Aurum Sanguinem

It drips, drips and drips. There's nothing quite like it, in this universe or the next.

[minuty]

[antoniettabrandeisova]

Apple Blossoms, 1880. Martin Johnson Heade

[kabaks]

the older i get the more i realize what it meant for lily and james potter to die at 21. when you’re 11 and you’re reading the books, watching the films, 21 feels ancient. it did to me. even the actors they picked looked like they were in their thirties, because actual 21 year olds standing next to harry in the mirror would have been an excruciating sight i think. actual 21 year olds lined up in the photo sirius shows harry would have been horrible to see. they weren’t adults. i look at 21 year olds now and most of them are still teenagers. and i’m so sad because you know harry turns 21 and then 22 and then 28 and 29 and realizes how terribly young his parents were, how brave they were, how exceptional they were, GOD I’M SAD IM GETTING A BEER

[childofearthandsea]

fuck

[bettsfic]

reading advice (for writers)

you know those posts that are like, “remember when we used to read books and now we all have no attention span because of the internet.” then there’s the very contrived advice that’s like, “if you want to be a writer you have to read”??

well i think they’re completely true but they also really suck, and we of the youngish adult writers of 2018 have it pretty hard, especially those of us in fandom who enjoy reading fanfic more than original fic because it’s mostly tagged properly and possesses the emotional catharsis we’re looking for, pretty much guaranteed.

that said, i think it’s really important – whether you write fanfic, ofic, or both – to read traditionally published work, in part because it can help better inform your fanfic, but also because it will help develop your writing overall. and if you’re interested in ofic, it’s pretty much a necessity to read.

so, i just graduated from an MFA program in creative writing, and contrary to popular opinion, the MFA does not actually teach you how to write. it gives you space to write, and mostly, it teaches you how to read as a writer.

so here is everything i’ve learned about reading as a writer over the past two years:

you do not have to read anything you don’t want to read

part of the problem with “read everything you can!” advice is that there is a lot of stuff out there, and a ton of it doesn’t jive with your interests. moreover, there’s a kind of pressure to read the Classics just to say you’ve read them when in fact a lot of them are boring, irrelevant, and dare i say overrated. so here is me giving you permission: you don’t have to pick up Hemingway or Faulkner or whoever else to be a good writer. life is too short to force yourself to read dead white dudes.

if a book doesn’t grab you by the first 10%, put it down

this is what has helped me more than anything else as a reader, because i found i would commit myself to a boring book and then never want to read it, so i would stop reading for months at a time. so, when you pick out a book, go to the last page and check the number. promise yourself you’ll read 10% of the book. 400 pages? read to page 40 and ask yourself, “do i really want to turn the page? if i put this book down, would i want to pick it back up again later?” if the answer is no, return it to the library or wherever you got it. try the next book in your pile. your TBR list is long; be merciless. 

but if you want to make it look like you read the book…

commit to 25%. then go to the wikipedia article, read the plot summary, and fast forward to the last 10-15 pages. bam. you’ve more or less read the book. bonus points if you watch the movie, too. so if you’re really committed to reading Ulysses or whatever but you don’t want to slog through it, you can digest enough to be able to hold a conversation about it in a few hours and move on with your life. you can even pretend you enjoyed it and found it a formative reading experience that helped shape your understanding of the work of fiction, really, absolutely groundbreaking, etc etc. this is especially helpful if you find yourself anywhere in the literary sphere because other writers will expect you to be familiar with the canon. 

read selfishly and take tools from everything you read

when you read anything, even the stuff you don’t like, ask yourself, “what tools can i take for my own writing?” let’s say you really love the plot structure – write it down somewhere so you remember to try it out for your own story. if you love the lyricism of the sentences, find a few sentences you really like and jot them down by hand, inspect what about them makes you love them so much. steal aspects of characters you admire, pacing, conflict, stakes. steal as much as you can without stealing the words themselves. you can even use this for things you don’t like by rephrasing the question: “what is it about this story i would like to avoid in my own work?” pivot every single thing you read to be about you and your writing. take notes. mark up and highlight your book if you have to. reading as a writer is not a passive activity but an active one. you’re not being entertained, you’re learning. so let published works teach you. 

