Puppies And Plot Twists

your books, my books, all the books

[windwardstar]

I literally only have one rule in my writing and it is this:

No matter what I put my characters through, they make it. They get to make it to the end of the story and have everything work out and be ok.

Because that’s the story I need. So it’s the kind I write.

[windwardstar]

If you want a piece of writing advice: write a story that is what you needed to hear at whatever age your target demographic is. I can guarantee you there’ll be someone out there who needs to hear it as much as you did. And maybe you’ll help them the same way someone else’s story did for you.

[boothewriter-deactivated2018122]

For some reason, this hit home and I never realized it that I did this for my stories too

[underhillwriter]

Yes, I do teach creative writing: your opening scene

The opening scene is the most important piece of your novel. This scene determines whether your reader is pulled in or puts the book down. Here are some important do’s and don’ts.

DO write it as a scene, not a data dump. You may have a fantastic premise, a marvelous alternate history or post-apocalyptic world or magical realism to die for, but if you don’t engage your reader in an actual scene, you will bore them.

DO write a scene that immediately introduces a character that the reader can root for. Yes, I know Stephen King has had great success introducing victims that are then shortly afterward killed off. That’s a horror trope and we expect it. But if you are caught up in world-building and haven’t dreamed your way into a character who is worth following through 100,000 words of writing, your story is pointless. I have read many pieces of fiction by would-be writers who can’t grasp this essential concept, and without exception, they fail to engage the reader.

DO introduce the stakes right away. In case that’s a challenge that needs some exposition to develop, create some immediate stakes (a life threat works) that keep the tension high and the reader engaged until you can lay out the larger stakes.

DO begin in medias res, which means “in the middle of things.” Most beginning fiction writers make the mistake of starting too early in the plot. Meet the monster on page 1. 

DON’T include a flashback in the first chapter. Work on a scene, which means time is NOT compressed. It should include dialog, action, description, setting, and interior monolog. Keep everything happening within that scene for at least the first chapter. You can bring in a flashback in Chapter Three.

DON’T shift points of view within a single chapter. Let the reader establish a strong bond of interest (even if it’s with a POV villain) over the course of a whole chapter.

DON’T open the story with your character waking up unless it’s because she’s got a gun in her face (or a knife to her throat – you get what I mean). We don’t need to follow a character through their mundane daily routine. 

DON’T be coy. Beginning writers often have this idea that they need to hold back on revealing all their secrets – what’s in the box, who’s behind the curtain, where they’re going next, etc. Their well-meant plan is to slowly reveal all this over several chapters. Trust me on this one: tell your readers instead of keeping it a mystery. You WILL come up with more secrets to reveal. Your imagination is that good. Spill it now, and allow that revelation to add to the excitement.

[quotemadness]

“Writing, to me, is simply thinking through my fingers.”

— Isaac Asimov

[theliteraryarchitect]

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

That is, it rarely works out that you have an idea, then do a first draft, then edit that draft, then celebrate. The writing process itself is often an act of discovery, and can be messy and “inefficient.”

You may write your first draft and realize it has major holes, causing you to need to return to your outline, correct the issue, and re-approach your draft.

You may discover that the character you thought was your main character is not your main character. It’s actually her sister, and now you need to rewrite your story.

You may change your point of view character several times before landing on the right one.

You may write 9 drafts of your story only to realize the fundamental concept is flawed, bringing you back to the drawing board.

You might throw away hundreds of pages.

If you’re writing a novel, you might outline, then draft, then re-outline, then re-draft several times before you even get a solid handle on where you’re going with your story.

You might write four different endings before you decide which one works best for your story.

You might remove characters, combine characters, add characters.

…all of this is normal. If this is happening to you, you’re not doing anything wrong. You’re a writer, and this is what writing is like sometimes. Sure, some writers seem to be able (or claim to be able) to write more quickly and efficiently. But there’s no sense in comparing yourself to them, and most of them are lying anyway. Instead of criticizing yourself, try to become curious about and embrace your process. There’s something awesome about how mysterious and unpredictable writing can be!

