ReadTypeWrite

[readtypewrite-blog]

Ugh. Feels.

I’ve finally written a scene in my wip that hits me and seems real and my characters FINALLY have some depth and I just want to celebrate and share. After 16,000 words of ‘blah’ this is the first moment the first draft has felt worth it to me. I’ll share a little here, hopefully, it makes you feel a little as it made me feel a lot.

June took another swig, closely followed by a third and looked over to see Tarrick looking at her, his head slightly tilted.   “What?” she asked, her mouth set hard, bottle of wine resting on her thigh, her hand gripping it tightly about the neck. Tarrick didn’t reply, just continued to look at June and she saw a pool of empathy in his eyes. Was that pity? June sighed and rolled her eyes, looking away as she took another long draught of her wine. To her surprise, Tarrick jumped across to her tree and set himself on the bough next to hers. They were beside each other, each with their backs to the tree and legs out in front of them. June couldn’t see his face, didn’t want to, and it would have been uncomfortable to turn to look at him anyway. His shoulder was near to hers, and she felt it’s warmth as he strapped himself to the same tree.  “Not enough trees in the forest for you?” she asked. She wasn’t sure why this strange, small man would be interested in strapping himself to her tree but she found she didn’t much care either. Tarrick just shrugged and pulled his own bottle of wine from his pack. He took a long swig and offered it to June. She took it and gave him her own bottle. She liked his better. She kept his for herself, and he continued to drink from the bottle she’d exchanged. Tarrick didn’t speak, merely sat beside her, drinking for a time as the rest of the group ate and drank nearby. After a time it grew cold around the group as the night settled in, and eventually Kit, Seth, and Elaine drifted off to sleep.  “You loved her very much,” Tarrick said softly. So quiet June was hardly sure she’d heard it. Her head was thick from the amount of wine she’d drunk, and she sat and contemplated a while before responding. An hour ago, and sober, she’d have been insulted by the comment. That a basic stranger dared discuss the vulnerability he’d witnessed the day prior, but now she couldn’t summon the strength to care.  “I did.” She said. More silence.  “There is no other emotion that comes close to resembling loss.” Tarrick said. Still soft, but a little louder now.  “It’s new.” June said, looking down at the bottle in her hands, thumbnail raking over the edge of the label. “This feeling - it’s new.” She said, “When Dad died, I grieved, I loved him and I lost him but he was sick for such a long time. With May… I lost her so swiftly. I lost her without knowing it was coming, whilst gripping so tightly onto the hope that she’d made it. That she hadn’t been trapped. I just-” June’s voice broke and she grit her teeth, willing herself to regain composure. Tarrick shifted slightly, and his shoulder closed the small gap between them. Whether accidental or intentional, June found herself welcoming the contact. It was minor, barely intimate, but it was a token of support she’d not had hours ago. An hour ago she’d been entirely alone in losing May. Now, however, the weight on her shoulders lightened just a fraction.

[readtypewrite-blog]

And so, with the burden resting solely on her shoulders, Lane lifted her chin and crossed the threshold. The world was ready for change, aching for it, and Lane was the only one that knew the devastating secret that was holding it back. In three short minutes, everything would change. 

[wordsnstuff]

Tips On Planning Out A Series

This is also available on wordsnstuffblog.com!

– This is a list of tips I’ve gathered throughout the outlining process of my work in progress. If you are an author, feel free to leave your own tips in the replies!

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Figure Out What Type Of Series You’re Writing

There are many forms a series can follow, but in the base level world of understanding your series, you should know what type of series you’re going to be writing. Either your series is one of episodic plot, wherein each book is a contained conflict and resolution, but following the same set of characters on a singular timeline, or you’re splitting one big story arc into a series of novels in order to flesh it out in detail and allow enough time for the reader to become invested in the details.

Don’t Stretch It Too Much

If you plan on writing a series, you need to have enough content to justify the amount of time and attention you’re asking of the reader. If your series is going to be seven books long, you need to have seven books worth of content, not two books worth that you spun and twisted and over-elaborated on for the sake of word count. Earn your reader’s loyalty to your story by giving them substance to enjoy, rather than long instances of nothing between short bursts of importance.

Plead Ahead or Edit Diligently

It is imperative that you decide from the beginning whether you’re going to plan your story from start to finish ahead of time, or go with the flow and tear it to shreds later. Whatever you choose is justified and can produce a good product as long as you’re willing to deal with the consequences of that choice. If you choose to plan out six books worth of plot, conflict, world building, and character development ahead of time, be aware that it will be a long while before you actually put pen to paper. If you choose to start somewhere and go and deal with the spill of ideas and possibilities later, then know that you will spend about 10 times as much time editing, rewriting, and re-editing as you spent actually writing. Either way, refinement of detail takes up more time in the writing process than actual writing.

