Unleash Your Words

A writer's blog for writer's things. // A book lover's blog for bookish things.

[lyralit]

Types of government - Writing tips

Democracy - decisions by voting, whether electing a new leader or law

Dictatorship - a single, self-chosen ruler with strict limits and specific laws

Empire - ruled by an emperor. may be composed of different states, countries, or even kingdoms (in which case the emperor would have higher rank than king). emperor has absolute say.

Monarchy - ruled by a king, could be a country or kingdom part of that empire. leadership is chosen by succession (who was born next within a certain family)

Oligarchy - power is given to certain people, of a certain higher status—whether military, monetary, or titular

Federation - states or provinces that each have their own government and share a collective one, that holds more power than the provinces' government

Confederation - like the above, but the collective government holds less power

Republic - a state in which supreme power is held by the people and their elected representatives, and which has an elected or nominated president rather than a monarch.

Theocracy - a system of government in which priests rule in the name of God or a god.

Bureaucracy - a system of government in which most of the important decisions are made by state officials rather than by elected representatives.

Socialism - a political and economic theory of social organization which advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole.

Communism - a political theory advocating class war and leading to a society in which all property is publicly owned and each person works and is paid according to their abilities and needs.

Colonialism - the policy or practice of acquiring full or partial political control over another country, occupying it with settlers, and exploiting it economically.

[leave-her-a-tome]

90% of writing advice can be thrown out the window for your first draft.

Show don’t tell? Ignore.

Basic grammar and punctuation? Unnecessary. 

Physical descriptions of characters? Don’t need to bother. 

Solid plot? That’s for later. 

The words don’t come as fast when you’re thinking of the best way to put them together. It doesn’t have to be pretty, or much more than inconsistent nonsense.  The point is to have it exist.

Effective storytelling is for subsequent drafts! Go write some nonsense! 

[levidenoirs]

As a hyper-perfectionist human, THIS is a piece of advice I wish I’d internalized a hell of a lot sooner. If I hadn’t overwhelmed myself by considering every little thing, starting over when it gets “too messy”… there’s no doubt in my mind I’d have a first draft by now.

Now, passion is the only thing I care about in my first draft.

[crimeronan]

when i’m writing fiction, the main rule i try to stick to is that: the first draft is where i write what’s important to me.

this usually means character arcs and deep ethical and political debates for me, but for some people it’s gonna be physical description or in-depth plotting or Whatever

your subsequent drafts are where you fill in the gaps and make things make sense, but that first draft should be everything you personally care about, and don’t worry much about the rest

[breelandwalker]

Also? PRE. 👏  WRITE. 👏 THINGS. 👏

Got a scene in mind? Don’t try to fit it into your draft, just write it in a separate file and save it.

Got some witty dialogue on deck? Jot it down and keep it in your pocket!

Settings? Character development? Plot point ideas? Dramatic scenes? Write it all down! Keep a prewriting file, or two, or three, or however many you need. It doesn’t matter if what you put in them makes sense, or is totally disjointed, or whether it gets used at all.

Get those ideas in writing. Do NOT trust yourself to remember a great idea six weeks, two days, or fifteen minutes from now when you’ve got time to work it into the larger story. If you get ideas while you’re out and about or at work, keep a notepad in your pocket or text them to yourself.

Keep a treasure trove of all those wonderful fiddly bits that make your writing unique. You never know when they’ll come in handy!

[dropkickwritersblock]

Write a piece about a frenemy

[writingprompts365]

A character combs another character’s hair

[deepwaterfiction]

Text: I sew my wings on every morning after breakfast. You need a sharp needle and two or three mirrors, but by now I’ve got the hang of it. 

[senpiecakes]

Hero 1: We can do this if we work together!

Hero 2: This is no way a "we" situation.

Hero 1: Those are wise words coming from a sidekick.

Hero 2: Ok, you know what-

[witterprompts]

“Since when did you become a detective? Gonna solve the case of our missing friendship?”

[writeouswriter]

Writer Problems

My outlining notes probably look alarming to an outsider:

[dropkickwritersblock]

Write a piece about a fox getting revenge on a hunter

[fluoresensitivearchived]

rivals are always one ‘make me!’ away from kissing, and i think that’s very iconic

[corvidprompts]

"Why did I sign up for this?"

"To help make the world a better place?"

"Oh. No. Actually it was because I jump at opportunity to play god, but the question was rhetorical."

[cloudcalm]

on missing you, adapted from “how much does it take for a heart to break?”

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Penguins new ad campaign celebrates well-read books

This new ad campaign from Penguin appeals to those of us who think beat-up, torn, taped, scribbled-upon books are more appealing than pristine ones. I wondered if the books photographed here were found as is, or lovingly distressed by the art director, then I saw the small print in the lower right of each ad, which suggests they were found that way.

https://boingboing.net/2019/07/05/penguins-new-ad-campaign-celeb.html

[witterprompts]

“You teleported me into someone else’s house. Do you know how awkward that was?”

“It’s important that you’re at least honest about this. Please.”

“What you need to do now is apologize and try to make things right.”

“You’re honest, but sometimes I wish you weren’t.”

“I wanted to make you something that shows you how much I care, so I carved this piece of wood into the shape of your dog. Do you like it?”

“You are sappy, don’t even try to deny it. You wrote me six poems.”

[inspiring-prompts]

You read about an unsolved murder on the internet, and are inspired by it to write a murder mystery. Obviously you take liberties with the plot, and you have to make up a murderer, and when it’s finally published it doesn’t even get much attention. Until one night, when someone jumps you as you’re walking home, presses a knife to your throat, and whispers: “How? How did you know exactly what I did?”

[olearypoetry]

“The thing about writing is I can’t tell if it’s healing or destroying.”

— Rupi Kaur, Milk and Honey (via rupikaurpoems)

[witterprompts]

“When you’ve been alive for centuries, things like this stop surprising you.”

“An apology from you would be nice every once in a while.”

“I think I stopped listening after you said my shirt was an eyesore, so… your problem, really.”

“You could use your powers for so much more, you know?”

“Stop spreading chaos. I can’t keep up with it anymore.”

“I liked it better when you didn’t know how to be sarcastic with me.”