The Place Where Good Writing Goes To Die

Row's blog for writing, headcanons and OCs. Theme is Vongola Pride by Yukoki.

[homunculus-argument]

 Hey btw, another worldbuilding thing: You can, and actually should have weird and impractical cultural things. They’re not inherently unrealistic, for as long as you address the realistic consequences as well.

 Let’s say you’ve got a city where there’s tame white doves everywhere. They’re not pests, they’re regarded as sacred, holy protectors of the city, and the whole city cares for them and feeds them like they’re pets. They’re so tame because it’s a social taboo to hurt or scare one. Nice pretty doves :)

 Then someone points out that even if they’re not seen as pests, doesn’t having a completely unchecked feral pigeon population - that not only isn’t being culled, but actively fed and cared for - mean that there would be bird shit absolutely all over the place?

 A part of you wants to say no, because these are your nice, pretty doves. To explain that there’s a reason why they’re not shitting all over the place, maybe they’re super-intelligent and specifically bred and trained to not shit all over the place. The logistics of how, exactly, could anyone breed and train a flock of feral birds go unaddressed.

 An even worse solution would be to not have those birds, editing them out of the world. No, they spark joy, you can’t just toss them out!

 Now, consider: Yes, yes they would, but the city also has an extensive public sanitation service that’s occupied 90% of the time by cleaning bird shit off of everything. One of the most common last names in the area actually translates to “one who scrapes off dove shit”, and it’s a highly respected occupation. And thanks to the sheer necessity of constantly regularly cleaning everything, the city enjoys a much higher standard of cleanliness, and less public health issues caused by poor public sanitation.

 The doves do protect the city. By shitting fucking everywhere.

[moonybyte]

While I absolutely love your idea, I just want to say that you can easily reduce public bird shitting from Pigeons by offering them comfortable lodgings where they can sleep and feed. Sure, you need to clean THOSE, but the pigeons shit a lot less all over town.

The Augsburg concept has one big pigeon house every 500m in which wild pigeons are fed, protected from weather and have nesting opportunities. Cities doing that have WAY less uncontrolled populations (since they can take out eggs if they feel they need reduce the population), way less shit AND a healthy population since it’s easier for veterinarians to notice and get to sick animals.

So I’d say one can of course still keep your general idea……but there’s also those MASSIVE palace-like pidgeon houses and only the most worthy are allowed to enter and directly interact with the pigeons (feed them, heal them, clean their lodgings). One big entrance for the human servants (priests??) and millions of small holes for the pigeons.

In fact, one could potentially turn your idea around IN THE PIDGEONS FAVOR. So your world is like ours and most major cities have a big feral pigeon population. And most of those cities HATE the pigeons and try to fight them and stuff. And they think that pigeon worshipper town is frigging cuckoo. BUT when comparing, then pigeon worshipper town is ridiculously clean and beautiful. No bird shit everywhere, no ruined house facades and statues from erosion through bird poop. Pigeon haters go “how tf are you so clean, you have birds EVERYWHERE???” and the worshippers shrug and show their little bird temples spread around town that keep their precious birdies AND their town pretty.

[plucky-passerine]

I think this is a really good example of how research can greatly improve your worldbuilding! You don’t have to be perfectly accurate - it is fantasy after all - but the real world is so much more clever and beautiful than any of us know

[curlicuecal]

advice that’s stuck with me: you don’t have to work inwards to justify a premise (e.g., ‘how would it ever be plausible to use snakes as currency’) as long as you work outwards in interesting ways from that premise (e.g., ‘how would a society that used snakes as currency look different? what would they use for wallets?’)

[gholateg]

I love this idea that OP thought there wasn’t a town that had already handled it’s “We fucking love birds you guys, like for fucking reals” problem already through sheer human chutzpah.

Humans are THE pack binding specie. A way will be found.

[shaudo-of-a-doubt]

For anyone else interested in or looking for more information about pigeon houses, the traditional word for them is dovecote.

[develop-your-oc]

What would your OC’s idle animations look like?

[develop-your-villain]

Which OC is undercover? Are they good at it? Do they get found out?

[rowwrites]

sometimes when i'm thinking about nahlia lore, i always remind myself that she has beef with louisoix that he was never aware of that then also mildly translated onto forchenault

[rowsart]

a bit of WoLCred for WoLCred week featuring my girl F'nahlia!!