Think About The Reader’s Experience

When you’re thinking about timing, revelations, growth, progression, and foreshadowing, your number one thought should be “how is this going to affect the reader’s experience of my story?”. When you release each book, you are handing it off. You don’t get to explain to each individual reader what you meant by this, or how this is supposed to make them feel, or why you included this cryptic piece of dialogue or this detail at this precise moment. You have to construct your story in a way that unfolds deliberately and effectively. Always put the reader first, and you will gain a loyal, captivated audience.

Twist The Commonalities

If you notice that your story shares a lot of attributes or includes a lot of tropes that you know the reader would recognize, this isn’t a bad thing and won’t be a detriment to your story as long as you make it your own. I don’t know how to state this in a way that isn’t going to start a fight in the comments, but originality is dead so long as you refuse to acknowledge interpretation. Interpret the character archetype or the trope however you feel fits your story and try to make it like nothing you’ve ever seen before. Not only for the sake of avoiding criticism for the use of it, but because new things are more exciting to create than reused things are interesting to copy. 

Understand The Voice(s) Of The Series

Some books are told in first person, third person, whatever. That’s important to an extent, but one thing that goes severely overlooked is the decisions you make that contribute to the voice behind the storytelling. The way you tell the story impacts the way the reader experiences it, and things like details that you repeat, preferred vocabulary and phrases, and even where you put commas and em-dashes forms your voice as a writer, and your character’s voice in the case of first person.

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[theslytherinswolf]

the houses as B99 quotes part 2

Ravenclaw:

Slytherin:

Hufflepuff:

Gryffindor:

[theslytherinswolf]

the houses as B99 quotes part 1

Slytherin:

Hufflepuff:

Ravenclaw:

Gryffindor:

[thedancingwriter]

Fair Use in Novels

I often get questions from Anons asking me what is appropriate to use in a novel, from song quotes to character names of wildly popular characters from other books (names that are obviously more unique than just Sarah or Alice or Amelia). So I’m going to lay the groundwork of what writers can and can’t use in their novels—or for their novels.

Quotes from song lyrics. You can’t do this. Period. If you want to use quoted song lyrics, you would have to get permission from the artists themselves—and you would likely have to pay a heady sum of money to obtain that permission. A big part of the reason why you can’t do this is because song lyrics are often so short in the first place, and if you misquote even one word, you run the risk of being sued. In fact, you run the risk of being sued period if your book is somehow published with quoted song lyrics from an actual band. 

Names of fictional characters. One Anon asked me if he or she could use a fictional character’s name as a nickname for one of his/her characters. As far as I know, this is not copyright infringement, especially if the character whose nicknamed Harry Potter does not in anyway resemble the actual Harry Potter. It is also not copyright infringement to use a fictional character’s name in passing. For example, in Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick, Leonard frequently mentions Holden Caulfield as a comparison to himself. Holden Caulfield, however, is not an actual character in the book. There’s also the question of cameos, and whether or not a writer can use an actual character as a cameo in the book. This is on shaky ground, because using a published fictional character as a cameo technically is not copyright infringement, until that character actually starts talking. However, from the article I linked to you, you still run the risk of being sued. Fan fiction is an entirely different matter, as most writers don’t profit from this work, and authors want to please enthusiastic readers. (I would both cry and feel EXTREMELY flattered if someone were to ever write a fanfiction of my book, When Stars Die.)

Public domain. Any book before 1923 is fair use. Granted this does not mean you can re-write the entire book. Basically this means you can quote these works, while attributing their authors to them, in your novels. Frenchie,from Death, Dickinson, and the Demented Life of Frenchie Garcia by Jenny Torres Sanchez, frequently talks about Emily Dickinson and quotes her as well. Libba Bray puts a part of Tennyson’s poem, The Lady of Shallot, in A Great and Terrible Beauty. And when I do revisions for my novels, I’d like for my protagonist to quote parts of Edgar Allen Poe. 

Titles. You don’t need permission to use song titles, movie titles, book titles, television titles, and so on and so forth. You can also include the names of things, place, and events and people in your work without permission. I mention Paula Dean in brief passing in the current work I’m writing, because she owns a restaurant in Savannah, Georgia, the place my character lives. 

