nanoveling

a blog for resources. sometimes tears. or chatzy links. that kind of thing.

[em-dash-press-deactivated202410]

Outline a Rough Draft of Your Novel

This is a worksheet for people like me, who see the dreaded Triangular Mountain of Plot Points and curl up inside. Stories don’t always need to form the shape of a triangle with their conflict, climax, and resolution.

Try these steps out to make a rough draft of your first plotline.

(I say first because most writers always go back and add or delete ideas along the way! What you plan with these steps doesn’t have to be permanent.)

Step 1: Set the Scene

Filling out these points will expand your story and make it seem more real in your mind, if it isn’t something that you have a good concept of already.

This is the step you’ll want to return to if you’re struggling to write later because there aren’t enough concrete details about your fictional world/cast of characters.

My story takes place in (city, country, kingdom, world, universe): __________

The year is: _____

My character(s) is(are): __________

Their current situation is: __________

Step 2: Pinpoint Your Theme

Stories have themes, even when you don’t realize it. Concrete themes, like survival, love, or death, are more straightforward. In Room, the story is about how the main characters survive through a testament to their love for each other.

Or you could want to write about something more fluid, like the experience of growing up. A coming of age theme (like in The Perks of Being a Wallflower) will demonstrate how the young protagonist matures in their identity or their world view by the end of the book.

Whatever your theme is, write it at the top of your planning page or document. I’ve found that I have to return it while outlining when I feel lost or stuck. It’s easy to wander away from your theme when you get excited or if it’s been a while since you got your initial idea. (And you’ll need a concrete theme if you decide to pitch your manuscript to literary agents, so you’re saving your future self a bit of extra work.)

Step 3: Create Your Initial Conflict

Every story needs an initial conflict to kick things off, even if your outline would look more like the line on a heart rate monitor than a triangle. Think about Georgie sailing his boat down the street and going missing in It or Prim getting selected at the reaping in The Hunger Games.

__________ will happen to X character(s) and cause them to react by doing __________.

Because my character(s) had that reaction, the world starts changing by __________.

Step 4: Make Each Chapter a Bullet Point

Chapter One

This will likely include all of the information you planned from Step 1 and 2. The initial conflict is often the hook at the end of the first chapter, but it can happen before or after too!

Chapter Two

When my character sees the world changing in the above ways, they respond by doing __________.

Chapter Three (etc.)

Keep in mind that each chapter needs to have a point that drives your character or plot towards your main theme or conclusion.

Don’t panic if you don’t have all the details of your plot in mind yet! Remember, this bullet point stage is for rough draft planning. You could come up with five chapters that end the book. That’s awesome—go write what you plan!

You’ll get more ideas as you start writing. When inspiration strikes, jump back into the heart of your bullet point list and thread ideas in wherever they fit best. That’s what’s so great about working with a list form instead of writing everything in a simple shape. You have endless room and the eternal ability to expand your fictional world.

Sometimes this part of novel outlining takes me a month. Sometimes many. It depends on how vivid the story is to me when I think about it.

Most of the time, I let my outlines marinate. Make this bullet point list or one without chapter headers. Open your notes when you get an idea for a scene detail, a conflict, dialogue, or anything else. When you want to organize, you’ll have pages of thoughts that came to you while you were working out or grocery shopping. Use them as inspiration to piece together a longer story (or throw out the ideas that aren’t as great as you thought they were).

Step 4: Read Through Your Outline

You’ll have quite a few things going on within your outline at this point, so review everything when you feel like you’ve reached the halfway point or end of your story. You’ll get a feel for the flow, see if the thematic threads or character arcs connect where they should, and spot gaps that need more details.

Writers who don’t typically plan—don’t worry. Read through your bullet point list to refresh yourself.

If you don’t get any ideas like the list above, just start writing. You can update your list with what you write in each chapter as you go, just so you’ll always know where you are in the plot when you sit back down to write again.

Step 5: Check Your Theme or Point

After reviewing your outline, consider if it carries and fulfills your theme or main point that you listed at the top of your document. It should! That’s what creates the bliss of closing a book and knowing every loose end got tied up.

Step 6: Write Your Heart Out

Writers who haven’t written with an existing outline might panic a bit here too. Let me set the scene—when I have a working bullet list outline, I keep it open in its own tab. Then I have another tab with my manuscript.

I usually split my screen in half so I can see both documents, but the manuscript takes up more space so I can see the entirety of each paragraph. I review where I’m at in my outline, then jump into the writing process. The outline is always a click away if I can’t quite remember where the chapter is going, what specific details I planned, or where it’s supposed to end.

Optional Step: Include a “Possible Plot Points” Section

I love letting outlines sit so I can add to them over the course of weeks or even months. At the same time, it creates tons of random ideas that don’t always fit into my outline when I sift through everything and make chapter headings.

The ideas or details that don’t make my outline go in a separate section that I call “Possible Plot Points.” If a chapter is noticeably short, boring, or just plain missing something, I’ll go back to this section. There’s usually something that I can add into my current chapter. Most of the time, I get inspired by the old ideas.

Nothing you write down during your outlining is a waste! Save it all. The stuff you don’t use will become useful later, I promise.

***

Try this version of outlining for yourself! Whether you’re plotting on paper or your computer, outlining is an immense help in writing long-form stories or books.

[letswritesomenovels]

Drafting

The Draft Notebook 

Be More Productive with Ambient Noise 

How to Steal: Know Your Tropes 

How to Steal: Good Writers Borrow

Write What You Know (Not What You’ve Experienced)

The Best Way to End a Writing Session

How To Finish a Draft

A Few Tips on Chapters

Language, Description, & Dialog 

“To Be” Or Not “To Be”: What Exactly Is Passive Voice?

