Only Skin

not just a story about werewolves

[cammerelangelene]

Summary Of Art - 2017 by Cammerel

[howlitzer-art]

reblog if werewolves

[metteivieharrison]

You’re a Real Writer

I know you don’t think so. You see the “real writers” as the people who have multiple books published, who show up and speak at conferences, who announce this deal or that one, have reviews in professional journals, and who get paid actual money for their books. But the distinction isn’t in the way we put on our pants in the morning. The typing words into the computer thing is the same for all of us, trust me.

That writer you think is so far beyond you still has days she’s convinced nothing she’s writing works. That writer who made a big deal last week is chewing his fingernails off, convinced that this is the last book he’ll get paid for. The writer you heard speak at that conference last year is struggling for a new agent and a new contract for a book she got told wasn’t going to sell. And the writer who landed a new agent at that same conference is still struggling to make his first sale.

We all stare at the computer screen, not sure if what we’re doing make sense or is worth our time. We all have days that no words get written. We all have days where we have to prioritize family even when the words are streaming out of our minds. We all struggle to believe we’re good enough, that our ideas matter, that this work is still something worth getting up for in the mornings.

And we all do the same thing to fight against these fears. We keep writing.

That’s what makes a “real” writer. Do you write? Are you working on something? Are you scared of your own audacity in writing? Are you willing to admit your dreams? Do you keep at it even when it seems useless? Do you write because you like writing, not because you want to be published? Do you wish you were writing the way that other people wish they were at the beach? Do you write novels while you’re doing the dishes? Do you meet people and want to put them in your own books?

You’re a real writer.

[superheronamesforspoonies]

Here’s a thing that is helpful and free! It’s a plugin that uses a dyslexic-friendly font and color coding to make reading easier for everyone, but especially for those of us with dyslexia, ADHD, or other learning disabilities.

Above text reads: “Make reading easier and faster with BeeLine Reader! BeeLine uses a color gradient to guide your eyes from the end of one line to the beginning of the next. This seemingly simple tweak makes reading substantially easier and faster because it allows you to transition between lines quickly and effortlessly. Thousands of people have taken our online diagnostic test, and over 90% of them saw a benefit from BeeLine. Many people are able to read 20% or 30% faster with BeeLine, even on their first try. 

Our Chrome extension works great on news articles, wikipedia pages, and other text-heavy websites. You can choose between several different color schemes, and more features will be coming soon.”

[udon-cat-deactivated20180728]

I read that top part SO quickly and when i got to the caption I gave up after the first sentence 

[highanxietiessupport]

I have really bad eyes and sometimes my dissociation makes it hard to focus so this plugin has helped me tremendously. I use it with Mozilla Firefox.

Mod C

[julianunes]

OH DANG THIS IS INCREDIBLE

[edwardspoonhands]

I just got this and it is indeed fantastic.

[fictionwritingtips]

How to Successfully Shock Your Readers

There’s a difference between shocking your readers effectively and killing off characters because you have no idea what to do next. In short, you want to shock your readers in a good way.

Keeping your readers on the edge of their seats does not mean you have to be constantly throwing things at them all the time. Here are a few ways to successfully shock your readers:

Make Sure There are Ups and Downs

If you want to build to a shocking moment, it’s important that you don’t try to fill your novel with them. Every story should have ups and downs, highs and lows. If you want to kill off a character and have the audience care, you need to build up to it.

Learn About Tension

Tension is so important if you want to successfully shock your readers. This is what I think the Hunger Games series did so well. Every chapter ends with a cliffhanger that basically forces you to keep reading. The reader is constantly given a little bit of “shock”, but every moment fits the story. We’re always on the edge of our seat. Understand tension by reading and figuring out your favorite tense scenes. You’ll quickly understand what makes them work.

Set the Tone

You need to set the tone within the first chapter of your novel. Shocking moments will just anger and frustrate your readers if they think they’re reading a light-hearted novel. The Game of Thrones shocks work (for the most part)  because we know from the start what kind of novel we’re reading. We know that people can die at any moment. We get attached to the characters, so we really feel the impact.