Pictures. I’m primarily talking about if you’re self-publishing or are allowed to work with your publisher (usually small press) on designing the cover. ANY stock photos listed on any stock photo website is fair game and can be photoshopped as much as you want to. However, you often have to buy these photos, but once you pay for them, they are yours to do with what you want. Unfortunately, you run the risk of having a similar book cover as another book, especially if you don’t do too much to that image beyond slapping your name and title of the book on it. The cover for When Stars Die received a heavy makeover, so it is not likely that I will find another book using my exact cover. I may find a book using the girl on the cover, but the plum blossoms, the colors, how the girl was edited, and my title and name are probably going to be next to impossible to find on another book. 

Quoting famous people. If the quote from, let’s say, a famous speech in the past, is over 100 years old, that work is likely in the public domain, so it’s fair to use quotes from  Georgie Washington or another popular figure. 

Referencing facts. If you’re referencing facts, like how the universe was made, this is not copyright infringement—they are unadorned facts. For the current novel I’m working on, I did use a website to help Gene’s teacher explain black holes, because Gene uses black holes as a motif to describe how people can have an effect on one another. However, because this is knowledge that you can pick up from any text book or even an astronomy class you took, I don’t need to quote the source I took it from because I did not repeat word-for-word what that website said. The website simply listed facts that you can find anywhere from a legitimate source. 

Using quotes from TV, films, or advertising. These are copyrighted, so don’t use them, unless you want to get sued. 

For now, these are the only points I can think of on what writers are allowed to use and not use in their novels. If someone can think of anything more, feel free to re-blog and add to this list!

Ask Box is always open, and I think this is the last day for my book/Amazon gift card giveaway, so you better enter while you can!

[moonlit-maiden]

Regarding naming (because I had to research this for one of my characters): names CANNOT be copyrighted. At all. HOWEVER. The exception is if the name is recognizable on a brand level, such as Harry Potter or Mickey Mouse. So if there is a character names Joe McShmo and you name a character Jo McShmo, you CAN do that if the first Joe is not 1. the flagship character or the brand and 2. the name/brand is a household name (as in the average person will think of only Jo McShmo #1 when they hear that name). It’s a very interesting caveat.

[readtypewrite-blog]

Answering some difficult but important legal questions when creating your own work and referencing others 💁‍♀️

[nanowrimo]

5 Ways to Improve Your Action Sequences

During the NaNoWriMo Now What? Months, we’re focused on helping you revise, edit, and publish your story. Today, NaNoWriMo writer Bethany Nolan shares some editing advice on improving action scenes in your novel:

Here’s my thought process: if you’re good at editing, what does it matter how your first drafts look?

With NaNoWriMo behind us, many of you might be picking your novel back up, dusting it off, and giving it its first real read. And some of you might be finding that those pesky action scenes just don’t play out how you imagined them. Here are five things to keep in mind when you’re trying to make your action scenes come to life on the page the way they did in your head:

1. Short sentences are key.

Action relies on pacing, so things need to happen. Your characters are dodging and ducking, they’re throwing punches, they’re running—they need to keep moving, so your text does, too.

Keep reading

[toboldlywrite]

Just in case this needs to be said:

It’s the first draft. Use the word “suddenly.” Put as many dialogue tags and adverbs as you want. Say “he saw” “she remembered” “she felt” “they wondered” as many times as you need to. Put the em dash there, put in too many commas, use semi-colons with reckless abandon. Type in [whatever] instead of thinking up a title for something. Just write it. If you worry too much about the particulars, about all the advice posts you’ve seen saying whatever you’re doing is wrong or not good enough, you won’t get anything done. It will slow you down as you go back and try to reword what you just wrote to make it better, proper. The first draft doesn’t have to be perfect. It just has to be done. And when you get to the end, you’ll find that all those “mistakes” are just clues for your future self to put together to make it all better.

Putting in adverbs and certain dialogue tags are a note for you as to who is saying something and how they’re saying it. When you’re editing, you can make sure it shows through the story instead. The word “suddenly” is a reminder to make things more abrupt. The first draft is just you mapping out where you want to go and how you want to get there. Don’t waste time trying to get it 100% right now, because then it will never get done. Don’t think too much– just write. Save the thinking for editing later.

[readtypewrite-blog]

Current read. Anyone read/reviewed/rate this book? Will post a little review when I’m done.

