ruthewriter

A writer on their way to become an author, nested @ dystopian São Paulo.

[ruthewriter-blog]

No taste for subtlety

And no time for restraint

[cawolters]

Hello! Are you writing? No? Fear not! It’s FlashFictionFriday!! ⚡️⚡️

Get ready to get it ‘write’! Ahaha, so so punny, for for realsies, it’s FFF time and it’s awesome.

So put away your WIP and flash me som’ fictions babies!!

But! Woah, hey, what is fff?

I’ll tell ya!! FlashFictionFriday is an open, fun, random prompt, writeblr event that I host every week, here on my main! It’s all about getting words on the page and having fun!

Everyone can join<3

Don’t worry about the idea, the plot, the voice or format. Just WRITE and experiment, and let that muse-juice flow over your keys.

Okay, neat, but how??

Again, I’m honored to lead your gentle hand, friend. Here’s the official, not official at all, guidelines for how to do fff:

WRITE between 100-1000 words. It can be a scene as well as a stand-alone story and 18+ is okay!

USE this Friday’s theme in your text. Anyway you see fit!

POST on your tumblr blog and tag me @cawolters so I’ll see it!

DEADLINE, you have 24 hours from 12.00PM CET !! But you can cheat a little if I drop the prompt early.

And then, next Friday, I’ll mention and link to your work in the next FFF post!

Cool, no?

Yea, I like it too, so let’s get to it writers!!

Before we look at this week’s prompt, we HAVE to look back — last week was so fun! Cars and kisses and evil assassins!! I LoOoved em! The prompt was: MIDNIGHT DRIVE !!

Uh! So cool bros!! Thanks for joining! Here’s the participants:

@minusfractions — READ IT HERE

@georgiacambrielwritblr — READ IT HERE

@sunnydwrites — READ IT HERE

@inexorableblob — READ IT HERE

@abelharainhaadiva — READ IT HERE

@caitwritesstuff — READ IT HERE

@nyxnevin — READ IT HERE

@thequeenofhades — READ IT HERE

@cupcakeswriting — READ IT HERE

@kainablue — READ IT HERE

@fancy-little-shit — READ IT HERE

@nikuscripts — READ IT HERE

@alien-from-pluto-writer — READ IT HERE

@pheita — READ IT HERE

@farrradays — READ IT HERE

@sweetcatminteareblog — READ IT HERE

Thanks for joining guys! I made sure to read, like and share your stories! It was grand!

And now! This week I asked for a little inspiration and YOU GUYS DELIVERED!! So many asks in my inbox! That’s awesome. I have FFF inspo enough for a year! I especially noticed you guys like the strange and the dream-like, and I decided to make your wishes come true!

This week’s prompt is:

MANIC PIXIE DREAM

Is it a sugar sweet boi with a smoke? Is it a raving blue-haired girl? Or are you feeling like writing a dopy trip? Do it! Do it all!!

I’ll be waiting to read!

Good luck!

.

.

.

-ciao-

[saintedseraph]

on fear of writing-risk

a reminder to writers: if you end up not liking what you write, you can always rewrite it later on. take those risks and write what you’re afraid to, nothing you draft is ever final unless you want it to be.

[ruthewriter-blog]

Ruthewriter introduces themselves to the Writeblr community

Hi y'all =) I’m Ru, a gender-neutral Brazilian who prefers they/them/their pronouns. I live in São Paulo, which is pretty much like any dystopia you have seen before, but even more tragic. My aesthetic goes from sci-fi devices to realistic dialogues. My favorite authors are Machado de Assis, JD Salinger and Douglas Adams - and I am looking for some female author to add to that list, so if you have any suggestions please DM me! Apart from writing, I also like drawing, reading, watching tv series and spending some quality time with my husband. Oh, and also I’m an English teacher, but English is not my first language.