Tagging Dialog 

Narrative Voice

Writing Better Descriptions

Basic Rules for Metaphors and Similes

Character, Plot, & Setting 

Creating Characters: a 4-Step Process 

Writing Relationships Your Reader Can Get Behind

Informative Character Names

The Strength of a Symmetrical Plot 

How to Foreshadow

Crafting Homes of Paper, Ink, and Neutral PH Glue

Motivation

On Writing Flawed Books

How to Return to Your Manuscript

The Acknowledgements Page

Staring at Blank Pages

What to Do When You Can’t Write

Motivational Writing Posters

Publishing

Writing the Perfect Query Letter

How to Write a Synopsis 

How to Pitch Your Novel in Under a Minute

A Glossary of Publishing Terms: Vol 1

Writing Tools

Why You Should Give Scrivener a Try

Outlining, Brainstorming, and Researching with Scrivener

Drafting with Scrivener

Editing with Scrivener 

CTRL+F

The Forest Productivity App

Editsaurus 

NaNoWriMo

Why Try NaNoWriMo

October Prep 

Why Listen to Writing Podcasts

Pick a New Daily Word Count Goal 

How to Write 2000 Words a Day

How to Plan a Novel without a Story

Pacemaker: Custom Daily Word Count Website

NaNoWriMo Master Post

Other

How to Read an Absurd Number of Books

Writing Workshops: An Introduction

Writing Groups

Different Types of Fantasy Novels

Ambient Soundscapes Based on Famous Writers

Ko-Fi & Other Support

If you enjoy my posts and can afford it, I would greatly appreciate it if you donated to my new ko-fi page! Each of these posts represents multiple hours of unpaid labor. I love writing for this blog, but I’m also an underpaid 20-something trying to stay afloat. I’ve made this master post of every essay I’ve written for this blog as a way to show my appreciation in advance of any support. If you donate, to further show my gratitude and appreciation, I’ll take requests for essay topics in the ‘messages of support.’ 

If you can’t afford to donate via ko-fi, another great way to show your support is simply by reblogging posts that you find useful and helping my blog reach new writers. 

Thanks so much! 

[wrex-writes]

Rehab for writing injuries

You’ve heard of “making writing a habit,” and you’ve tried, but the pressure to write fills you with horrible pain and dread. You spend all your time wishing you could write but somehow never writing. The “make it a habit” approach doesn’t work for you. But you still want to write, maybe even regularly. Is there nothing you can do?

Here is an alternative approach to try. A rehab program, as it were, for writers with a psychological “writing injury” that has destroyed their desire to write and replaced it with shame, anxiety and dread.

If you have a writing injury, you probably acquired it by being cruel to yourself, by internalizing some intensely critical voice or set of rules that crushes your will to write under the boot-heel of “you should.” “You should be writing better after all the years of experience you’ve had.” “You should be writing more hours a day, you’ll never get published at this rate.” “You should write more like [Hilton Als/Jeffrey Eugenides/Octavia Butler/Terry Pratchett/etc.].” “You should write faster/more/better/etc./etc.”

You know what, though? Fuck all that. Self-abuse may have featured heavily in the cool twentieth-century writer’s lifestyle, but we are going to treat ourselves differently. Because 1) it’s nicer, and 2) frankly, it gets better results. My plan here is to help you take the radical step of caring for yourself.

1) First of all: ask yourself why you aren’t writing. 

Not with the goal of fixing the problem, but…just to understand. For a moment, dial down all of the “goddammit, why can’t I just write?” blaring in your head and be curious about yourself. Clearly, you have a reason for not writing. Humans don’t do anything for no reason. Try to discover what it is. And be compassionate; don’t reject anything you discover as “not a good enough excuse.” Your reasons are your reasons.

For me, writing was painful because I wanted it to solve all my problems. I wanted it to make me happy and whole. I hated myself and hoped writing would transform me into a totally different person. When it failed to do that, as it always did, I felt like shit.

Maybe writing hurts because you’ve loaded it with similarly unfair expectations. Or maybe you’re a victim of low expectations. Maybe people have told you you’re stupid or untalented or not fluent enough in the language you write in. Maybe writing has become associated with painful events in your life. Maybe you’ve just been forced to write so many times that you can no longer write without feeling like someone’s making you do it. Writing-related pain and anxiety can come from so many different places.

2) Once you have some idea of why you’re not writing…just sit with that.

Don’t go into problem-solving mode. Just nod to yourself and say, “yes, that’s a good reason. If I were me, I wouldn’t want to write either.” Have some sympathy for yourself and the pain you’re in.

3) Now…keep sitting with it. That’s it, for the moment. No clever solutions. Just sympathize. And, most importantly, grant yourself permission to not write, for a while.

It’s okay. You are good and valuable and worthy of love, even when you aren’t writing. There are still beautiful, true things inside of you.

Here’s the thing: it’s very hard for humans to do things if they don’t have permission not to do them. It’s especially hard if those things are also painful. We hate feeling trapped or compelled, and we hate having our feelings disregarded. It shuts us down in every possible way. You will feel more desire to write, therefore, if you believe you are free not to write, and if you believe it’s okay not to do what causes you pain.

(By the way: not having permission isn’t the same as knowing there will be negative consequences. “If I don’t write, I won’t make my deadline” is different from “I’m not allowed not to write, even if it hurts.” One is just awareness of cause and effect; the other is a kind of slavery.)

4) For at least a week, take an enforced vacation from writing, and from any demands that you write. During this time, you are not permitted to write or give yourself grief for not writing. 

This may or may not be reverse psychology. But it’s more than that.

Think of it as a period of convalescence. You’re keeping your weight off an injury so it can heal, and what’s broken is your desire to write. Pitilessly forcing yourself to write when it’s painful, plus the shame you feel when you don’t write, is what broke that desire. So, for a week (or a month, or a year, or however long you need) tell yourself you are taking a doctor-prescribed break from writing.

This will feel scary for some folks. You might feel like you’re giving up. You might worry that this break from writing feels too good, that your desire to write might never return. All I can say is, I’ve been there. I’ve had all those fears and feelings. And the desire to write did return. But you gotta treat it like a tiny crocus shoot and not stomp on it the second it pokes its little head up. Like so:

5) Once you feel an itch to write again—once you start to chafe against the doctor’s orders—you can write a tiny bit. Only five or ten minutes a day. 