[whatsinsideawritersmind]

“Writing begins with forgiveness. Let go of the shame about how long it’s been since you last wrote, the clenching fear that you’re not a good enough writer, the doubts over whether or not you can get it done”

— Daniel José Older

[mcfrankauthor]

““If a writer falls in love with you, you can never die.””

— Mik Everett (via purplebuddhaquotes)

[puppies-and-plot-twists]

for my love

[cogesque-deactivated20210410]

If you can honestly tell yourself “well, at least it would make a pretty fire if I burned it”, your first draft is good enough. It exists? It’s flammable? It’s good enough.

[justfortheheart]

[puppies-and-plot-twists]

Happy Mood Board Monday! It’s the first one! That’s always exciting.

For the first of the Mood Board Monday’s, I thought I would introduce you to the main character of my novel, After The Apocalypse.

His name is Dane, and here’s a mood board dedicated to his frumpy smile.

Cuz we all get the Monday blues, don’t we? I just hope your Monday is more smile than frump!

Yes, this is Andres Ceballos, and yes, he looks exactly like Dane. Or at least, the way he looks in my mind. And thankfully, Andres adores taking selfies and posting them all over the internet, so I have no lack of pictures of him to use as reference for Dane.

[thewritershandbook]

I know a lot of writers create fics for the popular communities they cherish, but there are only a handful of writers who publish works in unpopular communities. I think it takes guts to publish a fanfiction, but I think it shows gusto to publish a fic in a community that only a few search up. I implore fanfiction writers to write a story for an unpopular community (100 stories or less is unpopular) that they enjoy just to have fun. Consider it a writing exercise.

An excellent way to practise Fanfiction writing! Take a look at some of the stories and characters you enjoy and are a fan of, but may not be the most popular or well-know. Creating fanfictions based on a variety of sources can aid in developing your writing. By reading and analyzing different works, you’ll see an array of writing styles and techniques.

:) Thank you @threeeyedclover

[puppies-and-plot-twists]

it’s me, ya girl

This post is going to be me introducing myself, my novel, and my posting schedule!

This is me! I’m a pen-weilding, costume-building, book-reading gal.

However, this is also me.

I’m a dork. I’ve got hoards of inelegant, dorky, laughable pictures of myself, just like everybody else.

But those are a story for another day.

Today, I’m here to give you a briefing of sorts. A this-is-what-you’re-going-to-need-to-know-for-everything-else-to-make-sense briefing. I already introduced myself, and you’ll get to know more about me as time goes on, so now it’s time to introduce you to my novel.

I’ve been working on this book for a very, very long time. I had a goal to finish it in 2017, and I did!! By 7:00 PM on New Year’s Eve, I had written ‘to be continued’ on the page. That was an incredible moment, and a wonderful feeling.

So now I’m just self-editing and revising! It’s honestly really surreal. I do have other projects that I’m working on, and I’m sure those will make themselves known in the time to come.

My book is titled:

After The Apocalypse

After The Apocalypse is set in 2124. Seven years earlier, the werewolves of the world rose up in rebellion against the humans. This revolution became so destructive that people started calling it the Apocalypse.

In this story, we follow Dane and his team of friends as they take an expedition into werewolf territory to try to learn more about the Apocalypse and the werewolves themselves.

Enter Thorn, a young werewolf with a trying past. Dane learns from her that something has been killing all of the werewolves—Thorn is the last one. Working together, will they figure out what picked off every other werewolf on the planet? Or will they fall victims to the killers themselves?

So that’s my book! This is actually the first time I’ve written out a blurb/synopsis thing, and that wasn’t too bad. ATA is the writing project that I will primarily be discussing, so I hope it doesn’t bore you too much haha..

Next up, I need to explain my posting schedule! I will be posting every Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday. Or at least, that’s the plan.

Mondays will be ‘Mood Board Mondays’ and I will be posting various mood boards and aesthetics inspired by my writing, my reading, and maybe even my life!

Wednesdays will be ‘Wise Words Wednesdays’ and I will be posting quotes or tips about writing (and maybe other subjects if I really feel so inclined).