[damselwrites]

Color Synonyms

White

also: pale; blanched; sallow; pallid; waxen; spectral; translucent; albino; 

Grey

also: dust; stone; pepper;  

Black

also:  coal; slate; dusky; ebon; shadow; murky; 

Tan

also: flesh; khaki; cream; tawny; 

Brown

also:  henna; russet; sepia; chestnut; cocoa; drab; bronze; 

Red

also: terracotta ; rouge; carmine;  fire-engine; ruddy

Orange

also:  pumpkin ; rust ; 

Yellow

also: sunny; amber; saffron; hay; straw; platinum; 

Green

also: viridescent; grass; jade; forest; 

Blue

also: turquoise; cyan; ultramarine; royal; aqua; aquamarine;

Purple

also: berry;  amaranthine;

Pink

also: flushed; candy; cherry blossom; petal pink ; 

—– source: http://ingridsundberg.com/

—–additional synonyms added by me

[readtypewrite-blog]

Oh baby! Yes. How badly I need this - especially the Pink synonyms.

[readtypewrite-blog]

As you roll over and fall asleep facing away from me I question my self worth.

It’s been months and still I possess my superpower. The one where I turn any possible action or reaction of yours into introspection, self-doubt, self-deprecation. Time and again you’ve shown me tenderness, understanding, love. And time and again I’ve become an introverted mess as I over analyse the way you put your coffee mug down on the bench - it seemed harder than usual.

Thank the lord for the patience you give me, I know I must be unbearable. I’m sure one day there’ll be truth in my over analysation because the constant reassurance I need will inevitably tire you.

Thank you.

[bookishdiplodocus]

So you finished your first draft... What now?

I sometimes see posts telling you what to do after you finished writing. Many of them focus on getting the sentences to flow nicely, catching typos or making sure the grammar is sound. For me, there’s much more work to be done before I can get on with word choice and grammar. I want to tell you about the different stages of editing I’m planning.

I’m working from big to small, because it’s no use fretting over synonyms in a scene you’ll end up cutting out later.

These are my drafts:

1. Just write

Check. You’ve gone that. You got the first draft on the paper. Congratulations! You rock!

2. Add and cut

You’ve probably heard that editing is cutting. “A second draft needs to be shorter than the first draft, because you cut out any unnecessary words.” Yes and no. I agree you need to cut them out, but not yet.

Read through your entire story first, noting if anything needs to be added or cut out. Scenes where you were telling and you needed to be showing: rewrite them, add more words. For example: “And then they fight.” No, show me the fight. Scenes where you repeat yourself: cut out the repetitions if they have no function.

Think of pacing. Pick it up for the exciting scenes and then give your reader some breathing room. Pick it up towards the end. Add a small filler scene to change a regular reveal into a cliffhanger.

This is also the draft in which you fix any plotholes and rearrange scenes if they need to be in a different order.

If you finish this draft, you completed probably 80% of the work needed on your story. *high five!*

3. Group the scenes into chapters

A chapter consists of several scenes. If you have not grouped them yet, read through the entire story and place the chapter breaks where they feel right. If you have written your story into chapters, read it through to make sure that the chapter breaks are where they supposed to be.

Make sure there is a hook, big or small, at the end of each chapter to make the reader read on. If there isn’t one, add one or put the chapter break somewhere else.

4. Are there darlings to be killed?

You know your darlings. Scenes, characters, ideas or sentences you don’t want to cut because you really like them, but they serve no purpose in your story. Or worse, you rewrite a good plot into a mediocre one to make sure the darling doesn’t need to be killed.

Knowing myself, any darlings in my story probably involve random mentions of space and dinosaurs.

How to spot darlings: read through your entire story and ask yourself honestly:

Is the story structure still working? (Plot/pacing/…)

Is everything logical?

What’s the function of this chapter? Of this scene? Of this paragraph?

If it serves no purpose, kill them.  

Notice I’m still not telling you to check the grammar.

5. Voice

By know, you really know your characters. You know how they should react, how their thoughts sound, and if they have any quirks. Read through your story and make sure all the actions and dialogues are in character. Pay extra attention to the first part of your story, because you didn’t know them as well as you did at the end.

You can do this for all your characters in one go, or go through your story for each character individually, whatever serves your story best. I will go through my story four times in this draft, once for each of my four major characters.

6. Optional genre-specific draft

I’m writing something funny, so I’m dedicating an extra draft to make sure there is enough humor in it. If you write a romantic story, check for romantic details. If you write horror, check if you need to add extra creepy details. Add foreshadowing if that makes your story richer.

7. The time has come

Yes. I’m finally telling you to check the grammar, synonyms, tenses, unnecessary words, adverbs, variations of “said”, commas versus semicolons and all the other stuff you want to check. Go wild.

8. Extra things publishers and agents like

Make sure your first sentence is spot-on. Make your first scene brilliant. Make your first chapter a perfect chapter.