That’s it. I’m serious: set a timer, and stop writing when the time’s up. No cheating. (Well…maybe you can take an extra minute to finish your thought, if necessary.)

Remember: these rules are not like the old rules, the ones that said, “you must write or you suck.” These rules are a form of self-care. You are not imposing a cruel, arbitrary law, you are being gentle with yourself. Not “easy” or “soft”—any Olympic athlete will tell you that hard exercise when you’ve got an injury is stupid and pointless, not tough or virtuous. If you need an excuse to take care of yourself, that’s it: if you’re injured, you can’t perform well, and aggravating the injury could take you out of the competition permanently.

For the first few days, all of the writing you do should be freewriting. Later, you can do some tiny writing exercises. Don’t jump into an old project you stalled out on. Think small and exploratory, not big and goal-oriented. And whatever you do, don’t judge the output. If you have to, don’t even read what you write. This is exercise, not performance; this is you stretching your atrophied writing muscles, not you trying to write something good. At this stage, it literally doesn’t matter what you write, as long as you generate words. (Frankly, it would be kind of weird and unfair if your writing at this point was good.)

6) After a week, you can increase your time limit if you want. But only a little! 

Spend a week limiting yourself to, say, twenty minutes a day instead of ten. When in doubt, set your limit for less than you think you’ll need. You want to end each writing session feeling like you could keep going, not like you’re crawling across the finish line.

Should you write every day? That’s up to you. Some people will find it helpful to put writing on their calendar at the same time each day. Others will be horribly stifled by that. You get to decide when and how often you write, but two things: 1) think about what you, personally, need when you make that decision, and 2) allow that decision to be flexible.

Remember, the only rule is, don’t go over your daily limit. You always have permission to write less.

And keep checking in with yourself. Remember how this program began? If something hurts, if your brain is sending you “I don’t wanna” signals, respect them. Investigate them, find out what their deal is. You might decide to (gently) encourage yourself to write in spite of them, but don’t ignore your pain. You are an athlete, and athletes listen to their bodies, especially when they’re recovering from an injury. If writing feels shitty one day, give yourself a reward for doing it. If working on a particular project ties your brain in knots, do a little freewriting to loosen up. And always be willing to take a break. You always have permission not to write.

7) Slowly increase your limit over time, but always have a limit. 

And when you’re not writing, you’re not writing. You don’t get to berate yourself for not writing. If you find yourself regularly blazing past your limit, then increase your limit, but don’t set large aspirational limits in an effort to make yourself write more. In fact, be ready to adjust your limit lower.

When it comes to mental labor, after all, more is not always better. Apparently, the average human brain can only concentrate for about 45 minutes at a time, and it only has about four or so high-quality 45-minute sessions a day in it. That’s three hours. So if you set your daily limit for more than three hours, you may be working at reduced efficiency, when you’d be better off saving up your ideas and motivation for the next day. (Plus, health and other factors may in fact give you less than 3 good hours a day. That’s okay!)

Of course, if you’re a professional writer or a student, external pressures may force you to write when your brain is tired, but my point is more about attitude: constant work is not necessarily better work. So don’t make it into a moral ideal. We tend to think that working less is morally weak or wrong, and that’s bullshit. Taking care of yourself is practical. Pushing yourself too hard will just hurt you and your writing. Also, your feelings are real and they matter. If you ignore or abuse them, you’ll be like a runner trying to run on a broken ankle.

I know I’m going to get someone who says, “if you’re a pro, sometimes you gotta ignore your feelings and just get the work done!” 

NO. 

You can, of course, choose to work in spite of any pain you’re feeling. But ignore that pain at your peril. Instead, acknowledge the pain and be compassionate. Forgive yourself if pain slows you down. You are human, so don’t hold your feet to the fire for having human limitations. Maybe a deadline is forcing you to work anyway. But make yourself a cup of hot chocolate to get you through it, literally or metaphorically. Help yourself, don’t force yourself. If you’ve had a serious writing injury, that shift in attitude will make all the difference. 

In short: treat yourself as someone whose feelings matter.

Try it out! And let me know how it goes!

Ask a question or send me feedback!

[writers-are-writers]

Thank you to whoever made this :) I felt like posting some writing tips.

[writers-are-writers]

hahaha I’m cracking up I posted this years ago why did nobody tell me it was unreadable 😂 rip y’all, sorry

[writers-are-writers]

Better version AND you can actually read the source

Past me was stoopid

[heartlessharless]

5 ways to increase/decrease suspense in your writing

Suspense is one of the trickier parts of writing to manage effectively because, as the author, you can’t experience your story the way a reader does. If you don’t have enough suspense, it can be difficult to keep your readers interested. If you have too much, frustrated and stressed-out readers might throw your book against the wall. Too much suspense can even backfire - if you try to keep your readers constantly on edge, they can stop taking things seriously and the end result is as though you never included any suspense at all.

So how can you tell if you’ve reached the right balance? Unfortunately, I can’t answer that for you. Some things really do require feedback from honest and insightful readers. Once you have that feedback, however, there are easy tricks to adjusting the level of suspense without a drastic re-write. Here are my five favorite methods.

Promises and Payoffs

INCREASE SUSPENSE by promising something huge and then giving your reader something unexpected. To borrow an example from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, imagine a teenage boy and girl sneaking into an empty building. Everything from the costumes to the lighting is designed to make you uneasy about the girl’s safety but, in the end, she’s the vampire. Give the audience something sensational and they won’t be disappointed that you didn’t deliver on what you originally promised.

DECREASE SUSPENSE by promising less than you plan to deliver. For example, if you plan to kill off a character as they walk through a dark alley, let them worry about being mugged rather than murdered. Not only is it less suspenseful, the payoff is more shocking.

Characters are Crucial

INCREASE SUSPENSE by shifting the focus to a character who’s more involved in the action or one who has more at stake. Even if you have a single POV character, another can come in and demand that character’s attention, along with the readers’.