carve time out of your day to read

at 7pm every day, i put my phone down and pick up an actual physical book. this is my personal preference – i have no beef at all with ebooks, but honestly, i get so tired of staring at lit screens all day, and paper books without the distraction of my phone is such a nostalgic feeling for me, back when i was 14 and the library was my second home and if someone wanted my attention they had to call me on a landline. if you had the same upbringing, dedicating some time to read a physical book will do you wonders. if ebooks are your thing, it’s still important to schedule reading time for yourself, not as an obligation to uphold, but as something to do that’s good for you and that you enjoy. 

write letters to your favorite authors!!

seriously. if you love a book, let the author know. they will not be annoyed or upset. they will be thrilled. it’s a good way to network with other writers, and it’s a great practice of literary citizenship.

when someone recommends a book to you, ask why

this is something i’ve only recently learned to do, as someone who gets book recommendations pretty much constantly. if the person knows you decently, i don’t think it’s out of line to ask, “what would i specifically like about this?” because then that will tell if you if the person is only recommending it because they like it, not because they think you’ll like it. if the person knows your writing, it’s fair to ask, “how is this book in conversation with my work?” so you have a head start in the kinds of tools you’ll want to take from it. 

follow your aesthetic instincts

as a writer, honing your aesthetic will always be one of your highest aims, which means constantly seeking out writers whose aesthetics you admire and analyzing what it is you admire about it. “aesthetic” is kind of a vague term, but it refers to your overall vibe – the things you write about and why you write about them. my aesthetic is more or less “midwestern class warfare meets sexual identity crises with a lot of dark humor,” so i tend to look for other writers who share facets of that aesthetic and i inspect what’s working for them, where they publish, what their influences are, etc. i try to read both within my aesthetic but also far outside of it too. for example, i love historical fiction but i know i’ll never, ever write it. but i appreciate the aesthetic, and i can take tools from it like dedication to detail, internal conflicts, etc.

read short fiction (please)

this is my personal plea. short stories are a great way to find authors whose work is in conversation with yours, so that you can then go check out their novels with a good idea already of what you like about them. short stories are all over the internet via literary and genre mags. they’re a much smaller commitment than novels and tend to have just as much emotional impact (if done well) as novels. more importantly you’ll always have recs for your friends, and it’s a lot easier getting someone to read a 6k story you enjoyed than a 60k novel.

resources

don’t have time to read but like to listen? try the new yorker fiction and writers’ voice podcasts

like marking up books but don’t want to buy them new? check out thriftbooks (my favorite site on the internet – the link here will get you 15% off!)

finished a book you like but don’t know what to read next? try what should i read next

want to stay apprised of the goings on in the modern literary community? subscribe to the lithub newsletter and arts & letters daily, two newsletters i’ve been subscribed to for years 

as always i’m glad to answer any questions! happy reading!

writing advice tag

[ludwigplayingthetrombone]

i dropped off my resume at this place at 1:15 and got called for an interview at 1:45 holy dang

[aughtpunk]

Today I got interviewed, hired, and then given a dollar raise and a better store location because the interviewer “liked my attitude”

REBLOG FOR GOOD JOB GETTING KARMA COME ON GRAB A PIECE

[ixrose]

#chris evans #in where he is actually steve rogers

[urulokid]

#when is chris evans not steve rogers though

[stravaganza]

[an-other-people-deactivated2013]

#when casting is perfect I begin to wonder about Marvel #do they secretly grow these people on farms #let them loose on the world for a while to establish lives #and then cast them as the role they were grown for

[booksandwildthings]

I have

no idea

what you’re

talking about

[skeletoncl0set]

i do believe this is my fifth time reblogging this

[ilovewintersoldiersandsebastian]

apart form sebastian though he goes from this to this

[lastitalianwitcholdblog]

seb’s the weird cousin

[lovemarvel-trash]

@justaweirdthoughtstuff

[smthsmthurmum]

This is amazing oml

[i-is-surrounded-by-idjits]

Seb’s the fanboy they grew to connect with the audience

[itsanerdlife]

@snowyseba This explains everything!