[rowwrites]

I mean to reblog to here too actually but Day 3 is up in With The Sun In Your Smile!

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

[rowwrites]

naruto oc thoughts

Ooh actually idk, my brain is BRAINING and wants to do Mikoto as an Uzumaki child of Uzu survivor parents and Haiiro her teacher / guardian.

AND THEY COME TO KONOHA FOR SAFETY AFTER LEAVING KIRI / WAVE?

i like that better than making a naruto twin in a way because those are. tricky.

it COULD also give me an excuse to bring in some of the oTHER OCs i had like the Suna Team and m A Y B E Uchiha Mukuro? OH the KAGUYA perhaps,,, especially if near

mmm brain be braining and i think i like the way it's going

[rowwrites]

Naruto Twin AU

Had a dream of a naruto twin au except for some reason the self insert naruto twin girl (kushinas hair and eyes, minato face, yk standard) had to go find a tokubetsu jonin or just a jonin for a class project

I'll call her Mikoto / Miko for now or something

So like class project, they're like 4 years old or 5, and it's one of those draw your family and talk about them scenarios and everyone's being mean about it to them bc kids are cruel

Obviously, being SI, she's already told Naruto and thought of a plan to get out of jail free but he wants to draw them despite it being an S class secret. So, of course, she indulges him. Dips out quietly as a mouse and politely asks at the shinobi desk for a Tokubetsu Jonin

By pure chance, one is literally there just going to get a mission. It's also one that, despite them being who they are, is rather neutral about them - we'll call him Haiiro. So he indulges her, "what do you need a tokubetsu for?"

Its serious, the way she looks at him (and adorable since she's a child trying to be serious), "I need a contract written up as a Promise." So he indulges her once more and she pockets the paper and holds her hand out to walk back to the classroom with him.

"We wanna draw our mama and papa-" she says having extracted The Promise, The Contract and Haiiro is internally like 'oh god' and she continues, "But it's a SECRET. SO, we need permission to DRAW THEM but not talk about them :)"

He is in. A situation. He technically accepted this as a mission. Even the shinobi desk ninja accepted it technically. (They didn't read what she wrote properly, she knows it)

So Miko owns that shit. Haiiro gets this feeling he's going to be... sought out more. He also needs to know HOW they know so he can tell the Hokage. But she's a kid so he can't just. Go shove her at a Yamanaka immediately. She looks him dead in the eye and says "so will you do it?"

Fuck it, he thinks, he'll do it, there'll be something funny about this. (Where the fuck is Hound, why isn't he watching her-)

So she slips back into class WITH this Jonin and the teacher is. Stunned. Confused. She thumbs ups naruto and he yells at her that, "Awesome IM DRAWING MAMA"

So she delegates herself to drawing Minato dutifully by looking out the window. If she draws him like a Shoujo man as only a 4 or 5 year old could that's even funnier.

Teacher is BAFFLED. Why is he here, when did the demons sister slip out. What is going on. Haiiro just says, "wait and see. Continue as normal."

So, teacher does. Kids are also curious but can't say anything because Teacher GLARES and gets things back on track. They start talking about their families. Ami gives a snide talk and side eyes Miko and Naruto during it. Sakura recites dutifully. Sasuke goes before them and extolls the virtues of his brother.

Then Miko and Naruto stand. "This is us," they point out, "and this is our parents." Haiiro is torn between laughing and crying. "We can't talk about them cause they're meant to be a secret so that's why I brought Mr Jonin here to let us do this-"

"Our mama was so cool, 'ttebayo!" Naruto says and starts talking about her hair and her face and that, "She was from UZU its so cool."

He wants to shut them up but he also. Doesn't. Bound by mission parameters, he'll claim. Fuck it, he's taking these kids home with him later, theyre SMART. He always wanted minions.

and oh no no what's she doing. She's pointing out the window then at her paper. "Yondaime. Thanks."

Class erupts into shouts. Lots of calls of liars. Naruto is beaming. Miko is smiling innocently, pocketing the paper.

Haiiro is so fucking dead. He laughs and laughs and laughs. He's filing adoption papers later.

