Spirit's Study @queenaelise - Tumblr Blog

So, India is dying.

Look, I know a good number of you are from the US and things aren't amazing there either, but my country is literally on the brink of collapse. So I'd love it if we could talk about that for a minute.

If you can't do anything else, please just read and reblog.

veronicasummersfelton

To put things in perspective,

1 USD = 75.22 Indian rupees

1 euro = 90.99 Indian rupees

1 pound = 104.40 Indian rupees

Even a small amount of 5 or 7 or 10 of foreign currency will help a lot. Our government has essentially abandoned us. People have turned to social media for help. WhatsApp groups and DMs on twitter/insta is where we find help. Our helpline is a Google doc. Situation is so dire that hospitals are discharging patients due to lack of oxygen. Every night the same story, oxygen running out in hospitals, citizens running around to somehow arrange for oxygen with minutes to spare. Last night, we had manged to get oxygen to a hospital with 14min to spare.

Please, PLEASE help. 🙏🏽🙏🏽🙏🏽

groundzero-and-deku

LINKS LINKS LINKS

^ that post has links to petitions and donations PLEASE boost the versions of this post with links!!

dracogotgame

Reblogging with more links. Listen to @groundzero-and-deku ☝️ they know what they're talking about.

Some of you in the US have asked what else you can do. I'm not the best person to answer this since I'm not from there, but I do know that Biden is being urged to ship supplies to India. Maybe a more informed person can chime in with how best you can help but calling your representative and registering your concern sounds like a good starting point.

From one democracy to another, thank you. Please keep this going, you're all amazing.

dracogotgame

Reblogging one more time

EDIT: Reblogging with donation and resource links all in one place: Here's a great post with links to petitions in the US and UK and a list of active charities and donation centres in India

And some more donation links from @spacegirlstuff

Here and Here

Some more posts with links, resources, and ways to help collected by @groundzero-and-deku who is doing the absolute most:

Here and Here

A few more NGOs that are helping:

Habitat for Humanity India

Oxfam India

Give India

Uday Foundation

Goonj

Not every listed charity has the infrastructure to accept international donations, so please be sure to check this list which has specific information about charities that can and are accepting international donations.

Also re-adding the link to the give2asia charitable foundation for those who don't want to go through the whole post.

One more comprehensive resource link here

And another one with many more NGOs, resources for oxygen and plasma, and other info

Y'all, this is a good time to mention that I am not affiliated with any charity or donation center and am not receiving donations on behalf of anyone.

This is a list of resources compiled partly by me and more importantly, by other people who have a better grasp on the situation than myself.

They are to the best of our knowledge great resources but I still encourage you to do your research and put your money where you believe it will be used best.

If you find more ways to help or donate, add them in a reblog - let's get as much information out there as possible.

Much love and please stay safe

PLEASE BOOST THIS VERSION OF THE POST WITH THE EXTENDED LIST OF LINKS TO DONATIONS AND RESOURCES

dracogotgame

UPDATE:

The number of new cases has almost hit the 350,000 mark. The total number of covid cases in the country is just shy of 17 million. This is the situation as of 25 April 2021.

The active tally is nearing the 27-lakh mark .The country has so far administered 14,09,16,417 anti-Covid jabs

Things are dire. People are largely on their own now and help, if any, is yet to come.

President Biden is being urged to ease restrictions or remove to embargo on raw materials that could be critical in India's fight against the virus.

Just a while ago, the US government committed to helping with "a small supply of inputs and components from US companies for production of COVID-19 vaccines in India".

By Andrea Shalal WILMINGTON, Del. (Reuters) -The United States is deeply concerned by a massive surge in coronavirus cases in India and will

There are no specifics yet and time is of the essence.

Friends in the US, we know you're in the middle of your own fight. We want you safe.

But a stockpile of tens of millions of vaccines exists in the US, a fraction of which could make all the difference to India right now.

No one needs to die. Things are bad but Indian lives can still be saved without costing American ones.

We've been allies for decades.

We need your help.

Please, please, please find it in your heart to help.

Call your local representative and register your concern. Urge them to offer India aid by way of donating some of the vaccine stockpiles and removing the ban on raw material exports so lives can be saved.

Take this message to other platforms. Spread the word. Those of you on Twitter, please use your voice to promote #indianeedsoxygen.

Most importantly, DONATE WHERE YOU CAN. As little as 5 dollars can make a difference right now.

Example: here is a screenshot from the page for Making the Difference on Donatekart

As little 7 dollars can get someone a bed or an oxygen tank.

Here's a list of independent NGOs and charities that are largely accepting international donations. REMEMBER: OXYGEN is the need of the hour.

I've heard from multiple sources that the government-run PM CARES fund is not directing funds to where they're needed and while I don't have exact information, I would advise you to avoid this platform out of caution.

Some of you are rightly concerned about where your money is going.

Again, I do not represent any charity or NGO, am not affiliated with anyone and am not involved in any stage in the collection or distribution of your donations. I'm just a person doing whatever she can so please do a little bit of research to help you identify the best place to put your donation.