[marveldcmistress]

I’ve only seen this post in screenshots on pinterest. I love it.

[themcuhasruinedme]

I think you missed the other fanboy…

[ellysiacat]

Love this

[sexylibrarian1]

Everybody says Seb isn’t like Bucky… but he IS. He’s Bucky without a mask on. Bucky’s always wearing some sort of mask. Even around Steve. Seb is what Bucky would be like if he’d had the chance to just ~be~.

[that-sokovian-bastard]

UH THIS

[mmmaff-blog]

Um we’re forgetting someone…

[linaofthemyscira]

ITS FINALLY ON MY DASH YESSS

[perpetuallyvex]

Not to forget our “Wizard”:

[formerprincewille]

Aldjaksnana

[patient-wave]

I’ve found it. I’ve found the perfect post.

[im-fangirl-trash-okay-deactivat]

it’s on my dash jdnckdmd

[laufyeson]

these dorks lmaoo

[waywardwilled]

I love everyone omg they’re all so amazing???

[coffee-swimmer]

YES

[ryangosking]

Don’t forget

[eraemx]

Chris looks so hot in that first gif set

[jrubalcaba]

Omg I found THE original post! Holy shit I’ve only ever seen screenshots of this!

[sheridans-dynamos]

This post pops up on my dash every few months and I will never not reblog it.

[lokis-helmet]

This is too good to not reblog

[the-marvel-what-deactivated2020]

Everybody see this, this is the quality trash I came to Tumblr in the first place.

[daily-marvel-dose]

Also

[adjectivebear]

This post is ALMOST perfect, but we’re forgetting someone:

[internet-tears]

Marvel has a farm wher they harvest actors [confirmed]

[stardust-danvers-archive-deacti]

And we all know Stan Lee is the farmer

[eraemx]

ITS BACK

WITH MORE

[darklingdawns]

Don’t forget these two!

[genderlich-deactivated20211204]

you ever have 8,045 bad mental health days in a row

[genderlich-deactivated20211204]

you ever have 8,046 bad mental health days in a row

[ispinprideflags]

thats 22 years of bad mental health are you okay

[genderlich-deactivated20211204]

you ever have 8,050 bad mental health days in a row

[xtafur-blog]

They’re deactivated now and I really hope they are okay, but my nihilism is telling me something else. :(

[genderlich-deactivated20211204]

nah i just changed urls a few times. i came out and transitioned, graduated college, and got an amazing girlfriend who lights up my life. i had to delete the queued update to this post that said 8400 days for my 23rd birthday because i’m in a really good place right now.

to everyone struggling: it really does get better.

[saxifraga-x-urbium]

Reblog to break your bad mental health streak

[exciting]

where! has! my! passion! gone! I had it abundantly when I was a child, and I must have dropped it along the way, but I cannot figure where!

[exciting]

oh hey folks fun update, i found my passion again? i just had to find my right outlet, get to a place where I have aspirations, dispel apathy and pursue what I love, it’s all good and swell!

[skyderman]

reblog this to find the right outlet, get to a place where you have aspirations, dispel apathy and pursue what you love, and rediscover your passion.

[anneboleynqueen]

anne per episode - 2x04

[castles-of-words]

pick your stories. pick… pick fewer stories than that. put some stories back. that’s too many

[ao3commentoftheday]

[thursdays-fallen-angel]

alternatively: 

[suitofhumour]

[the-modern-typewriter]

“Shh, it’s alright,” the villain said. “You’re doing beautifully and I’m so proud of you. But that’s enough now. It was cruel of them to make you fight me - you could never have won. It’s not your fault.” Could you expand, or continue this one? I love it so much.