DECREASE SUSPENSE by focusing on a character who’s more concerned with a secondary goal. Subplots are a fantastic way to give your readers some room to breathe.

Calm vs. Chaos

INCREASE SUSPENSE by cutting back on the action. Suspense flourishes in the quiet moments when your characters have time to think and to anticipate what may be in store for them.

DECREASE SUSPENSE by giving your characters a big, exciting mess to deal with. Even when that mess causes more problems and puts more pressure on your characters in the long run, you’ve still created an oasis where both they and the readers are too distracted to worry about how the big picture will pan out.

Devil’s in the Details

INCREASE SUSPENSE by concentrating on the details of the setting. Horror movies are great at this - every creak of a door, every shadow across a wall keeps the audience immersed in the experience and tense with anticipation.

DECREASE SUSPENSE by breaking the “show, don’t tell” rule and allow exposition to help you move things along. You don’t need to take readers through every aspect of your story in excruciating detail. It’s okay to gloss over some things and it helps readers relax because they know you’re not going to be springing any surprises on them just yet.

Ticking Time-Bomb

INCREASE SUSPENSE by imposing a deadline that your characters struggle to meet. It’s one of the oldest and most obvious tricks in the book, but very effective.

DECREASE SUSPENSE by allowing your characters to believe that the deadline has been met or pushed back. If they (and the readers) believe that they’ve accomplished their goal or bought themselves more time, it relieves pressure and allows everyone to relax until the truth’s revealed.

[thewritershandbook]

© (c ) copyright 1990-2011 Rebecca Sinclair

See the original HERE

[mechanicalriddle]

HEY DUDES I MADE THIS FILLABLE go check it out!! i also tweaked the pronouns to make it more inclusive! enjoy~

@thewritershandbook

[thewritershandbook]

Thank you @mechanicalriddle ! Looks Great! :)

[wingsy-keeper-of-songs]

@mechanicalriddle you are the true MVP. Thank you so very much!

[heywriters]

I'm looking to start by story by introducing the main characters (new team) both to the audience and each other; but I can't think of a way to do it without it sounding like their in grade school ("Hi, my name is... I do...") Do you have any good tips for introducing characters in a way that isn't so dull?

I’ve answered a few asks on this subject before, so here’s a link to them. Additional advice:

introduce them gradually, over a period of paragraphs or pages (great for plot-driven stories; feels more natural)

introduce them informally (great for 1st Person POV): When Markus gave the signal, Oona and Yvette split off from the group, while I and Kris hung back.

have a leader character introduce them all by name to a third party (commonly used in classics for big casts, humor, or children’s literature): “I’m George, and with me are Dottie, Jimmy, Ricky, Martin, Olivia, Serena, and Raul.”

start with ephithets/descriptors before moving on to names (best used when narrators are meeting these characters for the first time): She noticed that the man with the ginger beard was making ridiculous faces across the bus at the stocky, somber-looking boy. They would later introduce themselves as Ceilidh and Taron.

+ Please review my Ask Policy before sending in your ask. Thank you!

+ If you benefit from my updates and replies, please consider sending a little thank you and Buy Me A Coffee!

+ HEY, Writers! other social media: Wattpad - AO3 - Pinterest - Goodreads

[theemotionmachine]

Virtue requires a delicate balance. 

[tobi-kelma]

This could be a great set of descriptors for tracking social stats in a game.

[appel-likes]

Woah

[shaelit]

A good chart for character development, especially when contrasting how they are vs. how they see themselves.

[wordsnstuff]

Tips On Planning Out A Series

This is also available on wordsnstuffblog.com!

– This is a list of tips I’ve gathered throughout the outlining process of my work in progress. If you are an author, feel free to leave your own tips in the replies!

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

Figure Out What Type Of Series You’re Writing

There are many forms a series can follow, but in the base level world of understanding your series, you should know what type of series you’re going to be writing. Either your series is one of episodic plot, wherein each book is a contained conflict and resolution, but following the same set of characters on a singular timeline, or you’re splitting one big story arc into a series of novels in order to flesh it out in detail and allow enough time for the reader to become invested in the details.

Don’t Stretch It Too Much

If you plan on writing a series, you need to have enough content to justify the amount of time and attention you’re asking of the reader. If your series is going to be seven books long, you need to have seven books worth of content, not two books worth that you spun and twisted and over-elaborated on for the sake of word count. Earn your reader’s loyalty to your story by giving them substance to enjoy, rather than long instances of nothing between short bursts of importance.

Plead Ahead or Edit Diligently

It is imperative that you decide from the beginning whether you’re going to plan your story from start to finish ahead of time, or go with the flow and tear it to shreds later. Whatever you choose is justified and can produce a good product as long as you’re willing to deal with the consequences of that choice. If you choose to plan out six books worth of plot, conflict, world building, and character development ahead of time, be aware that it will be a long while before you actually put pen to paper. If you choose to start somewhere and go and deal with the spill of ideas and possibilities later, then know that you will spend about 10 times as much time editing, rewriting, and re-editing as you spent actually writing. Either way, refinement of detail takes up more time in the writing process than actual writing.

Think About The Reader’s Experience

When you’re thinking about timing, revelations, growth, progression, and foreshadowing, your number one thought should be “how is this going to affect the reader’s experience of my story?”. When you release each book, you are handing it off. You don’t get to explain to each individual reader what you meant by this, or how this is supposed to make them feel, or why you included this cryptic piece of dialogue or this detail at this precise moment. You have to construct your story in a way that unfolds deliberately and effectively. Always put the reader first, and you will gain a loyal, captivated audience.

Twist The Commonalities

If you notice that your story shares a lot of attributes or includes a lot of tropes that you know the reader would recognize, this isn’t a bad thing and won’t be a detriment to your story as long as you make it your own. I don’t know how to state this in a way that isn’t going to start a fight in the comments, but originality is dead so long as you refuse to acknowledge interpretation. Interpret the character archetype or the trope however you feel fits your story and try to make it like nothing you’ve ever seen before. Not only for the sake of avoiding criticism for the use of it, but because new things are more exciting to create than reused things are interesting to copy. 