Charity Navigator is a good place to get a good overview of your NGOs.

At the very least, please don't let this post die. Don't let more people die. Keep reblogging and yelling about it on social media.

As someone else pointed out in the notes, there is no central helpline. All we have is each other and the little we can do in the face of this chaos.

We're resorting to social media to get help and spread awareness. We have literally the same tools you do. Please don't let this die yet. Please get the word out if you can't do anything else.

Thank you so much and please, keep us in your thoughts.

dracogotgame

Also linking to @covid19-india-resources where you can find even more comprehensive info

A few more links from the notes (thank you all for bringing these to attention):

India Development and Relief Fund

An ongoing list of independent fundraisers, many of which accept international donations

A thread with more donation options for internationals

dracogotgame

UPDATE on 26 April, 2021

Help is coming but we're nowhere near safe yet!

Here is a list of all countries who are currently helping and what they're doing for India's crisis

Germany is trying to get oxygen to India

Efforts from the US and UK are underway

The US Government has reacted to India's pleas and is committing to send supplies of testing kits, PPEs and ventilators. They're also looking to help BioE (India's vaccine manufacturer) expand supply.

NO COMMITMENT TO RELEASE THE UNUSED STOCKPILE OF 20 million VACCINES YET FROM THE BIDEN ADMIN.

"When we make decisions on what we're gonna do with additional vaccines, about exporting them, we'll announce them," said Anthony Slavitt - White House Advisor in an interview with CNN (Source: link right above).

Nonetheless, all the international efforts are heartening and will make a lot of difference.

But even as I write this post, the total number of cases in India is 17.3 million, 195,000 people are dead and the number of new cases continues to rise - last seen at 354,000

These numbers will not go down anytime soon, not with what we're working with.

To what extent this one post I made out of total desperation has helped in spreading the word about our terrible situation and in generating donations wherever possible, I will never know.

But I want you to know how grateful this one Indian is to all of you who reblogged, used your platforms, opened your wallets, found the goodness in your heart to help and didn't give up on us.

Thank you.

Shukriya.

Lakh lakh dhanyavad.

We're nowhere close to done yet, so I am once again requesting you to please keep up with your efforts to get the word out there, make noise and help us reach the right people.

Donation links here:

Up to date list of NGOs accepting international donations

Fundraisers accepting international donations

India Development and Relief Fund

Give2Asia

Habitat for Humanity India

Oxfam India

Give India

Uday

Rahat by Goonj

Friends in the UK: Khalsa Aid is an NGO based in Berkshire trying their hardest to get oxygen into the country. Please get in touch with them to help or donate.

Please, please, please donate where possible.

IF YOU HAVE CONCERNS ABOUT AUTHENTICITY OF CHARITIES HERE'S ANOTHER COLLECTION OF VERIFIED ONES

An oxygen cylinder costs roughly $ 7 right now. So does a hospital bed. You will save literal lives with just a little generosity. There is no such thing as adequate help right now.

Friendly reminder that I am not affiliated with any of the above listed charities, do not handle your donations at any stage and strongly invite you to do your research and verify them to your satisfaction.

Friends in the US: We still need your help in so many ways.

Vaccines are the need of the hour.

The Biden Administration is still considering the release of tens of millions of unused vaccines that could save lives all over India

Get in touch with your local representatives. Register your concern.

Take to twitter and your other socials, make noise, use #indianeedsoxygen and demand action.

We would never demand an exchange of your lives for ours. But hoarding unused vaccines at a time like this is near criminal. Help us make this right, please. People are still dying and they need every little bit of help that can be spared.

mamapluto

ATTENTION

The US government just killed Lezmond Mitchell, a Native American man.

It is against the law for the US Government to order the death of a tribal citizen without the approval of the corresponding sovereign Nation's approval. The Navajo Nation (to whom Mitchell belongs) actively campaigned against his execution. This is the first execution of a Native American by the occupying US government in modern times.

This is a Big Fucking Deal.

killingmoon

this is so upsetting, PLEASE rb to spread awareness

omniscient-omniromantic-deactiv

PLEASE, PLEASE REBLOG THIS, WHETHER YOURE JEWISH OR NOT.

THIS IS A SUPER IMPORTANT PART OF OUR HISTORY, DONT LET IT GET DESTROYED.

dankmemeuniversity

queenaelise

Kingdom Hearts 4: Riverdale HD Final Mix

awed-frog

when you’re trying to write and your last two functioning brain cells start yelling at each other

queenaelise

i feel attacked

pao-pao-pao

merry christmas babes! 💕🎄🎁✨

queenaelise

best boi

#christmas #sora

wordsnstuff

Finding & Fixing Plot Holes

– A lot of the time, we know there are plot holes in our stories but it’s difficult to identify them, and even when we do, it seems impossible to fix them. I decided to make a list of the most common forms plot holes manifest in and some suggestions on how to resolve them. Happy writing!