About my current WIPs, I working on a dystopian world that is owned by a single company, a story about an alien that was supposed to be studying live on Earth but instead falls in love with a gender-neutral human, and a story about a very timid and self-hating girl who finds a banana-shaped pill that can make her into who she always wanted to be. 

I’m excited to finally take part into the writeblr community, and I hope to create great connections with all of you =)

[ruthewriter-blog]

Hi there fellow non-binary folks and people from the writeblr community! My current WIP is about being agender and I wanted to tell y’all that my ask box is open! I would love to read your stories about your own gender identity, how you decided to deal with transitioning or not or really just anything you feel like telling me :) I would also be glad to answer your questions, and I am mostly definitely accepting books recs or any sort of recommendation to be honest.

Thank you for your attention darlings 💕✨

[ruthewriter-blog]

Hi there fellow non-binary folks and people from the writeblr community! My current WIP is about being agender and I wanted to tell y’all that my ask box is open! I would love to read your stories about your own gender identity, how you decided to deal with transitioning or not or really just anything you feel like telling me :) I would also be glad to answer your questions, and I am mostly definitely accepting books recs or any sort of recommendation to be honest.

Thank you for your attention darlings 💕✨

[ruthewriter-blog]

that last two days of panic, though.

[davykesey]

Perfectionism is not your friend. It’s rooted in the fear that what you do won’t be good enough. It’s over-valuing others’ opinion of you and your work.

Perfectionism leaves you paralyzed, waiting for the perfect conditions so you know it’s safe to act. Unfortunately, if you’re waiting for the perfect conditions, you may wait for the rest of your life.

If you can learn to fall in love with the process, rather than the product, you’ll be free to chase your passions unrestrained. Don’t let perfectionism keep you from moving. After all, you can’t steer a parked car.

[ruthewriter-blog]

Camp NaNo Diary

Camp NaNo: Day 8 (and yes I’m starting my diary today)

Written today: 3,054

Remaining: 42,727  | 50.000

Total word count: 7,273

Line I liked: “I can hear his footsteps approaching, and he grabs me by my shoulders and force me to look at him. Behind his mask, I can see his ice blue eyes and I can feel that he is even more scared than I am. Poor thing.”

Thoughts: It does get easier, but I still have to push myself to do it. It feels great to have had such a high count today, though. Maybe tomorrow I could do some actual outline and then I’ll get a better sense of where my story is going. Does anyone out there have some good tips on how to outline quick and easy?

[bumblebeesonpaper]

this is the video i used! hope it helps 💕

[ruthewriter-blog]

Thank you @bumblebeesonpaper! It is super useful =)

[o-vana]

hey lgbt friends

pls reblog this post if ud be interested in a discord server for LGBT writers to get together and provide feedback and participate in writing challenges and also have friends!! im thinkin abt making 1

[promptsforthestrugglingauthor]

Writing isn’t a sprint or a race; it’s not even a competition. No one needs to be faster or slower than anyone else, and no one needs to finish first. Each story takes different time to complete, and that’s normal!

[pluttskutt]

Writeblr Introduction

Hello! Thought I’d give it another shot at introducing myself and my writing.

My name is Plu (some say Pluttis, Plutten, whatever nickname you want to go with) and my pronouns are they/them. 

I write fantasy mixed with sci-fi. My stories are about alternate universes coming together so the sci-fi is from worlds like ours.

Romance isn’t big in my series but bonds through friendship and chosen family are. This isn’t to say it can’t occur through romantic bonds but I want to put emphasis on strong bonds not needing to be romantic.

Most, if not all, of my characters are HBTQ+. I write characters I want to see, stories I want to read, and have no intention of getting published so I can do what I want. Ha.

I write in my 1st language and English so that’s super fun.

Thank you for reading! Please reblog so I can find more writeblrs to interact with. I love tag games, ask games, etc. Thanks!