Understand The Voice(s) Of The Series

Some books are told in first person, third person, whatever. That’s important to an extent, but one thing that goes severely overlooked is the decisions you make that contribute to the voice behind the storytelling. The way you tell the story impacts the way the reader experiences it, and things like details that you repeat, preferred vocabulary and phrases, and even where you put commas and em-dashes forms your voice as a writer, and your character’s voice in the case of first person.

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[oh-ay]

List of gender neutral names with meanings and origins:

So, I was going to send this as a message to @oabuckvu, but instead I thought I’d post this here since others may also find it helpful!

A:

Addison- child of Adam- English Adina- slender- Hebrew Alby- from Alba- Latin Ally- friend- English Ash- ash tree clearing- English Azra- pure- Israeli Asa- physician- Hebrew Arin- enlightened- Hebrew Arlo- army, hill- old English or barberry tree- Spanish Avery- elf ruler- English Alex- defender of mankind- Greek Arlen- promise, oath- Irish Ambrose- immortal- Latin Aspen- tree- English August- dignity, vulnerable- German

B:

Blaine- yellow- Scottish Blake- blonde, dark- English Bryce- swift- Celtic Brooklyn- broken land- English Bradley- clearing in a woods- English Bailey- bailiff- English Beck- brook, stream- Norse

C:

Chyler- beloved- English Cody- child of cuidightheach- English Charlie- charles- English Chris- christ- English Coby- supplanter- Latin Casey- brave- Gaelic Corin- spear bearer- Irish Cameron- crooked nose- Scottish Colby- town, dark- Norse

D:

Dakota- friend- Native American Devon- poet- Irish Delaney- descendent of the challenger- Irish Drew- manly- English Denham- habitation- English Dael- knowledge of God- Hebrew Danny- God has judged- Scottish

E:

Ellis- Jehova is God- Greek Ellery- from the elder tree island- English Evan- youth warrior- Irish Emery- brave, powerful- German Eden- delight- Hebrew Ellison- child of elder- English

F:

Farron- iron grey- Anglo Saxon Freddie- peaceful ruler- German Frankie- free one- French Fynn- river in Ghana- African Finch- bird- English Flynn- child of red hair- Irish

G:

Gene- well born- English Gale- cheerful, pleasant- English Glade- shining- English Glen- valley- Gaelic

H:

Hollis- Holly tree dweller- English Harlow- rock, army, hill- English Halley- lived near a grove- English Hadley- Heather field- English

I:

Isa- devoted to God- Teutonic Ives- archers bow- English Iggy- firey one- English

J:

Juniper- youth producing, evergreen- Latin Jesse- gift- Hebrew Jo- God is gracious- English/German/French Joey- may Jehova add- Hebrew Jordan- river flow- Macedonian Jet- black gemstone- German

K:

Kellam- at the ridges- Norse Kelsey- from the ships island- English Kendall- royal valley- English Kai- sea- Hawaii

L:

Logan- hollow- Scottish Leslie- garden of holly- Scottish Lee- dweller near the wood- English Lane- path- English Luca- bringer of light- Italy Lirit- poetic- Hebrew Lex- defender- Greek Lakota- friends- Siouan

M:

Mattie- strength in battle- German Morgan- sea defender- English Misha- God live- Russia Max- greatest- Latin Mattise- gift of god- French Monroe- from the mouth of the river Roe- Irish

N:

Newlyn- from the new spring- Celtic Noel- Christmas- French Nicky- victory- English Nat- gift of god- English Nova- chases butterfly- Native American

O:

Oakley- from the oak tree meadow- English Oak- tree- English

P:

Perry- dwells by the pear tree- English Piper- one who plays the pipe- Scandinavian Pema- lotus- Tibetan Puck- unknown meaning- Dutch Parker- park keeper- English

Q:

Quinn- fifth- Irish Quinta- fifth- Spanish

R:

Reese- firey- Welsh Rey- king- Spanish Reed- red, clearing- English Rune- secret- Norse Rue- herb, regret- English Rain- blessings- American Riley- dweller by the Rye field- English River- river- English Rowan- red- Gaelic Rory- red king- Gaelic Ronson- child of ron- English

S:

Sawyer- cuts timber- Celtic Stevie- crown- English Shiloh- owner- Hebrew Sage- wise one- French Saxon- knife- Teutonic Sammy- bright sun- Finnish Scout- to listen- French Shane- gift from God- Irish

T:

Tex- texas- American Toni- worthy of praise- Latin Theo- God given- Greek Taylor- to cut- French Tyne- a river in england- English Tyler- maker of tiles- English Terry- powerful ruler- English

U:

Umber- shade- French

W:

Wyatt- guide- English Willow- graceful- English Wynne- fair- English Wren- song bird- English

X:

Xen- religious- Japanese

Y:

Yael- mountain goat- Hebrew

Z:

Zen- meditative state- Japanese

[ijustreallylovedaredevil]

Looking for a random cause of death for a character? Click here.

Looking for a random city? Click here.

Looking for a random city that people have actually heard of? Click here.

Need a random surname for a character? Click here. (They also give prevalence by race, which is very helpful.)

Helpful writing tips for my friends.

[imtootiredtothinkofaname]

smallirishpotato

[characterdesigninspiration]

Quite a few people requested some form of trait/personality generator, and here’s the result!  I wanted to keep it vague enough that the options could work for any universe, be it modern, fantasy, scifi, or anything else, so these are really just the basics. Remember that a character is much more than a list of traits, and this should only be used as a starting point– I tried to include a variety of things, but further development is definitely a must.

Could pair well with the gender and sexuality generator.

To Play: Click and drag each gif, or if that isn’t working/you’re on mobile, just take a screenshot of the whole thing (multiple screenshots may be required if you want more than one trait from each category).