Events That Make No Sense

If you have a villain with a reputation for being “all powerful”, it shouldn’t take 10 minutes of hand to hand combat to kill them and make everything go back to normal. If a character has been a warrior for a thousand years, defeating hundreds of powerful enemies, chances are that their young, naive little apprentice will have a very difficult time killing them or even catching them off guard. If an event in your story doesn’t make any sense, you have to add an element or two that make it more believable, like adding more obstacles in front of your protagonist that add to the suspension of disbelief.

Unexplained Changes

If your character is speaking to a colleague in New York and is described as being in Los Angeles 5 pages later, that has to be explained to the reader, or they’ll be more focused on looking for context than the actual story taking place. If your character suddenly has blue hair, you need to explain to your reader why they’ve dyed it. Context is important, people.

Continuity Errors

If your main character has freckles in the first half of your book and then no freckles in the second, that will confuse your reader. It’s an easy fix, so just make the final choice and revise wherever it’s inconsistent.

Forgotten Characters

If you introduce a side character, then they go off to grab something and never come back, either explain why or pick them back up and insert them where you meant to. If they’re just an extra, that’s fine, but make that clear to the reader by not going overboard on making them seem relevant. If they’re just there to shout “fire!”, don’t spend a paragraph explaining their appearance and backstory.

Contradicting Details

This is extremely common in Fantasy and Science Fiction, where the rules of the universe are different and difficult to keep up with. This is totally okay in your first draft, as you don’t usually have your whole world built before you begin writing, but once you’ve fleshed out that first draft, you have to review and establish the system of rules in your universe, then go back into your draft and apply them. If an event relies on a phenomenon that is impossible according to your world system, then either cut the scene, fix it so it follows the rules, or rewrite the events but under a different premise.

Unresolved Subplots

If two of your side characters have some romantic chemistry and it’s emphasized at one point then never revisited, your reader will be left confused and unsatisfied. It’s okay to leave these subplots unresolved if they’re going to be continued in future installments of a series, but in a standalone, you have to take the time to wrap them up in a nice little bow. This can usually be accomplished by tying the subplot’s resolution in with the overarching conflict resolution.

Lack of Relevant Information

If a beta-reader (someone who is essential to detecting subplots because they don’t know your story inside and out as you do) has questions about how something happened or what happened to such and such, you probably forgot to explain an element of your world or revisit a character in an event, which can easily be resolved by adding a paragraph or two that refer back to that event or character and add some information the reader needs to satiate their curiosity.

Un-synced Timeline

Your story happens in a set period of time. Events occur in a certain order. The past has a specific order of events as well. Make sure these events are on one consistent timeline and that you don’t mix up the order of events when explaining stuff in a story. Information comes to readers in bits and it’s easy, as a writer, to forget that certain things have happened that you’ve already explained, so my suggestion is to, while writing, keep track of every event that you retroactively describe and that occur in the timeframe of the story and record them, in their order, so you have a timeline of your own to fact check when editing.

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MY CURRENT WORK IN PROGRESS (Check it out, it’s pretty cool. At least I think it is.)

wordsnstuff

Ways To Fit Character Development Into Your Story

– Here are some ways you can develop your characters (in little ways as well as big ones) without info dumping on your reader. This includes detailing their backstory, revealing their values and motivations, their strengths, weaknesses, relationships with other characters, and growth throughout your story. I hope this helps those of you who have expressed having trouble with this, as I have as well and creating this guide for myself and you will be very useful for all of us, I hope. Happy writing!

Backstory

First of all, only include events from a character’s past that has shaped them and will enlighten the reader on the current situation. Once you decide that this particular event is important enough to include, show it instead of tell it. Elude to backstory instead of literally plucking it out of the past and placing it in the reader’s lap.

Instead of telling the reader that your character was in an abusive relationship, show them the aftermath where your character now has their abuser’s rules engraved into their routines and the scars, physical and metaphorical, that the character has from that experience. Yes, there will be instances where you will have to come out and say it, but do it once and lightly, then let the subtext do the rest.

Core Values & Motivation

Character development is meant to be shown, not told, and therefore, your character’s values, beliefs, and motivations should reveal themselves though the character’s actions. If your character thinks that harming any living creature is the worst crime anyone can commit, then show their struggle when they’re put in a situation where they must ignore their own conscience. These moments are not only pivotal in the reader’s experience with your character, but humanize your character more than any other story element. It is the moments in which we must fight our own nature that show what our nature truly is, and it’s the same with the fictional characters you’re writing about.

Strengths & Weaknesses

In a story, the conflict will do a lot to show where your character thrives and struggles, but you cannot rely solely on the main conflict. Maybe your character is incredibly smart, but not physically strong, and is put in a situation where they must rely on an area they’re weak in and must struggle in front of the reader. It’s the same with strengths. Your character should have moments of glorious triumph phenomenal failure throughout your story. This makes them more alive, and therefore more relatable, which is important in any story.