[ruthewriter-blog]

Hi Plu you sound awesome! Welcome <3 I also write in my first language (Portuguese) and English, and as a fellow they/them pronoun user I also think that being bilingual and non-binary (agender) is ultra fun because hey, double pronoun confusion.

Hey y'all lets follow Plu!

[letswritesomenovels]

HOW TO FINISH A DRAFT

Prepare yourself mentally

You’ll need to accept three things:

It won’t be the novel you have in your head.

It will be the worst novel anyone has ever written.

You can fix items 1 and 2 in the subsequent drafts. 

It’s easy to give up an idea when it looks like everything is going horribly. It’s easy to fall out of love with an idea when all the things you thought you loved about it aren’t showing up on the page. 

But let me tell you, this happens with so many books. They don’t pop out perfectly formed. To use an overwrought metaphor, if books were sculptures, writing the first draft would be mining the marble. You can chisel it down to that beautiful work of art later, but first you need to gather the raw material to work with.

 It probably won’t be pretty. It’ll be a great lump of words that may or may not form a coherent story. But that thing you want desperately? that story you can see so clearly inside your head? It will be in there somewhere. 

Make yourself accountable

It would be great if all writing a novel took was a strike of inspiration that could carry you over all 50k+ words. But for the majority of us, this isn’t the case. 

Your inspiration, your love of the idea alone, will not get you through this. 

It’s going to take blood and sweat and an astounding amount of perseverance. 

What will help more than any muse is accountability. A sense of responsibility and urgency to get this novel finished. 

Most of us need stakes and consequences. We need to be held accountable. This can take many forms. If you’re good at self motivation, you can hold yourself accountable. Make a plan of what you need to do to get the draft out, and hold yourself to it. 

If you need some external accountability, tell a friend your goals and send your work to them on a schedule. Join a writing group. Take part in NaNoWriMo. Tweet your goals and daily word counts. 

I’m in a writing master’s program. If I don’t write for weeks, I don’t have work to turn in to my manuscript tutor and that’s an unpleasant place for me to be. If I don’t write for months, I fail my course. As motivation goes, it can be stressful, but it helps me get words on the page. 

Start now

Do you want to write a novel? Right now. As you read this. Do you actually want to write a novel? If that answer is yes, start right now. Stop reading this (make sure to come back later to finish it, though.) Log off of tumblr and start writing. 

There are always going to be reasons why this, right now, is a Bad Time for you start. You have things to do, places to go, people to see. You have obligations and responsibilities. Life tip? That is never going to go away. It will always be a Bad Time to sit down and write a book. 

I’m a very slow writer, but I can train myself to write 800 words in 20 minutes if I want. If I wrote for 20 minutes every day, I could write a draft of a 50k novel in two months. That’s the same amount of time as the commercial breaks in an hour long tv show. If I watched an hour long tv show once a day and wrote during the commercials, I could write a 50k draft in two months. 

That’s nothing at all. 

I promise you, you have everything you need to sit down and start writing this very second. You have enough spare time in your day to finish a draft in a matter of months. 

If you really want to write that novel, there are no excuses. Start now. 

Keep Going

Remember how I told you that the first thing you have to do is prepare yourself mentally? Those are things you have to continually remind yourself as you write. 

It’s not going to be the novel in your head. 

It’s going to be the worst novel anyone has ever written. 

You’re going to have to accept these two horrible sentences as facts and keep going. 

At points, you’re going to hate your story. It’s going to be the very last thing you’ll want to waste your time on.

That’s fine. Believe it or not, that’s natural. 

Keep going. 

You’re going to want to change it. You might have a new idea for the beginning. You might decide on a new name for the main character halfway through. You might switch from past to present tense randomly. 

Those are all things you can fix in the second draft. 

Keep going. 

Your first draft doesn’t need to be coherent. It doesn’t need to be good. It just needs to be. 

You’re not trying to write the best novel ever. You’re not trying to write a good novel. Again, those are for the subsequent drafts. 

