they actually mean: You need to know the way your world functions for your own benefit, to be able to create a story that makes sense and holds up under scrutiny. If you don’t research, you’ll end up repeating dumb stereotypes about Medieval England that are more based on modern biases than real history and making grotesque factual errors that will make your story unreadable for anyone that paid more attention in class than you did. Not to mention that your pool of inspiration will be entirely based in other, already written fantasies, instead of the vast, colorful and woefully untapped well of actual human history. 

[transmutetheblankpage]

GUIDE: NAMING A TOWN OR CITY

This post was originally from a FAQ, but since the original link is now defunct, I am re-posting it here.

There are many things to keep in mind when naming the town or city in your novel:

1) Genre/Theme/Tone

It’s very important to consider the genre and theme of your story when choosing a town name. Take these names for example, each of which indicates the genre or theme of the story: King’s Landing (sounds fantastical) Cloud City (sounds futuristic) Silent Hill (sounds scary) Sweet Valley (sounds happy and upbeat) Bikini Bottom (sounds funny) Radiator Springs (sounds car-related) Halloween Town (sounds Halloween-related) Storybrooke (sounds fairytale-related) 2) Time/Place It’s also important to consider the time and place where your story takes place. For example, you wouldn’t use “Vista Gulch” as a name for a town in Victorian England. You probably wouldn’t use it for a town in modern day North Carolina, either. Vista is a Spanish word and would normally be found in places where Spanish names are common, like Spain, Central and South America, the southwest United States (including southern California), Cuba, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, and Florida. 3) Size/Settlement Type An isolated town of 300 people probably won’t be Valley City, but a sprawling metropolis of 30 million could be called Windyville, because it could have started out as a small town and grew into a large city. 4) Geography Words like gulch, butte,and bayou tend to be regional terms. You probably wouldn’t find Berle’s Bayou in Idaho, or Windy Butte in Rhode Island. Words like mount, cape, and valley are dependent upon terrain. Most of the time, you won’t have a town named “mount” something unless there are hills or mountains nearby. You wouldn’t use “cape” unless the town was on a cape, which requires a large body of water. 5) History Is there a historical person or event that your town might be named after? The Simpsons’ hometown of Springfield is ironically named after its founder, Jebediah Springfield. Chattanooga, Tennessee is named after the Cherokee town that was there first. Nargothrond, in The Lord of the Rings, is an Elvish town with an Elvish name. 6) Combination of Words

person name + geographical term = Smithfield, Smith Creek

group name + geographical term = Pioneer Valley, Settlers’ Ridge

descriptive word + geographical term = Mystic Falls, Smoky Hill

person name + settlement type = Smithton, Claraville

landmark + settlement type = Bridgton, Beaconville

Word Lists

Types of Settlements

Geographical Features

Place Words

Common Suffixes

Other Descriptors

[heywriters]

Do you have any tips on writing a mystery plot?

Good books don’t give up all their secrets at once. - Stephen King

Start with the end and work backwards.

Understand fully the complexities and tiniest details of the mystery, while also keeping in mind which character knows what. It’s just as easy to slip up and give something away too soon as it is to forget a single crucial detail. 

Timing is important. When will the reader need to know such-and-such detail?How long will it take for your character(s) to discover it? Should the timing of a certain event be obscured or emphasized?  

Other, More Educated Opinions on Mystery Writing

Taking the Mystery Out of How to Write a Mystery 

Plotting a Mystery (for Non-Mystery Writers)

5 Tips for Plotting a Mystery

Ten Rules for Mystery Writing

General References of the Helpful Variety

Dramatic Structure and Plot

Five Ways to Restore Tension 

Coincidences in Fiction: What You’re Doing Wrong

The Secret to Writing the Killer Plot Twist

— Ko-Fi // Wattpad // Goodreads // Pinterest 

[metafictionals]

lmao i forgot the password for this blog for nearly a year 

[metafictionals]

it’s not much but hey one page of worldbuilding progress is still progress

[metafictionals]

thinking of changing betelgeuse to deneb since i already have vega and altair so i can have the three kingdoms ruled by the fallen as a cohesive unit, and then have aldebaran be the odd one out

[metafictionals]

it’s not much but hey one page of worldbuilding progress is still progress

[brynwrites]

“Some villains don’t deserve to have a redemption arc.”