Avoid the Easy-Out

Shocking moments don’t have an impact if you immediately take them back. Don’t have easy-outs built into your story. If a character needs to get out of tough situation, for example, don’t suddenly make the villain explode out of nowhere. Avoid deus ex machinas! Commit to your ideas and avoid breaking the tension by taking them back.

Understand the Critical Choice

Many novels build up to the critical choice. Your protagonist has to make a decision and they have to commit to it. They are usually torn between two different choices, both with pros and cons. Shocking moments are often made out of the aftermath of the critical choice. Think about how this will shape your novel and lead to future problems.

-Kris Noel

[fictionwritingtips]

Side Note: *Might have changed my mind on the Game of Thrones thing because now deaths happen so often they have little to no impact on me, which could also be a mistake when writing your novel! I’m mostly referring to the first season in this post.

[favouriteghost]

the best analogy for bisexuals i've ever heard

werewolf: i’m a werewolf person: ok so when you’re in human form you’re a human, and when you’re in wolf form you’re a wolf though. werewolf: no. i’m a werewolf. human form = werewolf. wolf form = werewolf. always a werewolf. no matter the circumstance or appearance, I AM ALWAYS A WEREWOLF

[luxgalador]

Fact: bisexuals are also werewolves

[badgersprite]

Originally posted by swanmillsq

[thecaffeinebookwarrior-deactiva]

How to Get to Know Your Characters

@lourek asked:

Okay so it’s me again. I have a problem, cuz I really don’t know my characters?? And I’d like to get to know them. I know this might sound stupid, but do you have a masterpost about best ways to get to know your own characters or would you be willing to make one? I’ve noticed that all those “answer these questions” things are pretty useful. Thank you, I still worship you, good bye

Not a stupid question at all!  This is one of the most challenging and important parts of becoming a writer.  Getting to know someone takes time and effort, and characters are no exception. 

So without further ado, here are my go-to techniques for getting to know a character:

1.  Ask yourself these basic questions:

How old are they mentally/spiritually?  Do they have an old soul, or are they a perpetual kid at heart?  Does their personality not coincide with their physical age? 

What do they care about most in the world?  What would they die for?

What are their interests?  What books, movies, and shows do they read/watch religiously?  What do they geek out over?

What’s the most embarrassing thing that ever happened to them?  Have they told anyone?  If so, who?

On that note, what is one secret they’ve never told anyone?

What was their childhood like?  Was it happy?  Tragic?  Why or why not?

How many relationships do they have?  How have they affected them?

What is their greatest fear?  

What was the best thing that ever happened to them?

What was the worst thing that ever happened to them?

If you had to describe the character in one word, what is the first that comes to mind?

2.  Once that’s done, get nosy.

Empty their pockets, backpack, or purse.  Make a list of everything inside.  What do they always take with them?  Why?

Describe their bedroom.  Is it neat, or messy?  Is it minimalist?  Cluttered?  Are they neat, or messy by nature?  Is there any artwork on the wall, any posters?  Are there lots of books?  A TV?  Stuffed animals?  Be as detailed as you want to be, and think about why your character has these things and what they say about them.  

If they have one, describe their car.  What kind of car do they drive?  How does it correlate with their personality, their career?  Do they keep any photos of loved ones?  Are there lots of fast food containers?

We’ve already touched on this briefly, but think about their books.  Write down at least ten titles on their shelf.  Think about what genres they like, what authors, and why they might enjoy them. 

What kind of movie genres do they like?  What kind of TV shows?  Why do they enjoy them?  Do they have any guilty pleasures that they’d rather anyone not know about?  

Take a look inside their closet.  What kind of clothes do they wear?  What’s their style?  Can they afford the clothes they’d actually like to wear?  Are they preppy?  Is their closet organized, or is it a hot mess?

3.  Get to know the family.

What are their parents like?  Do they have a good relationship?  Are they friends?  Do they just plain suck?  If so, why?

If they don’t have a good relationship with their parents, are there any parental figures that their close with?  What are they like?  