Relationships With Other Characters

Relationships with characters should be shown through the manner in which they communicate and interact in your story. If they don’t like each other, there will most likely be some tension when they’re forced to work together and rely on one another. If they love each other, they’ll show it through affectionate gestures and sometimes their words.

Growth & Personal Development

The beginning and ending of your story doesn’t have to be a miraculous before and after, but your character should go through some sort of a personal evolution between the start and finish line. Whether that be in their self-concept, their relationship with someone else, or their views on something, they should transform, at least a little. This is just a characteristic of a rounded character, and that’s what you want.

Show their development in ways such as putting them in a similar situation they’ve been in before and have them react in a way that highlights the change that has occurred. Show them realizing themselves that they have changed and now see through a different lens. Show them interacting differently as time progresses and imparting new words of wisdom, whether they’re correct or completely misguided.

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wordsnstuff

Editing: What To Change, Draft By Draft

– Editing is a lot of work, and can be really daunting when you’re doing it all by yourself, as not all of us can afford to hire a professional editor. I decided to troll the internet for various resources and guides to editing, as well as use my own system to hopefully make a useful, step by step plan for thoroughly editing your own work. However, there are always improvements to be made in several different areas of literature, so if you have any suggestions for things to revisit and revise, feel free to leave them in the comments below! Happy editing!

Some Tips Before You Start

Print out your first draft. Please. Your writing looks so much different to you when it’s in physical form right in front of your face. It is amazing how easily you can skip over the most obvious mistakes when editing on a screen. Just trust me on this one. Also, it’s fun to go in there and physically mark up and interact with your own work.

Allow for some time between when you finish your work in progress and when you edit it. Letting some time pass will allow you to distance yourself from the story and go in on it with less sentiment and less hesitation. Yes, I know, you want to get it edited so that you can get it out into the world as quickly as possible, but trust me, there are things in there that you will keep purely because there is some attachment you have to it, which is fine in some cases, but detrimental in others.

Please remember that editing takes more time than actually writing. Editing is about finding problems, then solving them, then repeating, because once you make one change you have to morph the story to accommodate that change. Be patient with yourself.

Draft #1

By this point, you have outlined and begun the research for your story. In this draft, you will flesh out the basic plot, establish a basic timeline, and start to introduce your characters and various settings. You have not done any grammatical or spelling editing or anything like that. This is simply the skeleton that you will work off of.

Draft #2

Spend some time developing the characters and effectively conveying the emotion in the story. Work on the timeline, tinker with the backstory and add in details here and there.

Draft #3

By this point, you should have the characters, timeline, and more story based stuff figured out. Make sure settings are established, details are where they need to be, and the story elements are consistent and intentional.

Draft #4

Now it’s time to revise! Go in there and mess with grammar and spelling and word choice and sentence structure and metaphors and all that good stuff. Use all of your knowledge from English class to get the message across in the best possible way and make your writing style shine through in the best possible light.

Draft #5

Go in and double check if there’s anything you’re unsure, unhappy, or uneasy about. If there is, highlight it and see how you can make it work better. Improve on your story in any way possible. If there is anything you want to change before it goes out there, make sure you change it.

Draft #6

Now is where you find some beta readers. Have them read your story, give you feedback and suggest ways you can change your story to fit their taste as readers. This is super important. You don’t do much physical work in this draft, as they’re the ones picking it apart, but try not to be too defensive, yeah? They’re trying to help.

Draft #7

Reach into that pool of feedback you’ve just received and decide if and where you want to apply it. This may take some difficult decision making, but you can do it. Remember, no matter how many drafts you go through, you will never be done with your story. You will never be 100% satisfied, but try to find a place where you can abandon it in peace.

This infographic was helpful in forming this post, so if you want a visualization of this article, here it is!

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hufflepuffwannabe

50 Healthy, Productive & Fun Things You Can Do Without Looking at a Screen

It’s time for a screen cleanse! Get away from your phone, computer, or TV for just a minute if you can. Here are some ideas:

Cook a meal

Have coffee with a friend (alone is fine too)

Annotate a magazine article and feel very smart

Walk your dog

Cuddle your fur baby (whichever type you happen to own)

Take yourself for a walk and really notice things in your neighborhood

Journal or morning pages

Feng shui your home

Write a crappy or amazing poem (by hand)

Try out a new sport

Get your laundry done

Cull and organize your wardrobe

Make a mind map of the novel you want to write

Take a bath with salts or a bath bomb

Decorate your planner or bullet journal

Really groom yourself

Daydream

Yoga stretches

Adult. Coloring. Books.