Saturdays will be ‘Snippet Saturdays’ and I’m actually really excited for this one, because I’ll be posting snippets and sneak peeks and portions of my writing projects!

I’m excited to get back into blogging! I suppose we’ll see how this goes.

[vlue-the-wallflower]

ideas will stay ideas

and dreams will stay dreams

if you don’t change anything

[orriculum]

🌊 Types of Mermaids 🌊

please be respectful of cultural boundaries when working with mermaids from various cultures and traditions, and be mindful not to intrude.

🌊 Rusalkas - slavic in origin, disturbed spirits of the “unclean dead”, ghosts of women who died violent deaths, with a penchant for drowning young men. they live only in rivers and lakes, and are known to have green hair like aquatic plants, only appearing in the night. 

🌊 Melusina - a mermaid that walks among humans, but returns to their two-tailed form during baths and when they bathe their children. often a water spirit of a nearby lake or river. french origin. 

🌊 Siren - greek mythology. servants and companions of persephone, whom searched for her when she was abducted. they are known to sometimes have the body of a bird, and for their song, which lured sailors to their doom. cannibalism implied folklore. have the power of prophecy. 

🌊 Merrow - irish mermaid. known to have green hair and webbed fingers. particular noted love of music and their red cap, which when stolen, they will live with the thief until they find it, and then return to the water, leaving even a whole family behind. 

🌊 Ben-varrey - from the isle of man, known to bless those that are kind to them with prosperity, gifts, and even the location of treasure. 

🌊 Aicaya -  Caribbean mermaid, humans who become mermaids when they are shunned from their community and go to live in the sea. 

🌊 Amabie - japanese merpeople, with birdlike torsos and three legs and scales. they are gifted with prophecy, usually foretelling abundant harvests or epidemics 

🌊 Ningyo - “human faced fish” known to have golden scales, that brings bad weather and misfortune when caught, but when their flesh is eaten the consumer is granted youth and beauty, even agelessness. 

🌊 Finman / Finwife - magical shapeshifters that disguise themselves as sea creatures or plants to lure humans, unlike most mermaids they kidnap people from the shores to be their spouses or servants. they have a greed for jewelry and coins, particularly silver, and prefer humans over other finfolk. 

🌊 Sirena Chilota - considered the more friendly mermaids, caring for all fish life and rescuing drowned sailors to restore life to them. known for their human-like beauty and youth, according to legend they are the child of a human and a “king of seas”, tears are a powerful substance. from chilote mythology. 

🌊 Cecealia - sometimes known as “sea witches”, they are half human and half octopus. origins in native american and japanese mythology. 

🌊 Sirena / Siyokoy - the philippine version of mermaid and merman respectively. also called “magindara”, they are known to protect the waters from raiders, and protect the boy moon from sea monsters. Siyokoys can sometimes have legs however, covered with scales and webbed feet

🌊 Sea Mither - scottish/orcadian mythology, a spirit that personifies the sea during spring and summer, battles along scottish isles using storms to bring the summer about. a mother figure to all aquatic life. 

🌊 Ceasg - a fresh-water mermaid, specifically half-salmon, said to grant three wishes if captured. sometimes called maighdean na tuinne (maid of the wave) or maighdean mhara (maid of the sea). scottish. 

🌊 Selkie - though somewhat different from the typical mermaid, as they are not cold-blooded, have the body of a seal in the water and are human on land. in legends their skins are often stolen and they are kept by fishermen as spouses, or become lovers to fishermen’s wives who shed tears into the sea.  

[eternallydaydreaming2015-deacti]

I had no idea so many versions existed.

[puppies-and-plot-twists]

blog rededication

I uh, haven’t used this blog in a long, long time. I used to be really big into tumblr, but then lost interest..

So! Here’s a blog rededication. Follow me at @buckythewarbreaker for all my fangirling, and follow me here for all my bookish and writerly things. Here I’ll be posting book reviews, reading updates, and most importantly, writing updates.

I’ll do a big introduction of myself some other time, but I just wanted to get this underway.