Do they have any siblings?  Are they close?  Are they protective of them, or vice versa?

What is their nationality?  Do they have strong ties to their heritage, or could they care less?

What about their extended family?  Do they have any weird relatives?  (In my opinion, every character should have at least one weird relative.  They are a lot of fun to write.)  

4.   Fill in the details.

Brainstorm random questions about your characters, their likes, dislikes, et cetera.  Here are examples:

What is their favorite food?  

Their favorite beverage?  

Their favorite movie?  

Their favorite book?

Their favorite TV show?

What is their dream job?

Do they keep a journal?

Do they have good handwriting, or is it illegible from excessive note-taking?  

What’s their favorite color?  

What’’s their favorite kind of weather?  Do they like sunny days, or rainy ones?

Can they draw?  Are they artistic in general?

What kind of romantic/sexual partner do they like (if they’re interested in that sort of thing at all)?  Do they have a ‘type?’    

What would their ideal date be (even just with friends)?  Do they like generic dinner and movie-type stuff, or do they favor museums and plays? 

What would their ideal afternoon look like?

Do they prefer TV or books?

Are they introverted or extroverted?  Do they hate social gatherings, or thrive on them?  Do they relish in alone time?

Coffee or tea?

Cats or dogs? 

Do they eat breakfast?  If so, what?

What’s their opinion on pineapple pizza? 

5.  Fill out some character sheets.

Simple character sheets are a great way to fill in the gaps and get to know your character.  Though there are quite a few floating around on my favorite blogs, but here are a few examples:

There’s a “lazy person’s” character sheet here.

There’s a “how to create a memorable character” sheet here.

And there’s a “no effort” character sheet here.

Of course, the only way to truly get to know your character is to write about them.  You never know how they’ll develop until you get going, and once you do, they’ll never cease to surprise you.  Characters truly do gain lives of their own, so don’t give up and keep writing. 

And in the meantime, I hope this helps!  <3

[gaiabamman]

Using the appropriate vocabulary in your novel

It is very important that the language in your novel reflects the time and place in which the story is set.

For example, my story is set in Italy. My characters would never “ride shotgun”, a term coined in US in the early 1900s referring to riding alongside the driver with a shotgun to gun bandits. 

Do your research! A free tool that I found to be very useful is Ngram Viewer. 

You can type any word and see when it started appearing in books. For example…one of my characters was going to say “gazillion” (I write YA) in 1994. Was “gazillion” used back then?

And the answer is…YES! It started trending in 1988 and was quite popular in 1994.

Enjoy ^_^

[storiesintheashes]

This is really important, especially because language can change in very unexpected ways. 

For example, did you know that before 1986 people never said “I need to”?Instead, they were far more likely to say “I ought to”, “I have to”, “I must”, or “I should”.

Don’t believe me?

Anyway, most people won’t notice subtle changes like that. But your reader will notice and be confused when characters in your medieval world use metaphors involving railroads and rockets.

One of the things you can do besides use Google Ngrams is to read books or watch movies written in the time period you want to set your story. The key here is that they can’t just be set in that time period, they have to have been made in that time period.

Also, there’s a Lexicon Valley episode on this very topic which I highly recommend. It’s called Capturing the Past. 

[nefertiti22002blog]

Absolutely vital for writing any period piece, and it goes back for centuries. I use it frequently when writing my Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell prose, to find out what was common usage in the Georgian/Regency era.

[lizard-is-writing]

How to Plot a Complex Novel in One Day

Now first, I have to say, that the plot you’re able to come up with in one day is not going to be without its flaws, but coming up with it all at once, the entire story unfolds right in front of you and makes you want to keep going with it. So, where to begin?

What is your premise and basic plot? Pick your plot. I recommend just pulling one from this list. No plots are “original” so making yours interesting and complicated will easily distract from that fact, that and interesting characters. Characters will be something for you to work on another day, because this is plotting day. You’ll want the main plot to be fairly straight forward, because a confusing main plot will doom you if you want subplots.