Meditate for at least one minute

Find flowers and/or herbs to press in a book and/or dry

Go for a drive and blast your favorite songs

Treat yourself to a nice bottle of wine

Find a shady spot under a tree and just BE

Walk along the beach and look for shells

Swim in a crystal clear lake

Hike in the woods

Follow an essential oil recipe

Poke around the curios in a local new age shop

People watch

Visit the library & enjoy the serenity

Make your own matcha latte

Rearrange your furniture

Write up a bucket list and try to check some items off

Buy a newspaper and challenge yourself to the crossword puzzle

Draw/sketch

Make flip book animation

Teach yourself to shuffle playing cards

Find an artistic medium you’ve never tried before

Play a board game

Pick wildflowers to put in a mason jar on your desk

Make new lists in your bullet journal

Organize your desk

Wash your sheets & make your bed

Wander around a museum for an afternoon

Shop at a farmer’s market

Repurpose old clothes (e.g. make a bag from old jeans)

Listen to vinyls and dance your pants off

Sort through your books and movie collections and donate titles you’ll probably never read/watch again

Have lunch somewhere with just a book or magazine as a dining companion

I hope some of these help free you from the ball and chain of technology! Now put down your phone or shut down your computer, and get out there!

wordsnstuff

Things To Know About Your Real-Life Setting

– Settings are a tricky business in stories, whether they’re real or make-believe. For those of us who decide to choose a place that is somewhere on this Earth, we have a lot of research to do; so much that it can be daunting at first. Here’s a list to start you on the path of capturing that place on the pages.

Weather Patterns -

What it’s like when it rains

What it’s like when it snows

What it’s like when the wind blows

How the people react

Where the weather is consistent and where it isn’t

How the weather effects people and their plans

You’d be surprised how large a role this plays in society.

Culture -

Cost of living

Major subgroups

Dominant subcultures

Popular places

Trends

Slang

Fashion

Food

Politics

Accents

Populations

Geography -

Street and place names

Landmarks

Locations

Distance between locations

Transportation

Become a local from far away.

Where It Could Go Wrong - If you’re going to use a place that exists in real life, where people could potentially visit or even have grown up in, please use discretion when deciding which parts of your story in which you decide to incorporate reality and which parts you decide to make it up.

Quick thanks to Ofsweetdreams for donating to wordsnstuff through my ko-fi account. Your support means more than you know:)

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wordsnstuff

Dialogue Puntuation

– Here’s a quick guide to punctuating dialogue in your story, since quite a few of you have expressed confusion surrounding the subject. A question about this subject was asked by @sakurahiwatari and I decided to make it into its very own post. Happy grammar-ing!

New Speaker ~ When there is someone new speaking, start a new paragraph. Always.

Multiple Paragraphs Of Dialogue From One Speaker ~ Sometimes there are multiple paragraphs of dialogue without a pause from a single speaker, so to punctuate these paragraphs, end each one with a terminal mark before continuing onto the next. Start the next paragraph of continuing dialogue with a new quotation mark, but don’t add one to the end of the last to let the reader know the speaker isn’t finished, or they’ll assume it’s somebody else and get confused.

Paragraph With Multiple Lines Of Dialogue ~ Insert your dialogue tag of choice or description of action following the first sentence, then continue with what the current speaker is saying. There are exceptions, but this helps the reader keep track of who is saying what.

Names In Dialogue ~ If there is a name in a piece of dialogue, or a nickname for that matter, enclose it with punctuation. If it is at the beginning or end of a sentence, put a comma between it and the rest of the line. If it is in the middle, put a comma before and after it.

Elipses ~ Use this when a character trails off. Don’t overuse this though. It truly shouldn’t show up very often and get’s quite distracting to the reader’s own narration when it keeps popping up.

When The Speaker Is Interrupted ~ Use an em dash where the speaker is interrupted, then where they continue their line.

When The Speaker Is Cut Off ~ Use an em dash, then close the quotation. This is mostly used when the speaker is cut off right in the middle of a word, such as “help m—” or “enou—”.

Quote Inside Dialogue ~ When a speaker is quoting someone or something else, the part they’re quoting should be enclosed in single quotation marks (”He is weak. ’Stop it son, stop it!’ Right, not doing that.”). When the single quotation marks end or begin next to the double quotation marks, put a space between them.

Dialogue Stopped By Action Or Thought Instead Of Dialogue Tag ~ When dialogue is interrupted to describe what a character is doing or narrate what a character is thinking, you pause the dialogue without a terminal mark, enclose the action or thought between two em dashes, then continue. For instance: “You wanted a ring”—she played with the little loop on her finger—”but you never cared enough to ask for one.” This rule applies to narration interrupted by action or thought as well.

Questions In Dialogue With A Dialogue Tag ~ The question mark is enclosed in the quotation, the dialogue tag is not capitalized because it is part of the same sentence.

Dialogue Interrupted By Dialogue Tag ~ Commas go at the end of the first quotation and at the end of the dialogue tag. This applies to splitting the dialogue into two sentences, but the dialogue tag would end with a period and the second sentence would begin with a capital letter.

One Line With A Dialogue Tag And Action ~ Dialogue is within quotation, tag follows and is separated from the action by a comma. This is also the case when the action and dialogue tag come before the dialogue, but the dialogue tag is always between the action and dialogue.