(This is one of my favourite things that I’ve written. Like, oh my god. Sometimes I have my doubts about my writing and then I read the above and my faith in myself is restored. Bless the villains. Anyway.)

The hero panted for breath, harsh and gasping in the exertion of battle. Their body trembled with exhaustion. 

The villain held them close and subdued them easily, fingers stroking through their hair, so mercilessly soothing. 

“I can - I - I-” 

“-Shh.” The villain crowned the hero’s head with a kiss, grip tightening a little. “Maybe. Maybe one day. But not now, not like this. You’re not ready.”

“It’s not enough. You - you-” 

“It’s not your fault,” the villain said again. 

The hero squeezed their eyes shut and buried their face in the villain’s shoulder. They hated themselves, a little, for that. It felt far too much like surrender. “Do you really think I could beat you? Maybe?” They regretted the question the second it left their lips. It was foolish. It was a child’s plea for reassurance. It was utterly inappropriate.They jolted in the grip in disgust of themselves. 

The villain caught their jaw in deft hands. “It’s not your fault.”

“Are you going to kill me?” It was another child’s question, frightened and foolish. It tasted like bile on their tongue and similarly they couldn’t seem to stop it. 

“Of course,” the villain said. “But it won’t hurt, I promise you that. You don’t deserve pain. It’s them.” The villain’s thumb brushed up along their cheek, reassuring and hypnotic. “Unless you want to join me?”

“What?” the hero blinked at them. “No. No, I can’t. You’re - you’re-” They wanted to say evil. It was impossible to say evil when the villain cradled them so close, when they wiped the tears from their eyes, when they were so kind. 

To everyone else in the world, if the hero didn’t stop the villain, it was the hero’s fault. That was just how the story went. 

In the stories, the villain didn’t say they were proud. And, if they did, it was a mockery. A temptation. A scheme. 

 Nobody had ever said they were proud before. Goodness was just something they did, something expected, and bravery some virtue demanded undeserving of praise. They were hero. Of course they were brave and, should they be scared, it was the right kind of scared. The inspiring kind. Not the kind that led to them dry heaving, hyper-ventilating, panicking with black spots in their vision in their enemy’s arms. 

“They’d kill me if I did,” the hero finished. It felt too honest. “I don’t want people to look at me like they look at you.”

“They are cruel.” 

“So are you.”

“Yes.” The villain didn’t deny it. “But not to my own.”

“I’m not yours.”

“But they sent you to me,” the villain said. “Knowing you couldn’t win, knowing you could only burn until they found their chosen one. Live and prove yourself. Die as nothing. It’s not fair.”

The hero didn’t know what to say to that. Possibly, they shouldn’t say anything. Possibly it was a trick. Possibly they should find a knife and drive it through the villain’s heart when they were so arrogantly close. 

“You are kind,” the villain said, as if reading their thoughts. “You’re beautiful. You’re everything they want and nothing they need. Should you beat me, you wouldn’t be that anymore. It would cost you - more than death, more than pain.”

“I’m not anything,” the hero whispered. “They won’t remember me.” 

“I will,” the villain promised. “I’ll remember all of you. And they will suffer for you,  I give you my word.” The villain’s eyes were ablaze, intent and focused. They cupped the hero’s cheek. “You are enough.”

[the-modern-typewriter]

I have a weird request for a snippet... maybe a deaf hero who’s been captured so they don’t have any of the things they need and this is when the villain realizes that they are deaf? (I love your work by the way!)

It could be difficult to catch everything going on at the best of times.In panic, it was impossible. 

Their head throbbed and the adrenaline wrung out their insides and they couldn’t see. The blindfold rested heavy on their eyes, cool and dark and they couldn’t see.  

The protagonist couldn’t even explain themselves through the gag. 

They didn’t know if the guard had turned on them out of pure spite, or because they assumed the protagonist was being deliberately insolent and ignoring them. 