Decide who the characters will be. They don’t have to have names at this point. You don’t even need to know who they are other than why they have to be in the story. The more characters there are the more complicated the plot will be. If you intend to have more than one subplot, then you’ll want more characters. Multiple interconnected subplots will give the illusion that the story is very complicated and will give the reader a lot of different things to look at at all times. It also gives you the chance to develop many side characters. The plot I worked out yesterday had 13 characters, all were necessary. Decide their “roles” don’t bother with much else. This seems shallow, but this is plot. Plot is shallow.

Now, decide what drives each character. Why specifically are they in this story? You can make this up. You don’t even know these characters yet. Just so long as everyone has their own motivations, you’re in the clear.

What aren’t these characters giving away right off the bat? Give them a secret! It doesn’t have to be something that they are actively lying about or trying to hide, just find something that perhaps ties them into the plot or subplot. This is a moment to dig into subplot. This does not need to be at all connected to their drive to be present in the story.  Decide who is in love with who, what did this person do in the 70’s that’s coming back to bite them today, and what continues to haunt what-his-face to this very day. This is where you start to see the characters take shape. Don’t worry much about who they are or what they look like, just focus on what they’re doing to the story.

What is going to change these characters? Now this will take some thinking. Everyone wants at least a few of the characters to come out changed by the end of the story, so think, how will they be different as a result of the plot/subplot? It might not be plot that changes them, but if you have a lot of characters, a few changes that are worked into the bones of the plot might help you.

Now list out the major events of the novel with subplot in chronological order. This will be your timeline. Especially list the historical things that you want to exist in backstory. List everything you can think of. Think about where the story is going. At this point, you likely haven’t focused too much on the main plot, yeah, it’s there, but now really focus on the rising actions, how this main plot builds its conflict, then the climactic moment. Make sure you get all of that in there. This might take a few hours.

Decide where to start writing. This part will take a LOT of thinking. It’s hard! But now that you’ve got the timeline, pick an interesting point to begin at. Something with action. Something relevant. Preferably not at the beginning of your timeline - you want to have huge reveals later on where these important things that happened prior are exposed. This is the point where you think about what information should come out when. This will be a revision of your last list, except instead of being chronological, it exists to build tension.

Once you’ve gotten the second list done, you’ve got a plot. Does it need work? Probably. But with that said, at this point you probably have no idea who half your characters are. Save that for tomorrow, that too will be a lot of work.

Disclaimer for this post.

[thewritewire]

[howitreallyistobeanartist]

when the story is just not working, but you keep writing anyway

[missannaraven]

Current mood…

[amynchan]

Reminder that she actually wins that season, so keep your head up.

[drackomancy]

Fox - Transformation Sequence

[monsteroll]

Yeah, rip those clothes off girlfriend! One of my fav scenes from this show, which there are many of!

[weeping-wandrian]

why the fuck does english have a word for

but not for “the day after tomorrow”

???

[zeplerfer]

Because you’re not looking hard enough! ;)

Overmorrow = the day after tomorrow

Ereyesterday = the day before yesterday

Example: I defenestrated my brother ereyesterday. I shall defenestrate my sister overmorrow! Because I hate my family and also windows.

[wantcookie]

english has some of the best examples of stupidly specific words, tbh

Rhotacism (n): excessive use of the letter “R”

Lingible (adj): meant to be licked

Whipjack (n): a beggar, specifically one who is pretending to have been shipwrecked

Yerd (v): to beat with an object with a stick

Roddikin (n): the fourth stomach of a cow or a deer

Balbriggan (n): a type of fine cotton, most often used in underwear

and my personal favorite

Cornobble (v): to slap or beat another person with a fish

[somewhatgreatexpectations]

This makes the English nerd in me extremely happy.

[swordandkettle]

“Defenestration” is one of my personal favorites, thanks to Eva Ibbotson.

[yeahwrite]

These are so good! I always remember defenestration because “Fenster” is the German word for window.

[alexenglish]

Someone meta this against the new pictures while I’m at work.

[fuckyeahwomenprotesting]

[the--circle-of-life-deactivated]

Love this post.

I’m so sick of people calling any sort of Islamic head garment  a burqa, considering there are several that go by different names mk.