When A Dialogue Tag Is Before The Dialogue ~ A comma is put outside the quotation, between it and the tag.

Dialogue Tag After Dialogue ~ Line ends with a comma, then quotation mark, then dialogue tag, uncapitalized. This is because it is all one sentence.

Single Line Of Dialogue, No Tag Or Action ~ Line ended with terminal mark inside of quotations.

Direct & Indirect Dialogue ~ Direct dialogue is when someone is speaking, indirect dialogue is when someone is described as saying something. Indirect dialogue doesn’t require quotation marks, and an example would be: She told him that she was sorry.

If you want to learn more and get more detail about punctuation in dialogue, here is a helpful article where I got a lot of my information.

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kcgane-deactivated20190222

me staring blankly at my wip:

wordsnstuff

Resources For Plot Development

Plot Structures

All About Plot Structures

The Novel Plotting Formula

Story Structure: Plot Points

Save the Cat! 15-Beat Plotting Method

The Snowflake Method

The Hero’s Journey

Three Act Structure

29 Plot Structures

Methods Of Plotting

NaNoWriMo Prep: Plotting Your WIP with 90 Index Cards

Plot from the End

27 Step Tutorial How Do I Plot a Novel

How to Create a Plot Planner — Part 1

Pre-Plot the Middle and End of Your Novel

Dance between Plotting the Overall Story and Writing

Pre-Plotting Made Simple

A Writing Plan that Incorporates Research, Plotting and Writing

NaNoWriMo Plot Development Guide

Cool Resources

One Page Novel Format Spread Sheet

Worksheets For Writers

Writing Blockbuster Plots

Pros and Cons of Pre-Plotting a Novel before Writing

How to Plot 2 Protagonists in a Novel

Plot Your Story Scene-by-Scene to Emotionally Engage Your Readers

Behind the Scenes – Scene Types

Plot and Emotion

3 Common Plot Problems

Control the Pacing of Your Novel

Plot Twists: What Are They and How to Plot Them

Above the Plot Planner Line: How to Test Pacing and Tension in Stories

Beginnings Hook Readers/Audiences. Endings Create Fans

Where To Start: How To Write the Exact Right Beginning of Your Story

How to Show Character Mastery and Transformation through both the Internal and External Plots

Cause and Effect Scene by Scene

How to Create Subplots

Emotional Elements of Plot: Stories that Last Evoke Emotion

How to Plot the End of Your Novel

Plot the Climax, Write the Climax, Re-Vision the Climax and Then Re-Write the Climax of Your Story

How to Decide Which Scenes to Keep and Which Ones to Toss

Where Exactly Does the End Begin in a Novel

Benefits of Pre-Plotting

30 Scene Ideas

Plot Generators

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Mystery

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Even More Options Here

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Honing Your Craft Online

As promised, this is the follow-up to this post - a collection of free, online resources with which to help improve your craft.

This isn’t meant to be an end-all be-all for writing advice, especially when you consider I’m not breaking this into genre. I’m sure you can find specialized advice for your specific genre if you look, I’m just looking at general writing advice.

Websites:

There are no doubt millions of writing-related websites out there. But here are some of what I use and read and follow.

The Write Life - mostly I use this for freelance advice, but they haven’t steered me wrong yet. Bonus: their 2018 top 100 websites for writers.

The Writer’s Digest has been a backbone for years for writers, and they have a page of free advice for writers.

Coursera is great for learning about a lot of things. While most of the classes do have a paid option, and some you must pay for, many of them you can audit completely for free - and still get access to peer reviews. I strongly recommend looking into this option if you’re looking to start getting peer reviews but can’t afford a traditional workshop.

Reddit has at least one writing community (and in reality many subreddits). /r/Writing and /r/WritingPrompts are good places to get started!

Tumblr:

Tumblr is a huge network of thousands of blogs. It’s hard to direct you in the right way, not knowing your specific genre, but here are some of my favorite blogs.

@writeblrconnections is a good way to start getting your foot in the door as far as Writeblr goes.

@howtofightwrite is one of the best blogs out there as far as writing action goes.

@simplyoriginalcharacters can help you with your character development. (Disclaimer: I wrote a post for them, of my own free will, unpaid.)

@worldbuildingjune is like NaNoWriMo but just for worldbuilding.

@thewritershandbook has advice and links and all sorts of things. It’s a good all-around blog to follow.

There are also masterposts on just about any topic conceivable on Tumblr - a quick search of “writing masterpost” turns up a ton, so don’t forget to go looking for that too! (Another writing resources masterpost here!)

Youtube:

M. Kirin is super personable and just always has lovely things to say and their advice is always spot on. They also have a Tumblr!

Terrible Writing Advice is, well, exactly as advertised. It is a hilarious deconstruction of tropes and if you watch to learn what not to do, it’s actually really useful. So… it’s not actually as advertised. Go figure.

Miscellaneous:

There is mountains of information out there and in the end I just don’t have time to sort through it all. Here’s some of my raw websites and information I’ve collected, or things in formats not really covered above.

