I should be writing

“average writer starts and abandons 3,000 stories a year” factoid actualy just statistical error. average writer finishes 1-2 stories per year. Sky, who lives in her mother’s garage & abandons 10,000 stories each day, is an outlier adn should not have been counted ♪•—★—•♪ hi my name is Sky and i’m just trying desperately to write and publish SOMETHING before I die at age 40 from injecting a Nintendo Switch straight into my bloodstream

[starcut-sand]

When I was in college, my Creative Nonfiction professor would regularly have us do something she called "hotspotting" (she didn't know that this was already a term tbc) with our rough drafts. Basically, hotspotting is when you look at your draft and pick out your favorite sentence, or one of your favorite sentences--one that you're really proud of--and write it down in a blank sheet in a notebook. Not a new document, a physical notebook. (You are not allowed to use technology for hotspotting.) And then you set a timer for however long--like maybe ten to twenty minutes--and you elaborate. You treat that one sentence as if it's the opening sentence to a new draft, and you write from there, until the timer is up.

It sounds like a gimmick, but honestly, some of my best writing in that class came from hotspotting. Usually, the sentence you consider the "best" is the one that really gets to the heart of something you're trying to convey. In a rough draft, it tends to be that you're fumbling around a bit before you really hit on the heart of things. So with hotspotting, you're starting from a less fumbly place, which means you're able to dig into your subject in a much deeper and more precise way. It makes you feel like a surgeon, a little bit.

So I do recommend trying it, even just for fun, even if you think the rough draft you have is already good. You might surprise yourself with what you come up with! :)

[teekettle]

[ Live Example | My AO3 Skins ]

While AO3 has a way to click to see notes at the end, this tutorial is how you can not only have your viewers click to view certain notes, but also click back to where they had been reading before. We don’t even need to use a workskin for this, but just an implementation of simple anchor links. So whether you have a lot of references in your work or just want to let your inner Pratchett* loose, this is how you do it.

Keep reading

[mysharona1987]

Writing agent Jonny Geller gives advice to young writers. 

[ryncarmine]

The advice, to those who can’t read the images, is as follows:

Here’s a thread on what we look for in debut novels. Hope it helps.

1/6 don’t let us feel we are beginning a story with you. Start as though in the middle, finish the novel as though it’s a new beginning.

2/6 plot is key, but not at the expense of character. We’ll go anywhere with a full character but question every move with a thin one.

3/6 how a story makes you feel is as important as how it makes you think.

4/6 love writing your book, but don’t expect to love reading it.

5/6 We read to learn, experience & feel something new. Comfortable is anathema to a writer and readers can sense complacency instantly.

6/6 take your characters to the limit. Easier to withdraw from a cliff’s edge than keep pushing them up a hill.

[writingquestionsanswered]

Master List: Plot & Story Structure

Guide: How to Turn Ideas into a Story Guide: Starting a New (Long Fiction) Story Guide: Filling in the Story Between Known Events Guide: How to Outline a Plot Basic Story Structure Beginning a New Story How to Move a Story Forward Plot Driven vs Character Driven Stories Understanding Goals and Conflict Literary Fiction vs Genre Fiction Scene Lists Making a Timeline for Your Story The Main Timeline, Back Story, and the Prologue Story Arc (Main Plot) vs Subplot Subplot Shouldn’t Come Before Main Plot (and Why Structure Matters) Plot Before Subplot Fleshing Out Plot Ideas What is a Story Outline and Why Do I Need One? Creating a Detailed Story Outline Turning a Barrage of Ideas into a Plot How to Turn Ideas into a Story How to Move a Story Forward Finding a Story in Characters and Setting Finding a Plot to Go with Characters/Setting Where to Find Story Ideas Coming Up with Ideas and Plot Coming Up with Plot Twists How to Refocus a Plot Can Come Up with a Back Story but No Plot Avoid Revealing Back Story Too Soon Want to Write but Can’t Come Up with a Plot Deciding How to Open Your Book Figuring Out You Story’s Literary Themes Theme vs Thematic Statement: Deeper Meaning Turning Romantic Main Plot Into Subplot

[the960writers]

This looks like a fun writing tool!

[librarysilverfish]

ADHD Tips for Writers, Take 2

Hiy'all, I'm back on my shit because my old "ADHD tips for writers" post is the like only post I still see in my notes at all times and there's a few problems with it so I'd like a do-over plz

Anyways, the obligatory disclaimer: I find ADHD tips are super useful for writers whether they have ADHD or not, so feel free to read & use the tips in this post if you find they apply.

Respect your fatigue. Here's the thing about ADHD. You get fatigued super easily. We know this. But when I say "respect your fatigue," I only partly mean it as taking breaks when you're tired. Before you decide you're too burned out to write, weigh this: people who have ADHD wear themselves out MORE when they have nothing to mentally chew on. Sometimes respecting your fatigue means respecting that you need to paradoxically put in more effort to do your writing, because that will actually slow your fatigue down in the end. Try it, if it doesn't work take a break.

Get ahold of the pressure level. Pressure is a tool for you to motivate yourself, you should NOT be under it at all times. How to do this? Adjust your goals, don't marry your outline.