[daisyflowerfairy]

This is a great post, as I have generalized with burqa before.

[misandristoverlord]

TIL!

[sclez-deactivated20150212]

 I was always confused over this; thank you for the informative post!

[rimez-deactivated20141229]

oh this is very informative!

[akitron]

Here!

this is a very good visual post

[callmekitto-deactivated20220425]

 Oh, cool. I think I’ve been drawing hijabs wrong until now, so I’m glad I found this.

[zerachin]

RESEARCH MATREIAL WOOP

[golden-masquerade]

Whoops, I’ve been spelling hijab wrong. Sorry. ;_;

[saccharinesylph]

Good to know! Spread this around!

[coffeeshopaupreinstalled]

Pronunciations (just in case you’re concerned and wanna do it right):

Khimar - Key-mar

Chador - Audio - Cha-door, or Cha-der

Hijab - Audio - He-jab

Al-Amira - Audio - All-uh-meer-uh

Shayla - Shay-la

Niqab - Audio - Knee-cobb

Burka - Audio - Boor-kah, or Bur-kah

[onlyskintrilogy]

Sexualities/Genders (And Other Terms One Should Know)

Heterosexual: Male-identifying individual sexually attracted to a female-identifying individual, and vice-versa.

Homosexual: Someone attracted to someone of the same gender as themselves.

Bisexual: Sexually attracted to two or more genders.

Polysexual: Sexually attracted to many genders, but not all.

Pansexual: Sexually attracted to all genders. (this and bisexual, and sometimes polysexual, are often considered to be the same thing and different people may simply identify as any one of them due to their own personal reasons)

Heteroflexible: Usually sexually attracted to the opposite gender, but rarely sexually attracted to other genders.

Homoflexible: Usually sexually attracted to the same gender, but rarely sexually attracted to other genders.

Gynesexual: Sexually attracted to females or femininity.

Androsexual: Sexually attracted to males or masculinity.

Demisexual: Sexually attracted to people only after forming a bond with them first.

Gray-sexual/Gray-asexual: Someone who rarely experiences sexual attraction.

Asexual: Having no /sexual attraction/ to others

Apothisexual: Same as asexual, but more specifically disgusted by sex.

Heteroromantic: Male-identifying individual romantically attracted to female-identifying individuals, and vice-versa.

Homoromantic: Attracted romantically to the same gender.

Biromantic: Attracted romantically to two or more genders

Polyromantic: Attracted to many genders (but not all)

Panromantic: Attracted romantically to all genders

Gyneromantic: Attracted romantically to females or femininity

Androromantic: Attracted romantically to males or masculinity

Gray-romantic/Gray-aromantic: Rarely romantically attracted to anyone.

Demiromantic: Romantically attracted to people only after forming a bond with them first.

Aromantic: Having no /romantic attraction/ to others

Apothiromantic: Same as aromantic, but more specifically disgusted by romance.

Polyamorous: Someone who is attracted to, and is comfortable with being in a relationship with more than one person at a time.

Akoiromantic/Lithromantic: Someone who experiences romantic attraction, but doesn't wish to act upon it or for it to be reciprocated.

Cupioromantic: The opposite of lithromantic--someone who desires a romantic relationship, but does not experience romantic attraction.

Quoiromantic: Unable to differentiate between romantic and platonic attraction.

Transexual/Transgender (Term depending on generation and location): An individual who identifies as a gender other than the one they were assigned at birth to be. Often shortened to trans

Cisgender: Someone who identifies as the gender that they were assigned as at birth. (ex. matches their birth certificate) Often shortened to cis

Intersex: Someone who has ambiguous genitalia that doesn't fit into our strict dichotomy of uterus or testes. Often forced into surgery to correct their genitals at a very young age, causing psychological and physical harm later in life

Non-binary: Outside of the gender binary of male and female. (Can be used as an umbrella term or as its own identity)

Genderqueer: Outside of the gender binary. (interchangeable with non-binary)

Agender: Someone who experiences a 'lack' of gender.

Bigender: Someone who identifies as two genders.