[wordsandchocolate]

I made a slideshow about how to create a fictional character… I got most of the information from the ‘start writing fiction’ (free) course on the OpenUniversity website and found it incredibly useful so here’s a visual version for you :)

[anagnori-deactivated20201123]

How to show that a character is asexual

…Because interrupting the narrative to turn it into Asexuality 101 is not always a good idea.

It may be easier to implement these ideas if you’ve also read my asexual character development question list. You can also get more ideas from reading and answering those questions.

Note: Most of these ideas will also work for gray-asexual and demisexual characters, because they tend to have a lot of experiences in common with asexuals.

Say it outright.

The only way to be 100% certain is for the character to identify themself as asexual in the story’s text. Everything else I suggest here, at most, can only hint in that direction. If you intend to actually represent asexuality in your story and not just imply it, you must state it explicitly at some point. Otherwise, you’re just doing the asexual equivalent of queerbaiting (acebaiting?), which is infuriating because asexual people have almost no fictional representation in the first place.

Your characters might use the word “asexual,” or they might say something else that means the same thing. When doing this, remember that there is a difference between being asexual and being celibate.

Examples:

"I’m asexual."

"I’ve never been sexually attracted to anyone."

"I do not lust after other people."

"I’m not attracted to anyone, and never have been."

"I don’t have any urge for carnal pleasures."

Drop hints about it in dialogue.

Think about your character’s attitude toward sex. Are they sex-repulsed, sex-indifferent or sex-enjoying? When they think about sex in general, do they find it boring, gross, annoying, creepy, amusing, weird, or just meh? Most asexual people do not enjoy sex or seek it out, but they aren’t outright afraid of it either. When you write dialogue, think about your asexual character’s opinions, feelings, and expectations about sexuality, and look for opportunities to suggest that they’re not on the same wavelength as everybody else.

Examples:

“I’m not interested in anybody.”

“I’m not planning on getting married.”

“Dating is overrated.”

“I hate it when movies have sex scenes.”

"Wait, people actually find it hard to be celibate?"

You can also subtly suggest that a character is asexual by writing them as oblivious to or disturbed by innuendo, dirty jokes, flirting, and/or conversations about sex. Some asexual people have a hard time picking up on these things, or will assume everything is platonic unless it’s explicitly spelled out as sexual. Others might be so repulsed by sex that they don’t even like hearing about it. And then again, some asexuals find the subject hilarious or interesting, and will be very explicit or detached when talking about it, to the point of making non-asexual people feel awkward.

Develop an asexual backstory, and mention it in the text.

Think about the ways that your character was affected by growing up asexual, and how their youth may have differed from other people’s. Maybe they always winced and turned away at kissing scenes in movies. Maybe they couldn’t be bothered to date anyone in high school. Maybe they tried having sex, just to see what all the fuss was about, but regretted it or were disappointed. Maybe they spent years wondering what was wrong with them because they didn’t like sex. If the character is old enough, think about how asexuality may have affected their dating life in the past. If your character knows they’re asexual, you should also think about the experiences that led them to realize it.

Adjust the way that the asexual character speaks.

If your character uses words and concepts that are rarely heard outside the asexual community, it’s a big fat sign that they identify as asexual, or are at least very familiar with asexuality. The asexual community thinks about love, attraction and relationships in a different way than mainstream culture does, and our language reflects that. I’ve compiled a nice glossary of words and concepts that your asexual character may use in conversation. You can also try dropping references to asexual culture, such as a black ring on the right middle finger, or the colors of the asexual flag. (I advise staying away from the cake jokes, though.)

Some asexual people avoid describing other people as “hot” or “sexy,” because those words may imply sexual attraction.

Show how asexuality affects the character’s romantic and/or sexual relationships (or lack thereof).

Some scenarios that asexual characters may encounter:

They are virgins well into their 20s, or even later.

They have sex, but find the experience underwhelming, disgusting or disturbing.

Their relationships become strained because their partner wants sex but they don’t.

They avoid dating entirely because the prospect of having sex with someone makes them uncomfortable.

They feel like they have to fake being sexually attracted to someone.

They’re afraid their partner will leave them for someone more interested in sex.

They can’t find a partner because they don’t want to have sex.

They do find a partner who doesn’t mind having a sexless relationship.

They choose to have sex for different reasons than most people do, and these reasons are not related to sexual attraction.

They want to “wait until marriage” but are secretly dreading having sex after the wedding.

Their relationship with their romantic partner is not taken seriously by other characters because it does not involve sex.

They form a queerplatonic relationship instead of a romantic relationships.

Their partner agrees to become celibate, or they work out a compromise on what kinds of sexual activities they’ll do together.

They set up an open or polyamorous relationship so their partner gets sexual satisfaction elsewhere, while still remaining happily together.

They seek medical treatment for not being as sexually interested as they think they’re supposed to be.

They don’t think that they need birth control or STD protection because they are celibate.

I’m undoubtedly forgetting a lot more.

Make the character’s hobbies, lifestyle, goals, and entertainment choices reflect their asexuality.

Keep in mind that asexual people are diverse, and the ideas listed below do NOT apply to all, or even to the majority of asexual people in real life. But they can be good starting points for sparking discussions about asexuality in your story, or as additions to an asexual character who is otherwise well-rounded. They can also be good ways to foreshadow that a character is asexual.

The following are just a few examples of how asexuality can affect someone’s lifestyle:

They choose to avoid media that contains graphic depictions of sex.

They don’t have a porn collection.

They avoid romantic movies, or movies with sex scenes in them.

They avoid going to bars, nightclubs, strip clubs, raves, or other places with sexually charged atmospheres.

They tend to avoid collecting art and music that have sexual content.

They do not try to dress up so as to appear attractive to the opposite sex.

They don’t enjoy hanging out with non-asexual friends who talk about sex or sexual attraction a lot.

They avoid casual sex or one night stands entirely.

They never want to get married.

They expect to spend their future and old age single.

They aren’t very interested in having sex, and need a strong reason before they’ll consider it.