The protagonist still felt though. The sharp ache of a foot colliding into their already bruised side, the smack of a hand burning across their cheek and - 

And nothing. 

No sound, and only darkness.

They could taste blood in their mouth, as coppery and wrong as everything else.

They braced themselves as best as they could, breath coming rapidly behind the sodden fabric pressed against their tongue. Their heart slammed. 

Air displaced near them. They flinched, despite promising themselves that they wouldn’t.

Gloved hands caught each side of their face. The protagonist wrenched against the grip. The hands tightened. The grip held for a moment, two, firm but not unkind, until the protagonist realized they weren’t about to get smacked again and went still enough on their own accord.

The hands moved up, working the blindfold free and letting it droop around the protagonist’s neck. 

The protagonist inhaled a startled breath.

They recognized the antagonist, of course, but they’d never seen them up close. Definitely not this close, only inches away. They tended to fight across distances, and in ways where they wouldn’t have to compensate so heavily for the lack of sound. 

The two of them stared at each for a beat. 

The antagonist’s gaze was sharp and assessing and, if the protagonist wasn’t mistaken, a little surprised. 

The protagonist swallowed.

One of the guards had backed up into the corner, trembling, eyes fixed on the antagonist with fright. They sported a bloody nose.

They continued to stare at each other, until the protagonist’s breathing began to settle and the fog of panic had thinned to a less disorientating fear.

The antagonist’s hand moved to brush along the shell of their ear, lightly enough to make a shiver run down the protagonist’s spine. The antagonist’s head tilted in question. 

“Can you hear me?” The antagonist’s lips moved with a deliberate slowness, forming the words carefully. 

The protagonist considered their options for a second, considered lying, before giving a tired shake of their head.

“Not the explosion,” the antagonist said. 

The protagonist snorted. No, not the antagonist’s damn explosion. 

A smirk tugged at the antagonist’s lips that didn’t quite ring true. “Explains why you always stared at me so. And there was me thinking we had a special something, I’m hurt.”

The protagonist scowled at them. 

The antagonist’s smirk turned more real, before they rose to their feet. Their mouth quickened as they tossed orders to their various guards and employees. 

“Take a deep breath,” the antagonist said. 

The blindfold turned the world dark again. 

The next time it was removed, they were cuffed to a bolted down table, with a pen and paper in front of them. 

The antagonist sat patiently on the other side of the table, all business and a quirked eyebrow. They drew the protagonist’s attention to the notebook. 

Start with your real name and address, if you want me to pick up your supplies. You’re going to be here for a while :)

The protagonist’s heart sank.

[theliteraryarchitect-deactivate]

Writing Advice Posts: A Handy Reference Guide

(Updated 5/19/18) Hey all, I’ve got quite a few writing advice posts & answered Asks on my blog at this point, so I’m making this reference guide to make it easier to find what you’re looking for. Hope it helps!

Free Resource Library Downloads

All of these PDFs are available to download in my Free Resource Library.

Creating Character Arcs Workbook

Point of View Cheatsheet

Dialogue Checklist

Setting Checklist

Questions to Ask Before Hiring an Editor Printable Checklist

Proper Manuscript Format Printable Checklist

Short Story & Novel Submission Templates

General

8 Ways to Improve Your Writing

10 Best Books About Writing Fiction

How to Spot Bad Writing Advice: 6 Red Flags to Look For

“Show Don’t Tell”? Not Always. Here’s When to Use Summary

How to start a story

More about starting stories

The first sentence

The Writing Process, Writer’s Block, & Inspiration

How to Train Yourself to Write Faster

Just a friendly reminder that creativity is difficult to quantify.

Quick Writing Tip: Make a Note to Your Future Self in Your WIP

Quick Writing Tip: Take Notes!

Just a friendly reminder that writing is not always a linear process.

Quick Cure for Writer’s Block: Lower Your Expectations

Set Realistic Goals

Your Skills May Need Time to Catch Up to Your Vision

It’s Okay to Experiment and Be Weird As Fuck

Surround Yourself With Supporters

It’s okay to take a break.