Now, your only goal is to reach the words: “The End.” 

Do whatever it takes to get to them. 

TIPS

Keep a notebook of ideas for revisions next to you while you write to help fight against the urge to go back and change things as you write. 

Use writeordie.com to kickstart your word count and writing speed if you’re having trouble getting things on the page. 

Take a look at my list of writers’ block aids. 

If you have the means, try one of Chris Baty’s draft writing kits.

[she-who-fights-and-writes]

I was wondering if you knew any basic guides to outlining a novel for the first time?

Outlining a story is very, very important. Without an outline and thorough planning, your story will veer off in wildly different directions and will cost you a ton of time editing later, like my book did.

1. Get the characters down first

Characters are like the chess pieces of the story. Their moves and strengths/weaknesses will decide what is going to happen and how it will happen. Sure, you can have a nice plot and setting, but without the characters, the story is meaningless.

Here is the character chart that I usually use:

Name (First/Middle/Last/Maiden name)

Aliases/Nicknames

Age

Race

Gender

Sexuality

Height

Weight

Eye color

Hair color

Clothing style

Religion

Political views

Personality Traits

Strengths and Weaknesses

Likes and Dislikes

Family

Friends

Enemies

Role in the story

Backstory/past

2. Choose a template

Just bulleting the events does not give the plot the dimension that it deserves and does not really accommodate side plots.

I personally use the zigzag method that I discovered from this post. I branch off of the zigzags for my side plots so it looks kind of like a graph.

You can also use the subway method, which I found on the nanowrimo website.

There are a whole other host of outlines to choose from if you search them up!

3. Know that you don’t have to stick to it

An outline is just that: an outline. It’s not the final decision for the plot, it’s the first draft for the plot. If you’re writing and one of the points just isn’t working anymore, you don’t have to keep it because it was a part of your outline.

Write what feels right.

Happy outlining, and good luck with your story!

[studysection]

Hey guys! As a writer myself, it’s hard to have a lot of resources for writing in one place. That’s why I decided to create this masterpost, and maybe make more if I find future resources. I hope you like it, and expect to see more masterposts like this in the future!

Generators

Character

Appearance Generator

Archetypes Generator

Character Generator

Character Traits Generator

Family Generator

Job/Occupation Generator, (II)

Love Interest Generator

Motive Generator

Name Generator

Personality Generator, (II)

Quick Character Generator

Super Powers Generator

Names

Brand Name Generator

Medicine Title Generator

Name Generator

Quick Name Generator

Vehicle Generator

Town Name Generator

Plot

First Encounter Generator

First Line Generator, (II)

Plot Generator, (II), (III)

Plot Device Generator

Plot Twist Generator

Quick Plot Generator

Setting/World-Building

City Generator

Fantasy Race Generator

Laws Generator

Pet Generator

Setting Generator

Species Generator

Terrain Generator

Prompts

Subject Generator

”Take Three Nouns” Generator

Word Prompt Generator

Misc

Color Generator

Decision Generator

Dialogue Generator

Journey Generator

Title Generator, (II), (III)

Some Tips

Just a few I found from the writing tips tag!