Make other characters curious about the asexual character’s dating life or sexual orientation.

In real life, if a person between the ages of 16 and 50 goes for years without having or seeking a sexual relationship, people often get nosy. They may ask why the asexual person isn’t married yet, wonder if something is wrong, or even spread rumors about that person.

Asexual people are not heterosexual, and often do not fit in well with a culture of heteronormativity and compulsory sexuality. Think about how your asexual character’s words, attitudes and lifestyle will be perceived by other people, and what those people are likely to say and do in response.

Use another character as a foil.

By writing another character who differs from your asexual character in behavior, attitudes or sexual priorities, you can show just how distinct the asexual character really is. Consider putting the characters in similar situations and having them react differently, or making different choices. The foil character doesn’t need to be a super-horny, oversexed, socially aggressive extrovert; in fact, it’s often more effective to write a person of average libido and sexual activity, and who is portrayed as “normal” and typical by the narrative, because this highlights just how unusual and different asexuality is.

[CW: rape]

Be careful that you do not portray the foil character’s sexuality as a negative trait, or else you may risk putting slut-shaming, misogynistic or homophobic implications into your story. They can be a villain, but unless they engage in sexual coercion, rape or other Very Bad Sex Acts then their villainy should be unrelated to their sexuality.

Don’t your make foil character a rapist. Just…don’t do it. It’s very difficult to pull this off without making the overall tone of the story to be sex-negative, and it puts asexuality at odds with sexual violence while leaving little room for consensual, healthy sex.

Read blogs and websites written by asexual people.

You can get a lot of ideas by reading about how individual people experience asexuality. (If you ARE asexual, of course, you can draw on your own experiences.) Asexual bloggers talk about unusual or interesting things that happen to them as a result of being asexual, how asexuality affects their relationships with other people, what kinds of things they want, like or dislike because of asexuality, and more. Every person’s experiences are unique, and while they may not represent all asexual people, they are real and worth considering. Think about how you can adapt some of those experiences into a fictional context. There are many asexual bloggers on Tumblr.

[aneira-hailey-blog]

100 Words for Facial Expressions

1. Absent: preoccupied 2. Agonized: as if in pain or tormented 3. Alluring: attractive, in the sense of arousing desire 4. Appealing: attractive, in the sense of encouraging goodwill and/or interest 5. Beatific: see blissful 6. Bilious: ill-natured 7. Black: angry or sad, or see hostile 8. Bleak: see grim and hopeless 9. Blinking: surprise, or lack of concern 10. Blissful: showing a state of happiness or divine contentment 11. Blithe: carefree, lighthearted, or heedlessly indifferent 12. Brooding: see anxious and gloomy 13. Bug eyed: frightened or surprised 14. Chagrined: humiliated or disappointed 15. Cheeky: cocky, insolent 16. Cheerless: sad 17. Choleric: hot-tempered, irate 18. Coy: flirtily playful, or evasive 19. Crestfallen: see despondent 20. Darkly: with depressed or malevolent feelings 21. Deadpan: expressionless, to conceal emotion or heighten humor 22. Dejected: see despondent 23. Derisive: see sardonic 24. Despondent: depressed or discouraged 25. Doleful: sad or afflicted 26. Dour: stern or obstinate; see also despondent 27. Downcast: see despondent 28. Dreamy: distracted by daydreaming or fantasizing 29. Ecstatic: delighted or entranced 30. Etched: see fixed 31. Faint: cowardly, weak, or barely perceptible 32. Fixed: concentrated or immobile 33. Furtive: stealthy 34. Gazing: staring intently 35. Glancing: staring briefly as if curious but evasive 36. Glaring: see hostile 37. Glazed: expressionless due to fatigue or confusion 38. Gloomy: see despondent and sullen 39. Glowering: annoyed or angry 40. Glowing: see radiant 41. Grim: see despondent; also, fatalistic or pessimistic 42. Grave: serious, expressing emotion due to loss or sadness 43. Haunted: frightened, worried, or guilty 44. Hopeless: depressed by a lack of encouragement or optimism 45. Hostile: aggressively angry, intimidating, or resistant 46. Hunted: tense as if worried about pursuit 47. Impassive: see deadpan 48. Inscrutable: mysterious, unreadable 49. Jeering: insulting or mocking 50. Languid: lazy or weak 51. Leering: see meaningful; also, sexually suggestive 52. Meaningful: to convey an implicit connotation or shared secret 53. Mild: easygoing 54. Mischievous: annoyingly or maliciously playful 55. Moody: see sullen 56. Pained: affected with discomfort or pain 57. Pallid: see wan 58. Peering: with curiosity or suspicion 59. Peeved: annoyed 60. Petulant: see cheeky and peeved 61. Pitying: sympathetic 62. Pleading: seeking apology or assistance 63. Pouting: see sullen 64. Quizzical: questioning or confused 65. Radiant: bright, happy 66. Roguish: see mischievous 67. Sanguine: bloodthirsty, confident 68. Sardonic: mocking 69. Scornful: contemptuous or mocking 70. Scowling: displeased or threatening 71. Searching: curious or suspicious 72. Set: see fixed 73. Shamefaced: ashamed or bashful 74. Slack-jawed: dumbfounded or surprised 75. Sly: cunning; see also furtive and mischievous 76. Snarling: surly 77. Sneering: see scornful 78. Somber: see grave 79. Sour: unpleasant 80. Stolid: inexpressive 81. Straight-faced: see deadpan 82. Sulky: see sullen 83. Sullen: resentful 84. Taunting: see jeering 85. Taut: high-strung 86. Tense: see taut 87. Tight: see pained and taut 88. Unblinking: see fixed 89. Vacant: blank or stupid looking 90. Veiled: see inscrutable 91. Wan: pale, sickly; see also faint 92. Wary: cautious or cunning 93. Wide eyed: frightened or surprised 94. Wild eyed: excited, frightened, or stressful 95. Wistful: yearning or sadly thoughtful 96. Withering: devastating; see also wrathful 97. Woeful: full of grief or lamentation 98. Wolfish: see leering and mischievous 99. Wrathful: indignant or vengeful 100. Wry: twisted or crooked to express cleverness or a dark or ironic feeling

[roleplaychallenges]

Get inspired.