[rowwrites]

the vision currently for Mikoto aged 12

and haiiro of possible uchiha bastardry

[rowwrites]

oh god this turned 5 in february i should really update this

[rowwrites]

Naruto Twin AU

Had a dream of a naruto twin au except for some reason the self insert naruto twin girl (kushinas hair and eyes, minato face, yk standard) had to go find a tokubetsu jonin or just a jonin for a class project

I'll call her Mikoto / Miko for now or something

So like class project, they're like 4 years old or 5, and it's one of those draw your family and talk about them scenarios and everyone's being mean about it to them bc kids are cruel

Obviously, being SI, she's already told Naruto and thought of a plan to get out of jail free but he wants to draw them despite it being an S class secret. So, of course, she indulges him. Dips out quietly as a mouse and politely asks at the shinobi desk for a Tokubetsu Jonin

By pure chance, one is literally there just going to get a mission. It's also one that, despite them being who they are, is rather neutral about them - we'll call him Haiiro. So he indulges her, "what do you need a tokubetsu for?"

Its serious, the way she looks at him (and adorable since she's a child trying to be serious), "I need a contract written up as a Promise." So he indulges her once more and she pockets the paper and holds her hand out to walk back to the classroom with him.

"We wanna draw our mama and papa-" she says having extracted The Promise, The Contract and Haiiro is internally like 'oh god' and she continues, "But it's a SECRET. SO, we need permission to DRAW THEM but not talk about them :)"

He is in. A situation. He technically accepted this as a mission. Even the shinobi desk ninja accepted it technically. (They didn't read what she wrote properly, she knows it)

So Miko owns that shit. Haiiro gets this feeling he's going to be... sought out more. He also needs to know HOW they know so he can tell the Hokage. But she's a kid so he can't just. Go shove her at a Yamanaka immediately. She looks him dead in the eye and says "so will you do it?"

Fuck it, he thinks, he'll do it, there'll be something funny about this. (Where the fuck is Hound, why isn't he watching her-)

So she slips back into class WITH this Jonin and the teacher is. Stunned. Confused. She thumbs ups naruto and he yells at her that, "Awesome IM DRAWING MAMA"

So she delegates herself to drawing Minato dutifully by looking out the window. If she draws him like a Shoujo man as only a 4 or 5 year old could that's even funnier.

Teacher is BAFFLED. Why is he here, when did the demons sister slip out. What is going on. Haiiro just says, "wait and see. Continue as normal."

So, teacher does. Kids are also curious but can't say anything because Teacher GLARES and gets things back on track. They start talking about their families. Ami gives a snide talk and side eyes Miko and Naruto during it. Sakura recites dutifully. Sasuke goes before them and extolls the virtues of his brother.

Then Miko and Naruto stand. "This is us," they point out, "and this is our parents." Haiiro is torn between laughing and crying. "We can't talk about them cause they're meant to be a secret so that's why I brought Mr Jonin here to let us do this-"

"Our mama was so cool, 'ttebayo!" Naruto says and starts talking about her hair and her face and that, "She was from UZU its so cool."

He wants to shut them up but he also. Doesn't. Bound by mission parameters, he'll claim. Fuck it, he's taking these kids home with him later, theyre SMART. He always wanted minions.

and oh no no what's she doing. She's pointing out the window then at her paper. "Yondaime. Thanks."

Class erupts into shouts. Lots of calls of liars. Naruto is beaming. Miko is smiling innocently, pocketing the paper.

Haiiro is so fucking dead. He laughs and laughs and laughs. He's filing adoption papers later.

[romeclipse]

how to write a likeable grumpy character

consistency : this is applicable to all your characters but becomes specifically important while writing one that might not appeal to the audience because of certain traits. you should know when to balance out their grumpiness to other behaviours– being a grinch cannot make up their entire personality!

body language : their irritability can be expressed not just through dialogues and expressions, body language plays an important role as well. a descriptive narration of acts such as crossed arms, huffs, a perpetual scowl or the good old eye-roll could create a similar effect without annoying and the reader as much.

internal thoughts and beliefs : it is very often noticed how a grumpy character's inner ideals are on a comparatively 'softer' and vulnerable side, which allows room for the reader to sympathize with them. maybe this side could be shown to a particular character while it remains hidden to others. if you're thinking about luke and lorelai, congratulations because so am i.

humor : their grumpy behaviour can always be used to provide hilarity in otherwise tense scenarios. give them some witty comebacks, a fair amount of sarcasm or some self-deprecating humor and watch the audience fall in love with them.