Um no?? This is wrong??

No villain deserves a redemption arc.

But every villain could have one, if they tried, if they worked towards it, if they’re written well in both their understanding of their wrongs and their dedication to being a better person.

No villain deserves a redemption arc because change isn’t about deserving heroism. It’s about seeing your faults for what they are and deciding to be better even when it’s hard and it hurts.

The entire point of a redemption arc is that the villain doesn't deserve it, and that the villain understands and accepts that. Proper redemption arcs are those in which the villain does good not because they’re trying to gain anything for themselves but because they realize it’s the right fucking thing to do and they don’t care if it’s the death of them as long as it saves someone else.

And using the word deserve in reference to a redemption arc is just a mess all on it’s own, because it acts like redemption is some some fun jaunt to a place of happiness and cookies which all villains would love to go if the writer gave them the option. But it’s not.

Redemption is a trail. A crucible. Whether emotionally or physically or both, it hurts. 

If a redemption arc doesn’t require suffering — more suffering than villainy did — to reach the final place of happiness then that’s just bad writing yo.

It’s called an arc for a reason, because it takes time, and effort, and change.

So yeah, some villains (all villains) don’t deserve their sins to be suddenly erased. But if a villain sees their sins for what they are and makes a genuine effort to change then fucking good on them. No one is too far gone unless they chose to be. Everyone who continues to be ‘too far gone’ is so because they are choosing to be, whether they understand that yet or not.

This is life. Let literature mirror it.

[wordsnstuff]

Poetry - Structure & Devices

This is also available on wordsnstuffblog.com!

– This is a more technical article detailing some poetic devices, terms, and a breakdown of some of the types of poetry. I tried to break this down in a way that’s easy to understand for beginners and useful to reference more more experienced poets who occasionally need a refresher. I hope you guys find this useful. Happy writing!

–Patreon || Ko-Fi || Masterlists || Work In Progress || Studyblr || Studygram

Types Of Poems

Free Verse Poems do not have a set pattern. This is the most common form for contemporary poetry like The World’s Wife or Milk and Honey.

Form Poems do have a set pattern. Examples of this type of poetry are haikus, sonnets, formal verse, sestina, and villanelles.

Metered Poems have a pattern set to a specific rhythm or beat. 

Pattern

A poem’s pattern is communicated through the use of three primary things:

Stanza (a block or paragraph in the poem)

The use of stanzas is very important to the way you interpret or construct a poem. The number of lines in a stanza, the way a stanza is formed, continuous repetition across stanzas, etc. 

Punctuation (the use of terminal or non-terminal punctuation & its position)

Enjambment ~ Line continues into the next, marked with non-terminal punctuation (, / ;)

End Stop ~ Line ends or is stopped, marked with terminal punctuation (. / ? / !)

Caesura ~ a pause inside a line of the poem

Initial –> near beginning of the line

Medial –> near middle of the line

Terminal –> near the end of the line (but not the end)

Punctuation is used in a poem for either emphasis of a certain word, phrase, or idea, or to control the pace at which the reader reads the poem. Punctuation is meant to design the impact of the words on the reader. 

Line Tension (when all lines within a stanza are of similar length, making lines with unusual length stand out to the reader; emphasis)

Poetic Devices

Cacophony is the repeated use of displeasing sounds in order to cause the reader discomfort (such as sounds that cause the lips to pull back toward the ears when spoken aloud).

Euphony is the repeated use of pleasing sounds in order to cause the reader comfort (such as round sounds like ~oh and ~wow).

These are both effective when creating tone or mood within the words of the poem. 

Metaphor is the comparison of two things without using the words like or as.

Similie is the comparison of two things using the words like or as.

These are both effective when providing imagery or including allusion in the poem.

Sound Devices

Eye Rhyme is when a reader sees two words that seem to rhyme on paper, but do not when spoken aloud. 