GET INSPIRED. a guide to writing and roleplaying, even when you don’t feel like it. Original topic here.

everyone always blames writer’s block (or the elusive ‘muse’) for not being able to crank out epic applications, respond to threads, or come up with a clever plot in order to start a post with your fellow roleplayers. i’m here to tell you that this is complete BS. there is no such thing as a muse or writer’s block – it’s all in your head, and there are easy ways to get around it. most of the time it’s just laziness, or the fact that you ‘think’ you have nothing to say. if you’re really serious about writing or are having a hard time getting focused or starting, I have a list of a few things that might help.

force yourself to write

honestly, if you get into the habit of writing every day, it will start to become easier and easier to get something good out, and eventually you won’t be able to tell the difference between when you’re struggling, or when you’re motivated. but when you’re feeling a bit uninspired, just sitting yourself down and FORCING words to appear on the screen or on paper will help. sometimes when I’m not feeling excited about what I have to write, I will seriously stare at the computer screen and force sentences out until they starts to flow better. i’m being completely honest - I have written the world’s crappiest post, and then went back to edit it and turn it into something better. just remember that your writing doesn’t have to be perfect on the first draft. also, try switching up where you write. I feel like writing on paper before transferring it to the computer works well; you don’t have an intimidating, perfectly white screen in front that you might be afraid to mess up with not-so-perfect words. getting anything down on paper or the computer screen is productive. 

read another author’s (or roleplayers) writing 

find a book, fanfiction, or even someone elses posts or application to read. while i’m not encouraging you to try to imitate another writer’s style or voice, I am encouraging you to read something that might strike you as inspiring. I know after I read a certain novel (interview with the vampire, if anyone is interested :P), my writing becomes a bit more polished and descriptive and I often will find words or adjectives that I would have otherwise never thought to use. when you’re reading, try to pay attention to the characters, the authors words, and any interesting metaphors or figures of speech used. sometimes sitting down with a good novel or story can inspire you to work on your own writing or developing your characters. when i’m feeling unmotivated and maybe a bit bored, I will also read tips or guides on writing. this can help because I will often want to try out what I just learned. here are some sites that I frequent:

CLASSIC READER - a website with free classic books. i love it!

FANFICTION.NET - well this is a given! there are a lot of good writers here for mostly fandoms.

FICTIONPRESS - an extension of fanfiction.net, i believe. its a collection of all kinds of writers and writing, not just fandoms. brainstorm this is a great thing to do when you’re working on plots or stories. just list some emotions, feelings, places, or anything else that strikes your interest. I don’t have much to say on this idea just because it’s pretty self explanatory. here are some sites that will help you brainstorm:

BRAINSTORMER - no joke, i could sit here ALL DAY and play with this. don’t click on the link unless you have a lot of time to waste!

drabble

so you have this AWESOME character that you want to write as, but you can’t seem to reply to a thread, or you’re struggling to write a good application. occasionally when i’m forced to write something specific about one of my characters, I can get stuck and I feel like I don’t have a ‘muse’ for them anymore – especially if its a thread that i’m not too crazy about responding to. but when I need to respond and can’t afford to leave someone hanging any longer, I will ‘wake them up’ by writing a short drabble or situation they are in that might be fun or amusing to work on. this will probably get you into the mood to post as them, and if not…well, at least you wrote something (see above “force yourself to write”)!

here are some sites with writing prompts i’ve used in the past:

911 WRITERS BLOCK - hands down, my FAVORITE site.

WRITING PROMPTS AND MORE - this site has a MILLION resources. check it out!

ONE SENTENCE - true stories, told in one sentence. awesome for inspiration :]

PROMPTS - oh my gosh, i could spend HOURS on this site. just hover over a number and get a prompt!

DAILY PROMPT GEN - not as awesome as the others, but still useful.

listen to music

this one is a given. a lot of people say that they need to have music on, or they can’t write. i’m the opposite - I get distracted with music, but nonetheless, music can help you get into the mood to write. I have playlists for two of my main characters on my itunes. it can also help to make playlists for an emotion or feeling. if you’re writing a post that is depressing, happy, or silly – you can have a list of songs at your disposal. 

watch TV/music videos/movies

doing the above mentioned helps me tremendously with plotting. posting, not so much, but I can’t tell you how many times inspiration has struck me for a plot or thread while watching a movie or television. sometimes even looking at the news and taking ideas from whats going on in the world can help inspire you for epic threads or plots. while writing subplots for my stories, I will sometimes check out CNN or whatever other news/media outlet that pops into my mind. take inspiration from the world around you – you dont have to come up with everything off the top of your head. 

think throughout the day 

maybe i’m the only loser that does this, but I find that plot ideas, threads, and inspiration all come to me throughout the day. if i’m bored in class (even though you should tooootallly pay attention in class :P) my mind will wander and I will think up ideas or start planning out a response to a thread. sometimes I even get my ideas FROM a class. i’ve been inspired by my history class so many times its not even funny. also, try thinking about how your character would respond to a certain situation in real life. I do this a lot, especially when i’m on the phone with a friend (who conveniently roleplays with me) – we have fun going back and forth with what our characters would and wouldn’t do in silly situations. if you try thinking about characters, scenes, and scenarios in your every day life, you’ll find it a lot easier to draw from that inspiration and ideas later when you try to write. 

check out these useful sites 

A GUIDE TO STRONGER WRITING

HOW TO WRITE GOOD

CLICHE FINDER

WEBSITES FOR WRITERS

CHARACTER “FEELINGS” CHART

WRITING WORLD: GENERAL FICTION

[thetrolliestcritic]

A Master List of People of Color Face Claims

Includes a diverse selection of races and ethnicities. (Actors & Actresses) 

[thetrolliestcritic]

Read More