contrast : establish scenes that provide a contrast between their gruff nature and hidden benevolent traits. interactions with characters that they feel safe around, acts of kindness and a demonstration of their protective instincts shows a caring side behind the grumpy facade.

reasons : although this isn't necessary, it can be used according to your will and pleasure. find a (realistic) reason behind your character's irritable behaviour– maybe certain events trigger it more often, a backstory, out of spite from certain other characters, personal struggles etc.

self-awareness : allow them to be conscious of their actions and behaviour, maybe even learn from them. their willingness to do better (or at least attempting to) creates a sense of liking for the audience. this awareness along with their internal struggles as mentioned earlier would add layers to their personality and thus help in character growth.

[daily-prompts]

I need everyone’s best character advice. STAT.

[theidealistcynic-deactivated202]

You're not creating real people, you're creating the illusion of real people. You don't have to mention their favorite food if it doesn't come up, you don't even have to know it, though if they were actual people they'd have one. You can throw plot events at your characters to force them to take certain actions, or you could just rewrite the characters to be the kind of characters who would take those actions anyway. Your characters have a life of their own in their own little world, but don't be afraid to play god to get what you want out of them.

[derinthescarletpescatarian]

In the vast majority of cases, a character's strengths and flaws should be the same thing. There are exceptions (you can have a character be clumsy for the lols without needing to find some way that it's an advantage), but for most character traits, the difference between a flaw and a strength is the situation at hand and learning when to indulge it.

[lyralit]

ways to start writing more efficiently

stop writing with the word count on!

use a font like comic sans -- trick your brain into thinking that it's not important, that the writing can be stupid, if it's in a stupid font (if you can't tell i despise comic sans)

time yourself to get to a goal

or give yourself a certain amount of time

quantity >> quality in the first draft(s)!

jot down what you want to happen in that chapter

try organizing your writing (nanowrimo, for example)

do *not* reread! it doesn't need to make sense, it just needs to be there

try not to stick yourself to something you saw on tumblr. what works for someone else doesn't necessarily work for you!

take breaks. time those breaks.

practice writing short stories / oneshots of your characters.

try getting all your writing done within a certain goal (as much as I can for 30 minutes) rather than writing 5 minutes on or off

write down every little wormy idea that comes into your brain! sure, it's probably for a different plot, but maybe you can work it in somehow?

on that note, mash elements of your plots together rather than starting a whole new story

see maybe what little writing competitions you can submit your work to

proclaim your goal to the wide web for some peer pressure

rewards yourself. cheer on every thousand-word milestone. brag to your friends that you've written something, anything.

don't think of the big goal—don't think of publishing, or posting, etc. think of the end of your chapter, the development of your character, where it goes.

switch your writing environment! where are you most productive?

make a playlist only for when you write. never for anything else.

getting off tumblr, probably.

have people remind you of your goals.

remember that it all comes with discipline, but also your mental health is the most important!! don't sacrifice half your sleep to meet your nanowrimo goals. try to recognize when it's taking you too long and close the document. do something else. come back later.

take care of yourself. <3 use this post as a breather (or reminder to start!)

[coffeebeanwriting]

Crafting a Villain - Some Quick Tips

1) Give them a relationship or connection to your protagonist. Voldemort is quite literally connected to Harry magically. Katniss becomes a symbol of hope, threatening the control Snow has over the Districts.

2) Let them evoke emotion in your reader. Whether it’s anger, laughter, or sadness… a villain's actions and how they affect your protagonist can warrant an emotional response from the reader. Think about all the times you may have felt anger because the villain gains the upper hand against the protagonist.

3) Make them relatable… or completely unhinged. The goal of your villain can make them relatable to your readers: are they acting out of revenge, self-hatred, sorrow, revenge, or fear? Humans can relate to all of those feelings. Or... are they just downright evil and otherworldly?

4) Their goal. What does your villain seek to obtain? Just like your protagonist, your villain should want or need something. This is why they exist in the story: to antagonize your protagonist and achieve their diabolical goal. Food for thought: Why do they have to be a 'villain' or 'evil' to obtain it? What made them that way?

4) Make them iconic. Most Disney villains are easily recognizable… whether it’s their outfit, voice, or personality. Consider giving your villain something that makes them notably unforgettable. A wardrobe, way of speaking, a quirk?