Alliteration is the repetition of initial consonant sounds

dangerous dogs dig ditches in Denver

Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds within close proximity of each other

middle and end

Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in nearby words

the light of fire is a sight

Onomatopoeia are words that imitate sounds

buzz, honk, hiss, vroom

Rhyme is the repetition of sounds at the ends of words

spring rhymes with fling

Internal Rhyme occurs within a single line

External Rhyme occurs at the end of two or more lines

Rhyme Scheme is the pattern of end rhyme in a poem, described by assigning each new rhyme a letter

run quickly   A

buzzing bees   A

children run    B

having fun    B 

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[brynwrites]

Frustrating editing moods:

1. This scene is a disaster but also I love it how it is.

2. This scene has nothing noticeably wrong with it but also I hate it.

[cwritesfiction]

3. This scene has been rewritten so many times that I’m not sure what the words mean anymore.

[metafictionals]

i am, once again, working stuff out for EH so have these incredibly vague notes that I made while half asleep:

this is our designated hero. see how he falls.

deconstruction of romance; a tragedy in three acts, cut short at its climax

the house is nothing but authorial intent

a moment that comes like a shock-wave, and dissipates just as suddenly

the only choice you could make is watching it or not, but that would never change the fact that the story is already written

these are the lies we tell to protect ourselves

we return to our story, now uninterrupted by splices of emotion

this is the first time the writer acknowledges you as a character

dark speaks to no one in particular, but he might as well be speaking directly to you. what about, the writer isn’t privy to.

[metafictionals]

what if i just use this blog to write all that meta about dark i don’t wanna post on my main blog

[prokopetz]

Remember: there is no metafictional plot device so self-indulgent that some fool hasn’t contrived to slip it into the canon of Serious Literature™.

Like, at one point the protagonist of Don Quixote goes on a quest to track down the rogue who’s dared to publish unflattering fanfiction about him - and that was back in 1615.

No matter how wanky you think your metafictional indulgences are, in practice I guarantee you they’re not wanky enough.

[mischiefiswritten]

Worldbuilding with Psychology

I haven’t mentioned this before, but I’m close to graduating with a psychology degree. As I was organizing things to move back in at university, I came across some notes from my Developmental Psych class. Psychologist Urie Bronfenbrenner presented an ecological systems model of child development, which represents a dynamic model of how people develop psychologically depending on their environment. I realized this may be an interesting reference for writers as we consider worldbuilding.

The individual is at the center. Each level interacts with the others and may affect them in different ways and to different degrees at different times. The individual is at the center of the model and has inherent traits which are the result of genetics. The microsystem is the individual’s most immediate surroundings. These are the places and people they come into close contact with on a daily basis, including the home and peer groups. The way microsystems treat the individual influence them, but the behavior of the individual also influences how the microsystems react to them. The mesosystem is essentially comprised of links between microsystems - between home and school, between home and church, between family and peers. Active involvement between microsystems promotes harmony and a sense of like-mindedness. The exosystem consists of linkages between systems that do not directly influence the individual, but do so indirectly by influencing a microsystem. For instance, the parents’ workplaces influences the parents’ behavior in the presence of the individual. The macrosystem consists of more distant influences that still have a significant impact on the individual. These elements often include beliefs, values, and other aspects of culture. For instance, life in a country at war will influence an individual differently than life in a country at peace. The chronosystem simply incorporates the meaningful passage of time. What is in each system, how much it affects an individual, and how can all shift in time.

What does this have to do with worldbuilding?

One can relate Bronfenbrenner’s model to creating a fictional sense of place however one likes, but I’ve drawn some parallels between each level and a corresponding element in worldbuilding. The model looks something like this.

The Protagonist:

The main character (or characters) lies at the center of your worldbuilding. It is through their eyes, or over their shoulder, that the reader experiences the world in which your story is set. A strong sense of place is vital to telling a satisfying tale, and a great deal of it comes down to your protagonists. Like in the original model, the protagonist has certain inborn traits that are a result of nature, but are also influenced by nurture - the other systems, in this case. The world is reflected in the hearts, minds, and behaviors of the people who live in it, and the people are reflected in the world they populate.

The Supporting Cast:

These are the people the protagonists interacts with most, and it’s a two-way street of influence. Their behavior influences the protagonist, but the protagonist affects them as well. You can present a great deal of information about the world through the interactions between characters. The way your protagonist interacts with parents and siblings can reveal family structure and dynamics, and interactions with friends or coworkers can shine light on social classes, pastimes, or employment. What your characters do, how they do it, and how they speak or feel about it will reveal what is normal or not.