A collection of free printables - best used with a printer, though you can probably copy some of the information over to a notebook or a word processor.

For podcasts, I’m personally fond of Grammar Girl, but there’s a whole slew of them. I don’t listen to many personally, but here’s a list of 20.

50 Kickass Resources for Indie Authors

Kindle - no, don’t laugh, really. They have so many free ebooks from people. Drop a review for your fellow authors, but you can get hundreds of writing ebooks for free and you don’t have to have a fancy device to read it, just the app.

Prompt Generator is always fun. (Another!)

Also be sure to check out your favorite author’s newsletter. You never know what tasty tidbits they might slip in there. I hope this helps - as incomplete as it is - you continue to improve and get better at what you do. Let me know your favorite writing advice website in the comments!

If you like my content, please consider supporting me on Patreon or buying me a cup of coffee. Becoming a monthly donor on Patreon gets you early access to posts like these as well as access to exclusive writing and references.

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Planning A Scene In A Story

– A lot of you have asked questions pertaining to a struggle with planning scenes, so I’ve decided to make a little rundown of questions to answer before writing a new scene of your story. Obviously, you probably won’t end up going through this process over and over again until the end of your writing career, as this will become like a second nature to you as you continue to practice it. If you have any further questions, my ask box is always open. Happy writing!

Intention

How is the setting of the scene relevant to the events that take place?

Is this scene easy to follow with the information given to the reader?

What role do past events play into this scene?

How will the events in this scene shift the story toward the resolution?

Does this scene solve any plot holes or create any new ones?

Purpose

What is the overall purpose this scene serves?

How will this scene progress the plot?

How will this scene help to develop your character(s)?

Information

What information is this scene supposed to reveal to the reader?

What information is required to make this scene make sense?

Subtext

Are there any hidden messages you need to plan beforehand?

Is there any foreshadowing taking place during this scene?

What context might alter the implications of this scene?

What consequences might come from the events of this scene?

Starting Point

Does this starting point make sense for the trajectory of the scene?

Does the starting point allow room for some rising action?

Is your scene starting abruptly or with a build up to a large event?

Is there space between the beginning of this scene and the last?

If there is, are there any blanks you need to fill in to continue?

Tone

What is the main way you’ll be conveying tone in the context of the scene’s events?

How do you want the tone to impact the reader’s experience?

Does the tone change drastically in contrast with the last scene?

How Do You Want The Scene To Leave The Reader?

Do you want your reader to end the scene asking a bunch of questions?

Do you want one of the subplots to be resolved?

Do you want the reader to be shocked?

Do you want the reader to think, “Oh, that makes sense now”?

If you have any to add, feel free to leave them in the comments down below to help each other out!

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plotlinehotline

I've read tons of books and websites about writing mysteries, and it still is difficult. How do I connect clues and figure out which ones are important?

Writing a Mystery Novel

Because I’m notsure what advice you’ve already read, I hope my post won't rehash whatyou’ve already encountered. I’m not a devout mystery fan, but I’ve read myshare of Janet Evanovich and Harlan Coben (currently reading Sue Grafton), andI’m a huge Sherlock Holmes reader. So I’ll do my best to steer you in the rightdirection based on this experience.

Mysteries areunique in that often times what they’re doing is telling a story about anotherstory. The “mystery” being solved involves an entirely separatesequence of events, and your characters are trying to uncover these eventsbased on the clues. I think when you begin to think of your mystery (whateveris being solved) and your mystery (the actual novel you’re writing) astwo separate narratives, things might click into place a little easier.

The mystery withinthe novel usually contains a climax, just like any other novel. Andthe actual novel is the events following this climax. Think about the last bookyou read or movie you watched and imagine a random person walked into theclimax of that story and had to figure out what had happened based on evidenceleft behind. That effect is what you’re looking to create in a mystery novel.

So to start,forget about your detective and their investigation and focus on the eventsthat trigger the investigation. This will most likely be the crimescene, but it could theoretically be any event that prompts your characters tosolve the mystery. If you’re not sure what this is yet, then startthinking about what type of mystery you’re wanting your character to solve.Murder, theft, assault, kidnapping? What most fascinates you as a reader, andwhich of these (or others) creates the most compelling mystery to you? Then,start brainstorming. Here’s a list of things you’ll need to know: (and from here on out, I’ll be using a murder mystery in my examples, as those are fairly common):

1) What unduething actually happens? Start with one sentence explaining what is stolen, whodies, who is kidnapped…what is the crime that will eventually beinvestigated?

2) Now, workbackwards to determine how it happened. If this is overwhelming, work in asbasic of terms as you can. For a murder mystery, think about thecause of death. If they were stabbed, what were they stabbed with? If they werepoisoned, what did they consume that was laced with poison? If they were shot,where on their body were they shot? Imagine the spot in the room where theperson finally died and visualize how they got there. Did they try toget to a phone, did they fall and simply not get up? What were they doing beforethe fatal blow came? Did they see their attacker? Did they know theirattacker? How long between the time they were struck and the time they actuallydied?

