Prompts & Pointers

Prompts Pointers Character Building World Building Responses Dedicated to providing daily inspiration and advice for writers and creatives of all sorts. Send a question anytime!

[verazelinski-deactivated2019102]

Homophones, Weakly, a blog masterminded by Bruce Worden

[narishkeyt]

like if you support gorilla reblog if you support guerilla!

[snerpthesnerr]

DES

[snerpthesnerr]

PA

[snerpthesnerr]

[maramahan]

I find it kinda odd how people talk about writing “flawed” characters like the flaws are an afterthought

Like “cool cool we’ve got this perfect hero now to just sprinkle on some Irritability and Trust Issues then microwave for 6 minutes on high until Done”

But I’ve personally found it feels a lot more useful to just… think of the flaws as the Good Traits except bad this time

The protagonist is loyal? Maybe that means they have a hard time recognizing toxic relationships and are easily manipulated by those they want to trust

The hero is compassionate? Maybe they work too hard and overextend themselves trying to help people and then they refuse to ask for help when they need it themselves for fear of burdening others

They’re dedicated to their ideals? Maybe they’re also too stubborn to know when to quit and they have trouble apologizing for their mistakes

If they’re creative, they can also be flighty. If they’re confident, they can be arrogant. If they’re brave, they might be reckless. If they’re smart, they could be condescending. Protective can become controlling, and someone who’s carefree could very well also be emotionally distant

In my opinion, the best “flaws” aren’t just added on afterwards. The best flaws are baked in deep, ‘cause they’re really just virtues turned upside down

[tw-evan-deactivated20170827]

Want to use a fancy custom language for something, but don’t know how to make one?Use Vulgar!

Vulgar is a conlang (constructed/fictional language) generator created to help literally generate a language for you. No, really. No tricks, and it’s super simple to use. It’s my favourite tool right now for writing fantasy, even as someone who loves creating his own languages, it’s an amazing starting point.

Want a random conlang, straight away, with no prep or fuss? Just visit http://vulgarlang.com/index.html and click “Generate New Conlang”… and that’s it. Scroll down and through your brand new, generated, completely original conlang. 

If you’re a little more advanced in terms of conlanging and want to specify IP phonemes to be used, you can add them too, but even with no knowledge of linguistics you can create a language at the click of your fingers.

This version of Vulgar is completely free, sure…. but! the guy who created it has not only made an amazing thing (which I repeat, is absolutely free at it’s most basic point), but is also planning on updating it more and more!

Under the “Buy” tab on the Vulgar website, he links to his email, where you can offer to pay for the full version of Vulgar, which is a total steal right now at a sale price of only nineteen dollars. Considering professional conlangers and linguists could charge you, like, a metric fuck ton of money for the same data you’re getting here for just nineteen, that’s a major steal.

Not to mention, buying the alpha build now gives you free access to all of it’s updated versions, which I can guarantee are just going to get better and better! I’ve already bought it and I adore it, and this is a tool the likes of which we in the conlang community have never seen in such an awesome way.

Please consider helping Vulgar out, because the creator is a damn genius

[purplebuddhaproject]

[klostermanliterary]

Being a writer is hard.  Being a writer who wants to get published is really hard.  It takes a lot of work, a lot of dedication, and more research than anyone ever wants to believe.  Not only are you doing research to write your stories, but once you’re done, you’re suddenly faced with the need to do research on how to get published.

That’s a rabbit hole that’s easy to fall into.

The first step?  Find an editor.  And I don’t mean an editor who works in a publishing house—we’re still a long way from that bit.  No, the first kind of editor you need to find is a freelancer.

A freelance editor is going to take your manuscript and help you get it to the point where you can send it where it needs to be—whether that’s a self-publishing platform, a literary agent, or the unsolicited manuscript pile at a publishing house.

You can’t send an unpolished manuscript to any of these places.  That’s where the freelancer comes in.

But how do things work when you’re working with a freelance editor?  Let’s face it: there’s only so much time you can invest in researching how this all works.  And you don’t want to put money into something when you’re not entirely sure how the process goes.

So here’s a little crash course on how editing tends to work with freelancers—and with publishing houses.

Keep reading

[promptsandpointers]

I'm @ScriptMedic and I'm Here to Help

Writers! Authors! Humans who create!

Look, y’all, writing fictional medical stuff is hard. It takes a LOT of background knowledge to write accurate, believable scenes with doctors, nurses, or paramedics. And whether your story is set in a hospital, or has the briefest interaction with medical providers, it can still be a big challenge–and some people find it intimidating.

That’s okay. I’m here to help.

I’m your consult. Your phone-a-friend. Your beta for the medical bits. I’m here to help you improve your stories, to make them more believable. I’ve got ten years of experience in healthcare, with a focus in EMS, Emergency Medicine and Critical / Intensive Care–all the exciting bits!

Not sure what how a doctor sets a broken bone? Who does the stitching? What’s a hematoma, anyway? What’s a believable dose of haloperidol–and why is that lower case, but Haldol, the same medicine, is capitalized? What does an OR smell like?

Ask me! (Ask me anything!)

I’m gonna be putting out resources for authors and scriptwriters, to help write believable, accurate, and exciting fiction. I’ll be around for NaNoWriMo and beyond. And I’m here for you!

So send me your questions, tumblr. I’m here to help. And thank you to @promptsandpointers for allowing me to submit!!

[feathers-ruffled]

Attention all artists that have a part time/full time job

Never feel bad or apologize for not doing as much art as your peers. 

You are very lucky to have a source of income you can count on.

Work can be tiring, if you are too tired to draw, then don’t draw.

You’ve worked a long shift, you come home and feel worn out. You want to draw, but you just can’t do it. DO NOT FEEL BAD ABOUT THAT. You’ve earned some rest, you can always draw another time.

Never apologize for taking longer to finish things because of your schedule.

If someone tells you “ I’m not gonna support/follow you because you don’t post as much as this artist”, ignore them. They obviously don’t support you in the first place.  

You are a great artist to balance both art and work. <3

[promptsandpointers]

World Building : 

How do people share memories and experiences? Do they share via oral story telling, written word, or photos, or by some other method?

[promptsandpointers]

Pointer : 

Embrace the things you hate every now and again. Write in the style of My Immortal. Let yourself be free, let yourself make mistakes. You’ll be better for it. Have fun. 

[promptsandpointers]

Prompt : 

The heads severed on Halloween remain sentient, alive, and fully in control of their bodies. 

[promptsandpointers]

Character Building : 

What does music do for them? What sort of genres do they enjoy?

[promptsandpointers]

Pointer :

Patience is required in all things. It never happens overnight. You will not learn it all in a day. Take your time. It’s okay. Relish in what you’re doing and what you’re discovering along the way to where you want to be. 

[promptsandpointers]

Prompt : 

A secret kingdom is hidden amongst the sunflower fields that only the elderly of the area can access.

[janiris-deactivated20210215]

unapologetically call yourself an artist no matter how skilled you are

[promptsandpointers]

World Building : 

How do people occupy transit time? What sort of transit is available, public or otherwise?

[promptsandpointers]

Pointer : 

Characters are people, and people are never without fault. People are problematic. People do disgusting things. Let your characters do these things, and have your narrative condemn or punish them.