The Immediate Surroundings:

Where are all these interactions taking place? The actual physical locales in seen in your story have an impact on the way people behave, but don’t forget the direct effect of setting the scene. One behaves differently at school, as opposed to the mall - how can you use differences like this to portray societal norms and mores in your story? Additionally, the events and values of a world leave physical reminders, which may be as simple as smog over a city unconcerned by or incapable of controlling pollution. Perhaps there is graffiti in the streets leftover from social or political unrest. The remnants of a torn-down shrine or monument may reflect changing values, war, or persecution of certain religions or other groups. Living conditions can portray class differences. Possibilities are endless.

The Social Structure and Culture:

Social structure has ramifications on who can interact with whom and what’s considered appropriate. These rules may be very strict or much more informal. If there are rigorous separations in place according to class, an interaction between members of different status will be shocking to your characters. Speaking out against an elder coworker may have severe consequences, or employees may be under forced retirement deadlines - these differences reveal if old age is revered or looked down upon. What holidays do people celebrate, and how? What manners of speech or behavior are unique to the setting? Social norms will be reflected in the behavior of your characters, but the population is capable of changing those norms.

The Physical Setting: 

The setting at large still has far-reaching influence on your story. The geography itself will determine a number of things about the setting, including the landscape, weather, physical resources available, methods of transportation and more. All of these things trickle down into each of the layers beneath it and leave their fingerprints. If transportation is unfavorable, how does this affect information and cultural exchange? How about the economy? The physical setting is an umbrella of elements which may change everything under it, even in small or indirect ways.

The Genre:

The genre determines, amongst a few other things, how much of each of the above is needed. In essence, genre can be your guide to where you should place your focus in worldbuilding. Fantasy and science fiction often call for a greater emphasis on the physical setting and cultures, while realistic fiction set in real-life places readers are likely to be familiar with is likely to need emphasis on the protagonist and supporting cast. Some genres, such as historical fiction, may need a more evenly balanced blend of each system. The plot structure itself will also have an influence. For instance, in a ‘pursuit’ plot, the ticking clock and pursuit itself are typically considered of more import than the characters, while 'forbidden love’ plots are all about the people and culture.

Remember, as always, to mold writing advice to your work and not the other way around. The influence of one or more of these systems may be heightened or lessened, depending on the needs of your story, and they may interact differently, perhaps even from chapter to chapter. Thank you for reading, and I hope this can be a useful model for you to use as a springboard in some of your worldbuilding.

[westlose-blog]

Enneatypes in a nutshell

[wordsnstuff]

Guide To Writing Faded Love

WORDSNSTUFFBLOG.COM HAS NOW LAUNCHED!

– This is a thorough guide to writing love that has faded, either quickly or over time, and hopefully you romance writers will find it useful. There’s some general tips outlined, some common questions answered, and some resources linked at the bottom. Happy writing!

You can also find this article (and more) at wordsnstuffblog.com

Patreon // Ko-Fi || Masterlists || Work In Progress || Studyblr || Studygram

The Slow Reveal

It’s important to slowly reveal why the love faded, and the manner in which it did. Was it a slow, slippery fall into a routine of just.. not trying? Was it a quick burst of passion that lead to quick commitment and then ended up being extremely short? Reveal that to the reader, and do it carefully. Tug at their heartstrings, and make them feel it. Don’t reveal it too quick either. Show them the good days, and then show them rotting. It’s that much more bitter sweet that way.

Bring The Characters To Unpack The Big Issue

It’s important to remember that your story will actually read by real people, and whether or not you mean for it to, the story will send a message. It’s vital to keep in mind that no matter the ending to your lovers’ story, they need to be the ones to propel it. No exterior factor can fix or break a relationship. Financial struggle, infidelity, distance, difference, and betrayal are not the causes of a failed relationship, or a faded love. A good rule of thumb is to think “if this factor couldn’t bring the love back, then it couldn’t drive it away either”, and that will always bring you to the conclusion that the only thing that can resolve an issue is the lovers themselves.

Let The Characters Grow, Even If Apart

Not all faded love comes back. Not all faded love stays dull forever. What’s more important than the love returning, is the fate of those who felt it in the first place. Both characters should learn something important, and both characters should be on the path to where they’re meant to be by the end, even if that isn’t with each other.

Love Is A Choice, Not A Chance

I know this is a difficult thing to understand, especially with the way love it typically framed in fiction, but at the heart of every larger-than-life romance, is the choice that was made to conceive it. Love is preserved in the choices people make to keep it alive. There isn’t a person out there who would tell you that they had a perfect love story without any compromise or conscious decision to stay and conserve it. If the love has gone away, it’s not because the couple was unlucky, it’s because one or both of them made a choice. Explain what choice(s) that was and why it was made in the first place.

