[armalis-archived-blog]

sci-fi episodes i want:

ship’s computer crashes due to virus acquired during a porn download from a lower decks ensign

firmware update was pushed out to the fleet, has vital error in the clock program that causes every computer to repeat 2300. translators have to explain to the enemy why everyone is an hour late to peace talks.

unintelligble message is sent out into the void because someone’s pet cat walked across their keyboard. message is interpreted as a marriage proposal.

universal translators break, everyone is reduced to hand gestures

viewscreen has dead pixels in the upper left corner, drives the captain a bit bonkers

space gps tells us to take a right where we should take a left. plucky recent academy grad on the graveyard shift realizes that this would take us into the sun and makes the course correction. ship’s computer advises her for two hours to make a u-turn when it is safe to do so

[writing-questions-answered]

Grammar & Style: Defining and Recognizing Writing Style

Anonymous asked:

This has been bothering me for a while, but how do you define and recognise your own style? I have had people tell me that they recognise my way of writing, even if I try to pose differently, but I don’t seem to recognise any of it myself?

Style can be a difficult thing to pin down because there are so many variables at play. A writer’s style might be defined by one element or by several, and those elements can be anything from mechanical to artistic. Some common style elements would be:

- typical sentence length - balance of dialogue, exposition, and action - ornateness of description - use of wordplay like metaphor, simile, and alliteration - repeated use of similar themes, plots, or character archetypes If you analyze the works you’ve written so far, pay attention to some of these things and see if you recognize a pattern. Do you typically write very long or very short sentences? Do your stories tend to be dialogue-heavy or full of action? Is your description usually sparse or ornate? Do you use a lot of metaphor and simile? Do your stories have similar themes, plots, or character types? Any element that you find to exist in all or most of your stories is probably an element of your personal writing style. You can also poll your readers, or at least the ones who have read more than a couple of your stories. Ask them if they recognize your writing style, and if so, what elements do they feel defines your style?

[ellenkushner]

I have a thought about ‘kill your darlings.’ There seems to be a general notion out there in the ether that the phrase means, ‘Hunt down every sentence or image you really love and cut it down like a pernicious weed.’  That, my dears, is bullshit. In my opinion, what it really means is, ‘If you’re rewriting a whole scene just so that a paragraph or conversation you’re in love with will work, and it still kind of doesn’t, maybe it doesn’t really belong in this story and you should print it out and put it in a lovely, decorative folder labelled DARLINGS to read on those days when you hate every sentence you’re writing.’

Delia Sherman, American fantasy writer (via ellenkushner)

[writerswritecompany]

Wherever I Lay My Hat - How Setting Affects Your Characters

We may all be unique snowflakes, with our own little DNA stamps, shining our brilliance on the world. But that’s only part of it. We are also shaped by when we are born, where we are born, our socio-economic status, and the people who do or do not love us. I recently wrote about how you can use setting to advance your plot. In this post, I want to talk about how settings have shaped and continue to shape our characters. Five Ways Setting Affects Your Characters

[nownovel]

How to Create Tension in Writing | Now Novel

Learning how to create tension in writing is important whether you are a thriller or crime writer. Read more on writing a page-turning novel.

Learn how to create tension in fiction writing now: http://www.nownovel.com/blog/how-to-create-tension-in-writing/

[writing-questions-answered]

World Building: Clarification Isn’t Always Important

Anonymous asked:

Hello ! First off, thank you for your awesome work. You’re fabulous ! I’ve learned so much just reading through here. I’m stuck in my own project. I basically just started it for myself, and it is becoming more serious everyday, and know I have a huge clutter of mess do clean up from years of “I’m only doing it for fun, yay !” I love worldbuilding. I’m doing it for my own amusement, and most things never will show up in the endstory, but I ended up with an element I don’t know what to do. World travel is a thing in my world which consists of different standalone stories. For one world I reinvented the calendar, because I thought it would be strange to have different worlds have the same flow of time with the same calendar. So I created a new one, it was ton of fun, but starting to write the story itself I realize it may confuse more then necessary the reader. Hence, I’m thinking of ditching it. But that would make the overall world less consistent. So I’m wondering if I should choose wordlbuilding and reworking the storytelling to make it less confuse, or if I should ditch the whole thing for the favor of a less confusing story, since the calendar thing is not that important overall ? Thank you so much ! You’re an amazing person, I wish you best of luck with your blog and your own projects ! (I hope my english is not to bad, it’s not my first or second language ;;“)

Aww, thank you so much! I love to hear that the blog is helping people. :) <3 Hmm… when it comes to fantasy worlds, something like a calendar may not be important to the story, but it really can make your world seem vivid and real. For that reason, I think it’s good to go ahead and include one if you want to. Just remember that you don’t have to go into great detail about how the calendar works. You can weave the necessary details into the narrative. For example: “The Alliance of Kingdoms will meet in three weeks’ time,” said the seer, peering into his scrying dish. “Three weeks? But that’s only eighteen days. I’ll never make it to Miravia in time.” The seer just shrugged and continued peering into his dish, but I stood up and began to pace. I would need at least three days to get a crew together, and another two days to secure horses and supplies. That would leave us just a little over two weeks to get clear across two kingdoms, and to make matters worse, Expa is the first of the winter months, which means even if we made it in time, we’d be lucky to beat the first freeze.