5) Think about the traits of your villain. What labels them as the villain? Selfishness, violence, insecurity, obsession, fear, ego, ignorance, entitlement? Or maybe they're just misunderstood.

6) Their backstory can make them believable. As the author, the more you understand and know about your villain's upbringing, the more convincingly evil or tactical you can write them.

Instagram: coffeebeanwriting  

[macabremoons]

fantasy is so fun until you have to name your countries and make a map someone please end my misery

[halfbit]

all you need to do is come up with 3-4 unique names. then come up with a meaning/translation for those names. now that you know what they mean, you can combine their elements with eachother and add new random sounds in.

eg: "mir/miel" means lake in my conlang, "da" means hill, and "guu" means bear. now that i know that i can name something daguu/guuda (bear hill) or guumir (bear lake). and i can go "hwa" (which means white but in this case pretend i came up with it at random) sounds good with "guu" so what if i name something hwaguu or hwaguumir? and then just repeat the process

some of the things i recommend having words for when it comes to naming locations:

- hill (you can have so many variants that mean hill)

- lake

- river/creek

- valley

- directional words (north, east, south, west)

- road/path

- forest/wood

- clearing/plain

- rock/cliff

it doesn't have to be extremely overwhelming! you can just start with a few small and common words and slowly expand

[halfbit]

countries are definitely a bit harder then average place names, but they usually name themselves either after the people who live there or something symbolic!

a fun little read, sometimes only covers their exonyms in english though, let me see if i can find one that goes into country's names in their native languages

still not quite what i was looking for, but covers groups of people!

this is closer to what i was looking for, it shows the countries' endonym and english exonym next to eachother which is a good start, but doesnt provide a translation of meanings. better than nothing though

[macabremoons]

country names... have meanings... oh my god that makes everything so much easier

[canary0]

Saving for reference.

[rowwrites]

Yumemiru: Origin

She squints across the way, eyes pressed together and lips pursed as she tries desperately to look at her surroundings and make out the details further away.

She huffs, pushing part of her bubblegum hair out of her face and reaches for her reiatsu to alter her eyes, sharpen her vision. It works as she expects, clarity comes in an instant and she watches the people of Rukongai, in this lonely district, bustle about their days barely sparing a glance at her.

Her days in the District - she's never really cared what one it is but it's not a close one to Seireitei she thinks from the lack of shoes and resources - are numbered, purely based on her ability to manipulate reiatsu and the fact she goes hungry often. Were it not for the kindly man Yuuta, who took her in, she would have no doubt she would be resorting to stealing to get through the day - not to say she doesn't already given the dangers of this place. She's admittedly surprised no more danger has arrived to this District because of her being here.

She's small and cute, freckled with big blue eyes and glasses. Pink hair with a little white streak, beauty marks next to the right side of her mouth and under her left eye. Dimples on only the left side of her mouth and always smiling cheerfully to those that see her.

She cuts an unassuming figure and its how she likes it. Makes it so people don't realise she's pick pocketing them when she trips into them and cries about it.

She kicks a rock lightly with her foot, coating it in a small smattering of reiatsu to prevent any damage and begins the long walk back to the shoddy little house she calls home currently. There's a shrine on the way to the house, one for an old god long left abandoned but she remembers it's name. Ah, something snaps into action in her brain, Sakahone! That was it. East District 76 she thinks.

"Oiiiii, tha' you, Yuuu-Chaaaan?" A neighbour calls as she starts up the path, "Looks like ya've got a visitor! Ehehehe!"

Her nose wrinkles and she sighs, hm. A lot sooner then. She places her glasses back onto her face and tries to ignore the cracks in them. Opens the door.

"Taidama, Oji-san!"

"Okaeri, Yumemiru-chan. Come. There's someone here to talk to you." Comes Yuuta's deep voice, smooth and compelling. It's no wonder he's technically the main leader of a faction of thieves in this area.

She wanders and stops, blinking in surprise.

"It's nice to meet you Yumemiru-chan," Ukitake Juushiro says and reaches into his sleeve to offer her something, "would you like a sweet?"

[rowwrites]

I think if i ever DO write out my SR SI series or w/e I'd make Shaundi's last name Shaunnessy (like the devs joked it would be Shaundington like Kinzie's is Kensington but I feel like THIS is funnier + I swear I saw something once about her name being Irish)

[rowwrites]

oh god this turned 5 in february i should really update this