Trigender: Someone who identifies as three genders.

Genderfluid: A gender that changes, or is 'fluid'.

Demigirl: Identifying partially as a woman, but not wholly.

Demiboy/guy: Identifying partially as a man, but not wholly.

Androgyne: Expressing both male and female traits.

Dmab: Designated Male at Birth.

Dfab: Designated Female at Birth.

Amab/Afab: Same as dmab/dfab, except with 'assigned' instead of 'designated'.

Camab/Cafab: Same as previous, except prefixed by 'coercively', to highlight the lack of choice.

Reblog to inform! And if there's any I missed or anything that should be clarified, please message me! Always looking to expand the proper vocab. :)

**I edited this post because it used some archaic and incorrect terms/definitions, and needed more terms added to it. -Vivian Mareepe

[gujarekmogdar-blog]

BOLD what applies to your character

PLACE IN SOCIETY

financial: wealthy / moderate / poor / in poverty.

medical: fit / moderate / sickly / disabled / disadvantaged.

class or caste: upper / middle / working / slave / unsure.

education: qualified / unqualified / studying.

criminal record: yes, for major crimes / yes, for minor crimes / no.

FAMILY

married - happily / married - unhappily / engaged or betrothed / partnered / single / divorced / separated.

has a child or children ( single mother verse only ) / has no children / wants children.  

close with sibling(s) / not close with sibling(s) / has no siblings / sibling(s) is deceased.

orphaned / adopted / disowned / raised by birth parent(s).

TRAITS + TENDENCIES

extroverted / introverted / in between.

disorganized / organized / in between.

close minded / open-minded  / in between.

calm / anxious / in between.

disagreeable / agreeable / in between.

cautious / reckless / in between.

patient / impatient / in between.

outspoken / reserved / in between.

leader / follower / in between.

empathetic / unemphatic / in between.

optimistic / pessimistic / in between.

traditional / modern / in between.

hard-working / lazy / in between.

cultured / un-cultured / in between / unknown.

loyal / disloyal / unknown.

faithful / unfaithful / unknown.

BELIEFS:

monotheist / polytheist / atheist / agnostic.

belief in ghosts or spirits: yes / no / don’t know / don’t care.

belief in an afterlife: yes / no / don’t know / doesn’t care.

belief in reincarnation: yes / no / don’t know / doesn’t care.

belief in aliens: yes  / no / don’t know / don’t care.

religious: orthodox / liberal / in between / not religious.

philosophical: yes / no.

OPINIONS

pro-suicide / anti-suicide / doesn’t know / on the fence.

pro-euthanasia / anti-euthanasia / doesn’t know / on the fence.

pro-choice / anti-abortion / doesn’t know / on the fence.

pro-marriage / anti-marriage / doesn’t know / on the fence.

pro-death penalty / anti-death penalty  / doesn’t know / on the fence.

pro-murder / anti-murder / doesn’t know / on the fence.

pro-cannibalism / anti-cannibalism / doesn’t know / on the fence. 

SEXUALITY + ROMANTIC INCLINATION

heterosexual / homosexual / bisexual / asexual / pansexual / demisexual

Monogamy / polyamory

sex repulsed / sex neutral / sex favorable.

romance repulsed / romance neutral / romance favorable.

sexually: adventurous / experienced / naive / inexperienced / curious.

potential sexual partners: male / female / agender / other / none / all.

potential romantic partners: male / female / agender / other / none / all.

ABILITIES

combat skills: excellent / good / moderate / poor / none.

literacy skills: excellent / good / moderate / poor / none

artistic skills: excellent / good / moderate / poor / none

technical skills: excellent / good / moderate / poor / none.

HABITS

drinking alcohol: never / sometimes / frequently / to excess.

smoking: never / sometimes / frequently / to excess.

other narcotics: never / sometimes / frequently / to excess.

medicinal drugs: never / sometimes  / frequently / to excess.

indulgent food: never / sometimes / frequently / to excess.

splurge spending: never / sometimes / frequently / to excess.

gambling: never / sometimes / frequently / to excess.