If you want to find me elsewhere, you can find me on Wattpad under shortstackdrew, on Instagram under puppies.and.plot.twists, and on twitter under shortstack_drew.

I do hope you’ll join me. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride!

[puppies-and-plot-twists]

Book Review of An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon

Thanks to the @kidlitexchange program for the review copy of this book -- all opinions are my own. An Unkindness Of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon is an unexpectedly beautiful story of love, loss, and mystery. We follow our main character Aster while she learns to heal herself while healing others. She is the assistant to the Surgeon, whose name is Theo, aboard the enormous spaceship Matilda.

One of the biggest things I noticed and loved is the way the author played with memory. Aster has an incredibly vivid memory, and this book is written exactly the way memories play out in my head. Aster is in the present scene, and then something reminds her of the past. She goes through the memory in detail, and then seamlessly reconnects with the present scene.

Aster mother, Lune, was an engineer (or what equated it aboard the Matilda) and worked on the ship’s artificial sun. Lune has long been dead, but she recorded her life copiously, and Aster follows and tracks her mother through the Matilda using the notes, journals, and calculations the woman left behind. I loved how real Lune became through these notes and memories.

An Unkindness of Ghosts is gorgeously written, and tells a fantastic, deep, and riveting story. I adored being able to follow these complex characters through their highs and lows, and I was engrossed until the very last word.

[puppies-and-plot-twists]

Book Review of You Bring The Distant Near by Mitali Perkins

Thanks to the @kidlitexchange network for the review copy of the book - all opinions are my own.

You Bring The Distant Near was an unexpectedly beautiful story that really prompted a lot of thought on my part. This book follows five women across three generations, several different countries, and more than forty years. These woman take you along for the journey of figuring yourself out, and tell their individual stories in individual voices that all bring to light various aspects of the truth.

As Sonia, one of the women in the second of three generations, ponders where she is truly from after a move to another country, I find myself asking the same question. Where am I from, really? Anna, of the third generation, made me see the glorified splendor of America from a different perspective and made me ponder what is really so great about living here.

There were two methods employed by the author that I thought were done incredibly well. I loved the dynamic between all of the characters that the author presented. Almost none of their relationships were perfect, and I loved that! It made these wonderful women more human, and I was able to connect with them more frequently. Additionally, the author has an incredible sense of timing. This book spans forty years, and the author did so well with explaining time gaps. I never felt lost or confused as I was reading, and I really valued that.

You Bring The Distant Near is a very well written story about love, identity, and tradition. I recommend it to everyone looking for a cute but meaningful contemporary book.

[puppies-and-plot-twists]

Book Review of Love, Hate, & Other Filters by Samira Ahmed

@kidlitexchange #partner

Thanks to the @kidlitexchange network for the review copy of this book--all opinions are my own.

Love, Hate, & Other Filters -- 4 STARS

Love, Hate, & Other Filters follows Maya Aziz through her senior year, documenting her troubles with cute boys, hovering parents, and social prejudices. I loved two main things in this book: 1) the developing love story with perfectly-hot-football-jock named Phil, and 2) how passionate Maya was about her art of making movies. I too am a creative person who wishes to follow and fulfill her dreams, so Maya’s passion was really quite contagious. Equally contagious was her love for this guy Phil. Personally, I would never date a guy named Phil, it’s just not a name I find attractive or comfortable pronouncing. But anyway, I loved each and every scene with the two of them together, and I think their romance was very well-written.

In Love, Hate, & Other Filters, Maya is the only Indian Muslim in her school, and her and her family come to face problems because of that. About halfway through the book, a terrorist attack occurs in a city nearby, and conflict begins to surround Maya’s family. I appreciated that the terrorist attack was not the central event in the book, and that the story did not revolve around the conflict, but instead revolved around Maya and what she was experiencing. Additionally, I liked that the terrorist attack was something to be overcome, and it didn’t last throughout the whole book.

I loved how Maya’s family was written. I loved how Maya overcame the traditionality of her parents, and how even though things may not have worked out the way Maya or her parents had wanted, they were still okay. This book, and Maya especially, taught me that conflict can be overcome, that love is important, and that life does go on.