Rewrite the first and last alinea of every chapter. The goal is to make people want to gush to their friends, “I’m reading this book and you NEED to hear this paragraph, let me read it to you because it is the. best. ever.”

***

I know it can be difficult to see your mistakes and not tackle them immediately.  For me, it works if I signal them to future-me: I write “bad writing”, “research this” or “why????” in the margins and I put a squiggle under weird paragraphs or words. The reason you want to tackle it now is to make sure the idea or the mistake doesn’t escape you later. By signaling it,  you make sure it can’t escape, but you’re not losing time with micro stuff when you still have macro stuff to do.

Note that I will probably only change like 0,1% of the story each time I go through it, especially in the later drafts, but this way I won’t get distracted by other to do’s. If I try to do everything in one or two drafts, I can’t possibly see or do everything.

And now you’re done, you magnificent unicorn of a human being! You deserve the highest of fives!

I hope this is clear! You can always ask me if you have more questions. Follow me for more writing advice.

Tag list below, people I like and admire. If you want to be added to or removed from my tag list, let me know.

@writingquestionsanswered @brynwrites @cogwrites @tlbodine @neil-gaiman @sapphicauthor @thatsmybluefondue @maggie-stiefvater @abbywritesstuff @bronwyn-writes @sunblushedgoblin @forlornraven @elliewritesstories @tiorickriordan ​ @heywriters ​ @authors-haven ​ @helpfulwritingstuff ​ @wordsnstuff ​ @writingtipsandtricks​ @clevergirlhelps ​ @itstartswithablankpage​ @thebibliosphere ​ @compassrosewriting ​ @fixyourwritinghabits ​ @theliteraryarchitect ​ @git-writing-good ​ @thewritershandbook ​ @promptsforthestrugglingauthor ​ @goddessofnothingatall ​ @therska ​ @stephrawlingwrites ​ @cometworks ​ @elarasterling ​ @writeblrconnections ​ @the-words-we-never-said ​ @writingwhithotchocolate ​ @i-rove-rock-n-roll ​ @maskedlady ​ @no-time-like-write-now ​

[readtypewrite-blog]

Yo this editing advice is on point. I feel it in my soul.

[writingdotcoffee]

“You know what all the books published and movies made and comics inked have in common? Someone finished what they started.”

— Chuck Wending

[readtypewrite-blog]

Ugh Chuck Wendig ✊🏼

[readtypewrite-blog]

Soft.

“There she is,” Eliza said. Pia smiled wide closing her eyes. Small wrinkles creased the corners of her eyes such was the depth of her contentedness. “Everything is better after coffee,” Pia said. “Is that so?” “Mmm hmm.” A nod and a sip. “Everything huh?” Pia nodded again. “I can think of a couple things that don’t need coffee…” Eliza said, resting her hand on Pia’s thigh, inching it upwards. Pia smiled and Eliza let her hand drop away with a crooked grin. “You got me there. You should consider going pro, the skills you possess.” Pia grinned over the top of her mug. Eliza snorted but raised an eyebrow. “What’re you doing today?” Pia asked. “With any luck, you.” Eliza said, the corner of her mouth turning up, eyebrows raised. “Tempting my love, but after this brew, I’m headed in to work.” Pia smiled not unkindly, leaning in to kiss Eliza softly on the lips. Eliza reached up and held her face there, stretching the kiss out a moment longer. The softness of her lips was surely a crime, tempting Eliza to ease them apart with the tip of her tongue. However, she refrained and settled for a slightly longer peck instead. Eliza dropped her hand and Pia pulled away slightly, lips pinker than they’d been a moment before, smiling.  “So tempting,” she repeated, taking a step back and winking at Eliza before turning and heading back upstairs to dress. Eliza exhaled as she watched her ascend, her heart full and content.

[headspace-hotel]

When you reach that standard-lowering event horizon in your first draft wherein you realize you’re going to have to roll up your sleeves and condescend to whole new levels of suck to get the thing done u feel me 

[readtypewrite-blog]

Yaahhhsssss 🙌🏼 this is such an important part of every first draft grind 👌🏼

[wasting-ink-not-youth]

REBLOG IF YOU WILL FINISH YOUR WIP WHETHER THE WORLD WANTS YOU TO OR NOT GOD DAMN IT

[aquestionofcharacter]

Writing Life Hack

Write at least a sentence of your WIP every day. Just one.

It seems like a really insignificant goal until you realize that:

1) Those sentences add up

2) It ensures that your WIP is never completely off your mind for more than 24 hours at a time

3) Half the time you’ll be like, “well, while I’m here I might as well add a few extra sentences” and you might find yourself on a roll and add like, a whole page, even!