The Notebook

these are the words i write, these are the stories i imagine, these are the thoughts i wish to express. a missmarchmuffin sideblog.

[myvintageanime]

[bookmania]

It’s a marvelous thing, the ocean. For some reason when two people sit together looking out at it, they stop caring whether they talk or stay silent. You never get tired of watching it. And no matter how rough the waves get, you’re never bothered by the noise the water makes by the commotion of the surface - it never seems too loud, or too wild.

Banana Yoshimoto, Goodbye Tsugumi (via thatkindofwoman)

[biosphxre]

[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.

[lissachan504]

@hemorrhaging-knight @pansexualnoodles @trulymightypotato @feyundead @hoseoks-kitten @kijilinn @magicmadiplier @nyxhikari @silirial @suga-in-dream

[clairelutra]

don’t you just hate it when your brain gives you a bunch of really great ideas for a new story, but they’re all late/end game ideas with the necessity of a lot of Story™ behind them for full effect, but when you try to come up with ‘point a to point b’ your brain just kinda goes *excessive shrugging*

[oliviapaigewrites-deactivated20]

THIS IS AN IMPORTANT ONE! Don’t ignore this in your writing!

[beginning-and-end-blog]

things I learned about writing from writers

Dickinson: don’t Be afraid To Capitalize—and—use dashes—Wherever you Want—

Faulkner: your story doesn’t have to go in any particular order or follow any conventional sentence structure to be powerful. Also, it can be a good thing if the reader has to read everything at least four or five times. Make them work for it.

Fitzgerald: don’t be afraid to kill off the hero of the story. Also, use vivid and colorful descriptions. The green light, the yellow car, the pink suit.

Hemingway: sometimes sticking to the plainest prose and the simplest syntax is the most powerful way to make a point. Especially if you combine this tactic with stories that can be read on several different levels.

Shakespeare: when in doubt, add some cross-dressing. 

Harper Lee: a six year old can make a hell of a protagonist. 

Steinbeck: writing can be an extraordinary vehicle for change. Use it.

Austen: male and female relationships and dynamics are timeless. If you write about this (and write about it well) your work will still be relatable to readers hundreds of years later.

[notsuchasecret]

Character: so what’s our next move? Me, the writer, six coffees deep into an existential crisis: I don’t know, what is your next fucking move?

[lightinthebox]

[muffinsnotebook]

orange and brown. iced coffee and a good book make everything better.

[wnq-writers]

Sometimes, you just won’t be the one she wants. It won’t matter that you’ll want to know the parts of her she keeps hidden behind countless walls, like that smile you adore. While you’re awake longing for her warmth, she’ll be sleeping soundly, or awake craving someone else. It’s not that you aren’t enough as a person, but for whatever reason she has, it won’t be you that she wishes would be there to fill the emptiness in her bed. And someday you’ll accept that, someday you’ll be okay, but it’s going to hurt first. Oh man, is it going to hurt.

Maxwell Diawuoh, Harsh Truths #1 (via wnq-writers)

[culturenlifestyle]

20 Favorite Last Lines from Books

[thelovejournals]

Saying goodbye to your favorite book is one of the most bittersweet and fulfilling experience any bibliophile must endure. Since we know goodbye is hard to do.

 We have compiled a list of 20 amazing closing lines from some of our favorite books. You’ll find vintage favorites like Ernest Hemingway and contemporary classics, such as Markus Zusak’s words. 

Find out the best last lines from literary masterpieces here.

[muffinsnotebook]

i stumbled upon this track at the perfect moment. i was itching to write, but couldn’t get myself into gear. this was just what i needed, really.

*flexes fingers* right, time to get writing!!!

[brittascribbles]

Have I ever told you all about my book?

I bought this book with the intention to write in it everyday about all the boring things in life. You know - like a diary, or something. But I’ve always been bad at that type of thing, so it just kinda…sat around for a while…

Until September 12th, 2015 - exactly two years ago today.

I was on the bus, contemplating going to jump off the Golden Gate Bridge. My life was a mess. I’d fallen out with my best friend, was “evicted” out of our shared apartment, and was couch-surfing on my supervisor’s sleeper sofa. It might not seem like much, but trust me - if you knew the gritty details, it…it was heavy.

A woman on the bus handed me this note. This note is what saved me. I doubt she has any idea that it did. I saved this note and immediately taped it inside this book.

At first, it became a catch all for random things that made me happy…

…like a playbill from a favorite show, or a favorite candy.

But after a while, it because an anchor and took on a life of it’s own. Now, it serves a very specific purpose.

Whenever I am struggling with something, I make a piece of word art to combat those negative things. So, if I’m struggling with feeling of failure…

I spend time making a piece of personal art that combats it. By the time I finish, I feel so much better.

Some samples:

Aaaand, there’s the occasional other things, like…a grocery list

Or, maybe just something I thought was funny

I’m not really sure there’s a point to this post, but I wanted to show you all that there isn’t always a set way of getting over things. Everyone is unique, and what works for one person in a time of trouble might not work for someone else. But this? This has helped me so much over the past few years.

And each time I take it out and look through the pages - and trust me, there’s ALOT (to the point where I cannot properly CLOSE it -

…I’m reminded of how far I have come.

[just-shower-thoughts]

People would be kinder to each other if everyone was required to work a service industry job the same way some countries have a youth military service requirement.

[a-quiet-green-agreement]

But there is one thing I’m good at, and that’s looking at the sea.

Marguerite Duras, Practicalities (via a-quiet-green-agreement)

[archaeologicals-deactivated2016]

studying made better with coffee, almond croissants and good company