The Raven Cycle feels like a faded summer begging to be remembered but it’s been so long that you can’t really recall the finer details. You just know the warm feeling it left with you, and the smell of lemonade
some highlights from my writing seminar with honestly one of my favourite authors of all time who shall remain nameless bc i dont want her to know i was spilling her secrets online
The first trick is to detach yourself from your idea. You don’t have just one novel inside you, and it’s not a big deal if you don’t finish this novel.
She was skeptical of the common advice “just write!!1!” - she talked about how long ideas for her most popular novels were marinating inside her before she properly wrote them
As a continuation of that, she was a big believer in knowing what you want to write before you write it. Not what you’re going to write, what you want to write.
The first thing she decides about a novel is what the mood is going to be, and this informs every other decision (e.g. the mood for Shiver was bittersweet)
Ideas should be personal, specific, exciting and they should exclude secondary sources. A personal idea isn’t necessarily autobiographical (which should be avoided), but it speaks to your emotional truth.
She said she had been read Ronsey fanfiction and she couldn’t view her car in the same way since.
Story is the thing that seems most important to reader but is most changeable to the author - story is subservient to your mood and your message. Change what you like in the plot as long as your book retains its sense of self.
Story is conflict, exploration and change. A good story has active tension -the characters want something, instead of just wanting something not to happen (e.g. wanting to kill an enemy instead of simply defending a stronghold against an enemy)
A story needs to have a concrete end, something to be done.
Satisfaction is important - deliver what you promise to the reader. The other shoe has to drop. Ronan Lynch doesn’t ever talk about his feelings, so its rewarding when he does.
Earn your emotional moments (she threw shade at Fantastic Beasts lmao)
Forcing a character to be passive is dissatisfying to the reader.
Characters are products of their environments, consistent/predictable, nuanced and specific, moving the plot, and subservient to other story elements.
She always starts with tropes for ensemble casts like sitcoms. Helpful for building good character dynamics.
Write scenes with characters saying explicitly what they’re thinking and then go back and make them talk like real people in the edit.
An action can also prove what they’re thinking, instead of making them say it or another character guess it (e.g. Ronan punching a wall).
Move the reader’s emotional furniture around without them noticing.
All her books follow the three act structure. Established normal -> inciting incident -> character makes an Active Decision -> fun and games -> escalation -> darkest moment -> climax.
Promise what you’re going to do in the first five pages.
Read your book out loud. Record yourself reading it.
If you have writer’s block, it’s because you’ve stopped writing the book you want to write. She likes to delete everything she’s written until she gets back to a point where she knew she was writing what she wanted to write, and then carrying on from there.
• Shrike but you’re sitting by your open window during a thunderstorm
• In The Woods Somewhere but you’re actually somewhere in the woods during a summer night, sitting by a campfire
• No Plan but you’re sitting on an empty beach looking out on the sea
• Almost (Sweet Music) but you’re sitting on a porch during a thunderstorm
• Angel Of Small Death & The Codeine Scene but you’re driving through a snow blizzard at night
• Wasteland, Baby! but you’re driving at night through rain
• As It Was but you’re sitting on your windowsill, watching the thunderstorm that’s going on outside
• Sedated but you’re underwater
• Wasteland, Baby! but you’re right at the edge of a dark forest, sitting by a bonfire
• Run but you’re sitting by a lake. The sun just went down and you lit a bonfire to keep yourself warm
• From Eden but you’re sitting in a field by a small river. It’s a nice sunny day & the birds are chirping
• Arsonist’s Lullabye but you’re all cozied up in front of an open fireplace
• NFWMB (Acoustic) but you’re in the middle of a forest at night, sitting in the entrance of your tent in front of a bonfire
• In A Week but it’s coming from an unknown source in the distance; you’re laying in the middle of a field, insects are buzzing around you
• It Will Come Back but you’re sitting at the edge of a cliff looking out onto the ocean and the thunderstorm that’s raging in the distance
• Foreigner’s God but you’re walking through howling wind
• Work Song but you’re on an empty beach, looking out onto the ocean while the daylight fades
• Dinner & Diatribes but it’s playing at a fancy cocktail/dinner party
• Would That I but you’re sitting outside on a windy day enjoying the way the trees move and the leaves rustle all around you
• Movement but you’re lying on your couch next to an open window, enjoying the thunderstorm that’s going on outside
• Like Real People Do but you’re in the forest, actually digging up something (or someone?)
• Work Song but sung by a woman/female!Hozier
• Run but sung by a woman/female!Hozier
• Take me to Church but sung by a woman/female!Hozier
• NFWMB but it’s playing from an old truck radio. You’re at the edge of a forest at night, cuddled up to your lover in the makeshift bed in the back of the truck, listening to the sounds of their breathing and heartbeat
• Better Love but you’re in the treetops of the jungle, listening to the sounds of the animals in the forest below
• Talk but you’re on a walk in a forest
• Cherry Wine but you’re in your hammock on your veranda with a glass of wine, listening to the rain and the insects in your garden
• Would That I but you’re cozied up in front of your fireplace after a long day
• From Eden but you’re riding your bicycle down a dirt path
• Someone New but it’s quietly playing through your headphones while you’re walking down a busy street; watching all the strangers around you going about their day
• Sunlight but you’re out camping on a hot summer night
• The Humours of Whiskey but someone is singing it while you’re on a walk, exploring a forest
• Be but it’s a hot summer day and you’re sitting by a river at the edge of a forest
• Jackie And Wilson but you’re sitting by a campfire; there’s a thunderstorm brewing in the distance
Derry Girls really said that life is not a linier series of events and the worst parts of your life can and will co-exist with the best parts and there is no telling if and when those will be. So you just have to try and make the best of every situation as it comes to you.