Your First Draft is Raw Material

Getting into “The Zone”

Vomit Brain

Writing from Your Imagination vs. Reality

Dealing with Criticism

Getting Bored with Your Own Writing

Getting past a block

Doing research on topics you don’t have first-hand experience with

Journalling about your writing

Character Development

Creating Character Arcs with the DCAST Method

What Does Your Main Character Want?

How to Activate Your Passive Characters, One Verb at a Time

How to Use Description to Show Character Development

How to Create a Non-Cliched First-Meeting Scene

The “It Depends” Post

Shifting internal goals

When to identify your character’s goal

Writing about normal people with normal problems

If you’re worried about your character being too similar to someone else’s character 

Describing your characters without messing up your pacing

Story, Plot, & Pacing

Quick Plotting Tip: Write Your Story Backwards

Pause at the Threshold

Slowing Down the Pace of Your Story Without Boring Your Reader

Time Transitions

Creating Conflict

When & how to cut a scene

If you’re good at creating characters but awful at creating plot

When you’ve plotted your story but can’t get started

En Media Res

Writing to Your Ideal Reader

Deus Ex Machina

Foreshadowing

Finding an Ending

What to write between moments of conflict

Starting a story with waking-up scene

Description, Setting, & Worldbuilding

How to Make Your Descriptions Less Boring

How to Spot an “Info-dump”

Adding Descriptions to Intense Scenes Without Messing Up Your Story’s Flow

How to Use Description to Show Character Development

Worldbuilding: How much is too much?

Modeling your fantasy world from stuff in the real world

Internal Consistency

Point of View

How to Choose the Right Point of View for Your Story

A Beginner’s Guide to Multiple Point of View

6 Questions to Ask About Your Point of View

How to decide if you should use first person or third person

More point of view basics

Head hopping

Dialogue

How to Improve Your Dialogue

3 Ways to Make Your Dialogue More Interesting

Starting a story with dialogue

Are You Using Too Much Stage Direction?

Publishing & Sharing Your Work

7 Tips to Build an Audience for Your Writing

Pros and Cons of Self Publishing

Quick Publishing Tip: Don’t Bury Your Gold

How to Properly Format Your Manuscript for Publication

A warning about posting writing online that you intend to publish later

Advice for writers who are worried about people stealing their work or ideas

Getting feedback on your writing

Editing

Quick Revision Tip: Read Your Writing Out Loud

How to Keep Yourself From Editing As You Write

Cut the fidgeting

Are you suffering from -ing disease?

Are you Using Too Much Stage Direction?

What “Editing” Really Means

Quick Editing Tip: “That”

Quick Revision Tip: Read Faster

Editing Tip: Dialogue

Tips for Editing a Story

…if you find any broken links please let me know and I will fix them! xo

*I recently changed the name of my blog. All of these links should work, but if you come across a “Bucket Siler has moved!” page when clicking on a link inside an old post, there’s an easy way to find what you’re looking for: In the url, delete “bucketsiler,” write “theliteraryarchitect,” then hit return. Also, let me know about it & I will fix it :)

[ask-frostiron-blog1]

Person: Your writing is so good!

Me:

[toboldlywrite]

You have been visited by the Thor of Positivity™! Take pride in your work and be confident in it! It may not be perfect but he knows you are working very hard and pouring your passion into it and therefore it is a Good Thing. 

[itstheenglishkid]

the wildest concept I had to get over was that all you need to write a book is an idea and a blank word document. that’s it. that’s everything.

[roselinbooks-deactivated2021032]

#probably the biggest hurdle i had to face when i started writing#was that no one could stop me#all i had to do was start

[books-read-in-nooks]

Friend who folds the book page instead of using a bookmark:  “How come you never let me borrow your books??”

Me:

[uponthepages]

baby name website traffic:

10% expecting mothers

90% writers trying to find names for their characters