3) Now thatyou’ve got the beginnings of a scene, imagine who was present during theattack. If the victim was poisoned, it’s possible the murderer wasn’t eventhere. If that’s the case, was the victim alone or were there other witnesses?If there were, imagine what the two (or more) characters werediscussing/doing beforehand, and then go through the witness’s actions once thevictim succumbs to the poison. Do they try to assist them in any way? Dothey call for an ambulance? Perhaps they are even in on the murder, and theysimply wait for them to die and then call the police, planning to feigninnocence. If the murderer was present, how did they get in? Did thevictim know the person and let them in or did they just break in? If they brokein, was it at the time of the murder or did they get their much earlier in theday and hide out until the victim came home? Think about the characters presentand walk through their actions.

4) Let’s get tomotive now. Why did your murderer do it? Were they hired, did they haveprior beef with the victim, was the victim a threat to them? Why didthey do it, and further, why did they choose to do it the way they didit? The reasoning behind their method could be things like: less likelihood ofgetting caught, wanting the victim to know who was killing them, becauseit was the easiest way considering the victim’s habits/routines (a poisoning,while potentially safer in terms of being caught could prove problematic if thevictim is the type of person who is especially careful about what theyeat/drink).

5) Next, takeyour answers to the questions you just answered in step 4 and explore themdeeper. If the murderer was hired, by whom? If the killer had beef with thevictim, what was the beef? Explore the relationship between the murderer andthe victim: was it always antagonistic or were they once friends? Look atthe point were the feud began and write out the details of that moment. Despitetheir lack of actual screen time in your novel, these characters are key to thestory and they should be developed as such.

Like I said before,explore this as if you were going to write a separate novel featuring thisstory. Develop the characters as much as you can, so that you understand theiractions leading up to the murder, as well as the actions the murderer will takefollowing the death of the victim. Will they run? Will they try to throw off the investigation by being overly helpful?

6) Finally, write it all out. Write a detailed synopsis of this entire story from beginning to end. Start by listing each of the “players” (murderer, victim, and any witnesses) and describe their appearance, temperament, and any info that won’t make it into your summary. Keep this information in a safe place as you’ll likely refer to it often as you write the novel surrounding this mystery.

Onto the Clues

Clues aren’t so difficult once you realize that you don’t have to pull them out of thin air. At this point, you’ve got a detailed account of what your detective/investigators are about to figure out. Go back through your synopsis and look for places where the murderer (and anyone else involved) might make a mistake. A phone call they make, something they buy that implicates them, not seeing a security camera, dropping a weapon or other item that ties back to them.

Clues need not be physical evidence - a clue can be anything that reveals any detail about what happened. Think of clues less as things sprinkled around a crime scene, and more as a progression of information that lead to additional information. There may only be one relevant clue at the crime scene, but that clue leads the investigator to another clue. Some examples:

-No forced entry at crime scene (no broken windows or locks): This reveals that the victim likely knew the killer, or else the killer had earned their trust somehow by giving them a convincing story. The classic example might be a driver whose car has broken down and needs to use a phone (in today’s world, perhaps their cell phone is dead). If we suspect the murderer was invited into the house, and we have the approximate time of death, we might ask a couple of neighbors if they remembering seeing anyone in the victim’s yard/porch around this time.

-If the victim was found near a landline or cell phone, we might trace their call history to see if they were speaking to anyone around the time of death, or if they tried to call for help. That person may have heard something. It’s also possible the victim may have told them, “Oh, someone’s at the door, I have to go,” which would possibly tell us when the killer arrived.

-Look for things like the condition of the house, or the way the victim was dressed. Are there any clues that indicate the victim was on their out or on their way in? If there are bags of groceries unpacked in the kitchen, the victim had likely just gotten home from the store. It might be worth it to trace the victim’s path back to that store and see if there were any signs of someone following them home.

Some detectives may approach the investigation by trying to reconstruct the victim’s day to see when/where things went awry.

Read Mysteries!

You mentioned reading a lot of help books on writing mysteries, but not that you read a lot of mystery novels. Of course, you likely just left that part of out of the ask, but take the mysteries you love the most and break them down as a way of understanding the genre. Make lists of the clues, in particular the ones that lead the investigator to a new witness, location, or theory.

If you feel you’ve researched the genre a LOT, and you’ve exposed yourself to a LOT of mystery novels, and you’re still finding it difficult…congrats, you’re a writer! Writing is challenging. Novels don’t just appear - they take lots of hard work, and the process will indeed be difficult. My best advice to you if you’re really passionate about this genre and really want to write it, start with simple mysteries and use what might be considered “cliche” clues to help you get comfortable with the basic format of writing the mystery.

[Here’s a great Quora thread where people discuss cliche clues in mystery novels]

Good luck with your mystery novel!

-Rebekah

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