Hannah Gadsby in Nanette (2018) // At Eternity’s Gate dir. Julian Schnabel (2018) // Loving Vincent dir. Dorota Kobiela & Hugh Welchman (2017) // Vincent Van Gogh in a letter to Theo Van Gogh (1880) // Almond Blossoms by Vincent Van Gogh (1890); painted as a gift for the birth of his brother Theo’s son named after him
“i used to live there” is such a sad phrase. seeing places u used to live in is an odd thing. It’s like ‘i know where the best hiding place is in there. my bedroom was the one directly to the left as you walk in. i took my first steps on that flooring. i used to play in that yard with my grandma. she died two years ago. that was the only place i ever knew. those walls contain all of my childhood memories. i can no longer go there, but i know every corner like the back of my hand.’
i once knew a man
he thought his heart was big enough for the world
with his heart, he tried to lift it
and with his arms, he tried to hold it(and lord, did he try.)
i once knew a man
but like all men, they never think they can die
like all men, he never stopped doing what killed him
and on his tombstone was written the saddest of words:(he tried.)
you are not Atlas; you cannot shoulder the world alone | m.a.w (via dvoyd)
It's been a long time since my last visit here on Tumblr, right? So, as a comeback and since you loved my masterpost of websites for writers, I am bringing you my favorite Tumblr blogs to follow if you're a writer and are interested in finding lots of inspo on your timeline, as well as prompts, tips, and useful resources. Shall we start?
PROMPTS:
@givethispromptatry
@dailystoryprompts
@here-haveaprompt
@dark-fiction-and-angst
@youneedsomeprompts
@deity-prompts
@whygodohgodwhy
@writinghoursopen
@fluffyomlette
@promptsforthestrugglingauthor
@novelbear
@gfuckign
@ghostly-prompts
WORLD BUILDING INSPO / PROMPTS:
@worldbuildingprompts
@locationbuildingprompts
@wbqotd
@wildworldwritingprompts
@worldbuilding-question
@thealpha-chronicles
@happyheidi
@enchantedengland
@ancientsstudies
@greeksblog
OC PROMPTS:
@yourocdoeswhat
@questionsforyourocs
@oc-question
@oc-dev
@characterization-queries
@oc-factoids
@tag-that-oc
@some-oc-questions
GENERAL WRITING ADVICE:
not all of the following accounts post things but they reblog useful info
@writing-with-olive
@tstrangeauthor
@everythingwritingg
@writerthreads
@heywriters
@thewritersphere
@writelively
PS: If you think your account fits any of these categories, feel free to comment! Someone will check it out!!! :D
I hate it when people say u need to learn the basics of art before u go into it...the true way to learn art is actually going directly to drawing what you like, then being so attached to it that you have to go back and learn the fundamentals in order to make the art of what you like better.
Portrait of Ms. Fell (date unknown)
This is the portrait of a Soho bookshop owner who was friends with Vincent van Gogh. Puzzlingly, though Van Gogh had lived in London, he had not been an artist at the time, and the style matched more of his art during the late 1880s, once he was living in France.
The bookshop, A.Z. Fell & Co, is still open to this day, owned and managed by the descendant of Ms. Fell.
realizing that adam, gansey, & ronan share the same fear.
adam always worries that his friends only keep around because they feel sorry for him. he hates pity and doesn’t feel like he can get away from his past. adam is scared that his true self isn’t good enough, worthy enough of loving. he hasn’t been given a good example of love so he doesn’t trust showings of real love in his life. he’s scared of the strings that come with loving people and of people using his love against him, which he views as inevitable.
gansey thinks none of his friends actually care about him and will just walk away from him. he’s terrified that he isn’t special enough or good enough to be worthy of loving. he feels like he always cares more. that his real self isn’t enough to make them care or continue to care. he’s scared that if he can’t make his life mean something, he won’t deserve a life full of love.
ronan, because of his dreaming, doesn’t trust his sense of reality. he says to adam “maybe i dreamt you,” and in that line ronan is admitting that he is terrified that the people he loves aren’t real. he’s scared he’s fabricated his own reality and that would mean that the people who keep him alive aren’t even a dependable constant. he’s scared that he is too much and not enough all at once.
and the fact that all of these fears are eased as the others choose to stay. they start to see that they can have autonomy over their lives and who they are and who they love.
Roughs for a portfolio project. Insofar as I know there is no plan to develop Piranesi into a graphic novel, but I have some cool ideas for if they ever did.
ellievsbear
blakekathryn
theartofmadeline
dededos
andulkaphoto