The Little Things Build Up

It is never one big event or argument or struggle that makes love fade. It’s lots of little things, that each partner overlooks because “it’s not a big deal”, “they’ll get over it”, or “we’ve been through worse and gotten through it”. Show this, and make it hit home. This is the time to insert relatability, and the time to make the reader reflect on their own relationship(s), past or present. 

Common Struggles

~ Couples who recognize early on that the fire is going out… There are three types of couples: the ones who try desperately to fix it before it gets critical, the ones who let it simmer and get worse, or the ones who give up immediately. Determine which type your couple is based on their personalities and motivations, then go from there.

~ Depicting faded love vs. evolved relationship dynamic… Faded love is just that. When two people love each other, it’s easy to tell that they’re more comfortable than they are bored or even unhappy. Show this through the little things, and through the way both parties react in mundane situations. 

For instance, when choosing a paint color, two people who love each other may bicker, but it would show that they’re both confident that no matter the outcome, it will be a compromise and that the tension won’t long because, in the end, it’s just paint. For a couple whose love has faded, the paint would act as a channel for bigger issues, and the argument wouldn’t really be about paint. That would show in the way their argument escalates.

~ Showing the confusion between love and infatuation… This isn’t always the case for faded love, and for the most part I’d say it usually isn’t because time passing is a major factor in this category of failed relationship, but two people failing to differentiate these two things can often lead to what is mistaken for faded love. Your love can’t fade if you were only ever infatuated with each other, so be careful in this territory. 

Stories that are meant to be about faded love, but are based on infatuation that went too far, often fall flat, and the necessary trends that are exclusively for faded love will leave a nasty taste in the reader’s mouth. Arguments between two people who loved each other, but now don’t, are completely different than ones between two people who thought they were in love, but never were. The latter often comes across as abuse, rather than tragic loss of true connection, because the tropes don’t work.

~ How do you show what love fading feels like?… You have to have experience, or have a really practical imagination. Simply, put yourself into different shoes, even if they’re yours from the past, and trust your instincts based on what you have been through. We all know someone who has experienced this in some form, if not ourselves, so don’t be ashamed of asking for others’ stories and recollection. Emotional research is just as valid as any other, and just like representing a mental illness, you will be representing this experience differently than anyone else has ever felt it, so accept that. 

~ Parents hiding their situation from the kids… This is a tricky one, because this area is where it gets real, and it starts insinuating aspects of your perspective. A lot of  why a lot of couples who don’t love each other stay together (realistically) is religion, traditional values, and shame. These are viewed very differently by any given reader, and is the easiest spot to push some buttons and accidentally push your personal voice through to the point of them noticing. 

That aside, I would approach this, like the emotional aspect, from an empathetic angle. Imagine how the kids would feel, how the tension would build, why it would build, how the parents would feel, how the parents’ interactions with the kids would be impacted, etc. Simply, put some time aside to think long and hard about this situation and all its implications.

~ How would a couple revive their love for one another?… That depends on the individuals in the relationship. As I said before, there are three ways a couple would respond to this, and the way they respond greatly impacts the way they would solve the issue. Some would fight for a while and wait for the love to just.. come back. Some would simply call it quits. Some would be in complete denial. You decide, and base it on the characters’ personalities and motivations. Not just what they want in general, but what they want out of the relationship, because whatever they have to fight for is what will determine they strategy they use to do so.

Resources

Angst Prompts

How To Make A Scene More Heartfelt

20 Mistakes To Avoid When Writing Young Adult Fiction/Romance

A Guide To Tension & Suspense In Your Writing

Writing Arguments Between Characters

Pros and Cons of Different Points Of View

Tips On Writing Intense Scenes

Resources For Romance Writers

Useful Writing ResourcesUseful Writing Resources II

Resources For Describing Emotions

Giving Characters Bad Traits

Support Wordsnstuff!

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Request Resources, Tips, Playlists, or Prompt Lists

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MY CURRENT WORK IN PROGRESS (Check it out, it’s pretty cool. At least I think it is.)

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[metafictionals]

hi i have a billion sideblogs and i still suck at first posts