Writing action / @berrybird

How to create a strong voice in your writing / @collegerefs

How to plot a complex novel in one day! / @lizard-is-writing

8 ways to get past writer’s block / @kiramartinauthor

psa for writers / @dasakuryo

”Write Using Your 5 Senses” / @ambientwriting

How People Watching Improves Your Writing / @wherethetransthingsare

Writing Science Fiction: Tips for Beginners / @fictionwritingtips

Creating Likeable Characters / @authors-haven

Vocabulary

Descriptive words / @somekindofstudent

Words to replace “Said” / @msocasey

Obscure color words / @mintsteelpeachlilac

Words to spice up your stories / @busyibee

Words to describe someone’s voice

Words to Use Instead of Very / @gaybybirth

Touchy Feely Words / @gaybybirth

Some Advice

Stephen King’s Top 20 Rules for Writers

”But my plot isn’t UNIQUE or BIG enough!” / @youreallwrite

8 Things Every Creative Should Know / @adamjk

(How To) Get Over Comparing Yourself to Other Creatives / @adamjk

How to Get Over Common Creative Fears (Maybe) / @adamjk

14 Tips From Stephen King On Writing / @i-can-give-you-prompts

Playlists

Electronic Thoughts / @eruditekid

“Mix About Writing” An Instrumental Mix / @shadowofemirates

Shut Up, I’m Writing! / @ninadropdead

Chill / @endlessreveries

Breathtaking Film Scores / @tweedskirts

Music to Write to Vol. 1: Starlight / @crestadeen

Music for Written Words / @ghoulpatch

Dead Men Tell No Tales / @scamandersnewt

Fatale / @dolcegf

All These Things that I’ve Done / @referenceforwriters

Feeling Soaking into Your Bones / @verylondon

I Can Feel Your Pulse in the Pages / @rphelper

Morally Ambiguous / @scamandersnewt

Wonderwall / @wheelerwrites

Pythia / @mazikeene

Ballet: To Dance / @tanaquil

Websites and Apps

For Writing

ZenPen: A minimalist writing website to keep you free of distractions and in the flow.

The Most Dangerous Writing App: A website where you have to keep typing or all of your writing will be lost. It helps you keep writing…kind of. You can choose between a time or word count limit!

Evernote: An online website where you can take notes and save the product to your laptop and/or smartphone!

Writer, the Internet Typewriter: It’s just you and your writing, and you can save your product on the website if you create an account.

Wordcounter: A website to help check your word and character count, and shows words you’re using frequently.

Monospace: An Android app for writing on the go when you feel the inspiration, but you don’t have your laptop on you!

For Productivity

Tide: An app that combines a pomodoro-esque timer with nature sounds and other noises! (Google Play / Apple Store)

ClearFocus: An Android app with a pomodoro-type time counter to let you concentrate easier and stay productive.

Forest: An app with a time counter to keep you focused and off your phone, and when you complete the time limit, a tree grows in your garden! (Google Play / Apple Store)

SelfControl: A Mac downloadable app that blocks you from distracting mail servers, websites, and other things!

Prompt Blogs

@writeworld

@dialouge-prompts

@oopsprompts

@prompts-for-the-otp

@creativepromptsforwriting

@the-modern-typewriter

@theprofessionalpromptmaker

@writers-are-writers

@otp-imagines-cult

@witterprompts

@havetobememes

@auideas

@putthepromptsonpaper

@promptsonpaper

@fyotpprompts

@otpisms

@soprompt

@otpprompts

@ablockforwritersblock

@awritersnook

Writing Tips Blogs

@writeworld

@anomalously-written

@awritersnook

@clevergirlhelps

@referenceforwriters

@whataboutwriting

@thewritershelpers

@nimblesnotebook

@slitheringink

[lettersiarrange]

New writing rule: Checkov’s friend

If you introduce a named character with a relationship to a protagonist, their character arc must be resolved in a way that feels reasonable and satisfying

Which is to say: they can’t just dissappear when they’re no longer a convenient plot device

[cluegrrl]

Thor’s Mum rule – If you’re going to kill a character who’s carried any part of the plot, take a bit to reimagine the plot as if she were the main character, and the story ends when she dies.  If it’s unsatisfying, rewrite either her plot points, or her death, to make both more meaningful.

Which is to say – don’t treat side characters as ammo with which to hurt your main guy.  ESPECIALLY if they’re women.

[dr-dendritic-trees]

I’m reblogging because this second part is the best explanation of how I distinguish between fridged characters and other characters who just die.

And yes, it is intrinsically a bit subjective and that’s okay.

[ruthewriter-blog]

S I’ve told y’all about my androgynous nose, now I’m showing it.