Doing it this way, I don’t have to explicitly state that a month is three weeks, or that a week is six days, because those details are woven into the narrative. If the entire rest of the story takes place in the month of Expa, it’s not important for the reader to know how many months are in the year and what they’re all named. However, if I need to say something like, “Three months after the meeting of the Kingdom Alliance, the month of Vispa would arrive, and spring along with it.” If the three months between Expa and Vispa aren’t important to the story, there’s no need to state what they’re called or define where they fall, but you should know it in case you need it later on. However, you can also work months into the story in other ways. Maybe a character states that their birthday is in Auspa. Or maybe another character says Lersda is a bad month for trading. If the reader doesn’t need to know when Lersda falls, there’s no reason to go into it, but merely mentioning it does make your world seem more real. :)

[alullabyus]

[milareadsbooks]

ohmygoodness this is so cool

[astroboxuniverse]

What is this from

[ancwritingresources]

Resource: Writing Animals, Pets, and the People Who Love Them

So you want to write about animals, or perhaps your protagonist is a huge cat lover, but you’ve never had much experience with pets yourself (and let’s be honest, does anyone have experience writing in the perspective of an animal?) Luckily, most pet lovers are more than happy to share their experiences, and with pet psychology and comfort animals at the forefront of today’s research, this information is easy to find. Below are some resources I hope will help. 

The Social and Philosophical Effects of Having a Pet: 

12 Ways Your Pet Can Improve Your Mental Health

Psychological, Emotional, and Social Effects Of Having a Pet

10 Surprising Reasons Your Dog is Good For Your Health

The Role of Pets In Advancing Human Well-Being

Psychosocial and Psychophysiological Effects of Human-Animal Interactions: The Possible Role of Oxytocin

Pets and Health: The Impact of Companion Animals

The Truth About Cats and Dogs

The Psychological Effects of Pets Are Profound

Character Traits of “Pet People”:

Do Pets and People Have Similar Personality Traits? 

Do Cats Take On Traits of Their Owners? 

Your Pet Says More About Your Personality Thank You Think

Writing About Animals or Animal Lovers:

Writing Prompts for Animal Lovers

Creative Writing Prompts About Animals

Why I Write About Animals, Or How My Body Is an Animal

Top Animal Writing Tips

5 Tips Animal Writers Should Know

Remember that, like being a parent, there’s a firm line between healthy care-taking and abuse, but there’s no right way to be a pet owner. Some people can talk about their pets for years, but for some, it’s a personal relationship that doesn’t often come up in conversation, so before you write every pet-lover in your story as “that old cat lady who can talk about nothing else” think about what that pet really means to your character and the impact they have on their life and decisions. 

[sapphicfolksongs]

bob morley, a portrait of brown eyes and freckles

[inkyandscribbles]

Journaling Tips

As a writer, it’s always a good idea to keep a journal. This is an easy way to practice your writing in a relaxing environment, record any ideas which may pop into your head, or keep track of your writing goals. Even if you don’t consider yourself a ‘writer’, journaling or keeping a diary has proven to be very helpful and beneficial to a lot of people, for a lot of different reasons.

Journaling can help you relax, help you keep track of your goals, remember important dates and events, and can even help you recover from depression or traumatic events. But if you’re anything like me, it usually feels like there just isn’t enough hours in a day, and you find it hard to keep up with your entries, or are left feeling unsure of how to make the most of your journaling experience, so here are some helpful tips;

Find the time to write 

You’re going to need some point in the day to actually sit down and take the time to write things down. How much time this needs to be depends entirely on you, but it’s also important to set aside a realistic amount of time, to a) ensure you don’t get bored of writing for yourself, and b) ensure you actually have that much time to write. 

Take a look at your schedule and decide when you should do your writing. This is just as important as knowing how long to write, because when you’re trying to accomplish a goal, (like consistently writing in a journal) you have to set up a routine to set yourself up for success. Again, when you choose to write is up to you, and how well it fits around your schedule.

2: You don’t have to write every day

This can be very essential for people like me, who feel as though they’re obligated to write every day (or as much as humanly possible) while keeping a journal, but this doesn’t necessarily have to be the case. Especially if you’re just getting into journaling, or you’ve struggled with keep up with it in the past, know that how often you write in your journal, is just as much a flexible arrangement as when you write. 

If you’re especially busy, pick a few days a week (or just once, if that suits you better), to write your entries. If you’d rather write every day, or as often as possible, remember you don’t have to do all-out, fully-written, entries of everything which happened that day. You’re allowed to keep things short and simple until you can find a day or time to include a longer, more detailed entry. 

Some good examples of this would be to answer a single, random question each day, write down one beautiful thing you saw, one new thing you learned etc. This way you can keep up on your writing while getting to know yourself every day, as well as making sure you don’t feel overwhelmed. Click here for a fantastic list of journaling prompts and questions, as well as a good example of a daily log in for your journal.

3: Decide what sort of journal you’re going to keep

This is essential to do BEFORE you begin writing, in order to prevent your journal from becoming an unorganized mess of random things. (I skipped this step, and this is a pretty accurate description of my current journal.) Make a list of things you want to include in your journal, and, if need be, set aside some designated space inside the journal itself for certain dates, lists etc.

Journal types

Dated entries only; a classic, and easy to follow plan. 

Doodling journal; for when you feel like drawing

Photographic journal; like a scrapbook, but simpler and more personal

Recovery journal; to keep track and take note of your recovery progress

‘Artistic journal’; small doodles, poetry, bits of random ideas, anything to help with the creative process

Goals journal; so you can record your goals and personal bests. This will allow you to look back at everything you’ve accomplished

Planning and daily log journal

Personal journal; a plan to get to know yourself

Remember that no matter what kind of journal you decide to keep, you can write or place anything you want inside of it. But you should try and figure out what the overall purpose of you journal is going to be. 

If you’re having trouble coming up with what you should include in your journal, you can go to the following lists for some ideas.

A List of Journal Prompts/Questions

70 Great Journal Prompts

3 Things to Write in Your Journal