Set the right goals. Stressed by wordcount but can work by hour? Can't focus for any stretch of time but can hyper-focus if you promise to get one scene done? And consider mix-and-matching. You can make a goal of getting a scene done in one day, but if that scene happens to go over 1k then it's reasonable to quit. If you set a goal that is actually attainable, it's safer to put pressure on it.

Confines begone. Seriously, don't try to make yourself do things in a Stupidly Specific Way. You do NOT need to draft in submittable manuscript format. You DON'T need it to fit your outline exactly. It doesn't need to fit a genre, it doesn't need to appeal to a specific audience, it doesn't need to be what it was in your head. If working with those things slows you down or makes you stressed, YEET.

Pavlov, Profit. I write on my bed with a scented candle while wearing a certain pair of pants. I use a specific playlist to cue me in to which WIP I'm working on. Maybe I pull out a specific stim toy I don't use otherwise. I write at a certain time of day and look at certain pictures while I do it. I drink water with lemon in it when I don't if I'm not writing. The words flow like a crystalline river and I don't even know how.

No I'm serious I cannot emphasize enough how powerful Pavlov is, literally it is the BIGGEST hack of my life. You train your brain to identify what "writing mode" is and afterward if you just set up the trappings of "writing mode" brain goes "OH OK NOW WE WRITE." I can't even

Throw slumps off with word wars and writing sprints. As always, word of caution for those who have trouble with their self-expectations: if you can't make the words sprint, that's ok! This is super useful to me and others for kicking off a writing session, but if you struggle to focus for any length of time then don't stress! But I do seriously recommend trying out word sprints at whatever time limit works for you, because after you've done it the words happen so. Much. Easier. I'll personally rev up with 5 mins, 15 mins then 30 mins. That 30 gets into the "this might actively burn me out" territory, so be cautious. It really might not work for you.

Don't underestimate minor changes. Font! Color! Screen blue-light! Using a different word processor! Tweak and change, hack the brain.

Journal about it. When I get stuck on a project, I will literally open a new file and just ramble into the file like I'm explaining the project to someone. It's rubber duck decoding, except it exercises the same muscles you use to do the actual writing. Makes for a great warm-up or dust-off.

Identify if/when you need outside support. Sometimes you need to ramble to a friend in order to kick a slump, sometimes you need community support for a WIP through the whole process. It might change for each case.

External incentives generally don't work. Honestly, I find external incentives don't work for me point blank, let alone to get myself to write. Maybe you can drag yourself across the ground like that sad cat on a harness by promising yourself a bowl of ice cream, but you're just not going to do your best work like that. You need to foster genuine motivators.

External motivators are different from incentives. If you're writing because someone is waiting to read it, that's not an incentive, it's a motivator.

Internal motivators that can be useful: fostering excitement for WIP elements (not by saying "if I write x words I get to make another moodboard, more like going ahead with the moodboard and using it to increase ur excitement), making a bar chart of progress and watching it grow, de-pressurizing writing so much that it can be used as a wind-down.

Are you a pantser who lives in a constant state of writer's block? No you're not you're not, you need to develop some sort of plan if you're getting stuck constantly. It doesn't need to be a super locked-in plan (I don't recommend those in general), but using lighthouse planning or developing some guiding element is important.

Contrarian hack: have someone who isn't a writer write the thing your're stuck on for you. (Consider: have AI write it for you.) Read it. Dislike it and use the motivation to write yourself. Profit.

Struggling to get started because the WIP is too daunting? Don't work on the whole WIP. Work on This Scene. This Scene too daunting? Work on This Small Part of This Scene. This Small Part too big? Work on the next sentence. Work on opening the WIP. Break the steps down as small as you need to.

SO. Be mindful of what you expect from yourself, do NOT let others decide how your process works, and do NOT hold yourself to any standard that inhibits you. Do what feels good both in the moment and after, because that is a good indicator you're doing healthy, sustainable writing.

[wordsnstuff]

Resources for Writing The Mafia

PLEASE REBLOG | Tumblr suppresses posts with links :/

Patreon || Ko-Fi || Masterlist || Work In Progress

–

The Basics

How The Mafia Works

A Primer on Organized Crime for Writers

Mafia versus mafia

United States Acts Against Organized Crime

Legislative Frameworks & Policing Measures

New Mafia versus Old Mafia

Models of Organized Crime

Historical Origins

Criminal Psychology of The Mafia

Timeline of Organized Crime

Keep reading

[frankdelflno]

Surnames are just as important as given names. So, I compiled a list of the websites I use to find my surnames.

English Surnames

Dutch Surnames

Spanish Surnames

Scottish Surnames

German Surnames

Italian Surnames

Irish Surnames

French Surnames

Scandinavian Surnames

Welsh Surnames

Jewish Surnames

Surnames By Ethnicity

Most Common Surnames in the USA

Most Common Surnames in Great Britan

Most Common Surnames in Asia

[bee-earthly]

[old-manrupee]

For whoever needs these.

[dragons-arrow]

I NEED THE ITALIAN LAST NAMES SO BAD

[ebvoice-deactivated20150727]

We are like fireworks…: Surnames Master Post.

[chronophobica]

Chinese surnames

Indian surnames

Indonesian surnames

Pakistani surnames

Bengali surnames

Japanese surnames

Filipino surnames

Korean surnames

Syrian surnames

Mongolian naming and clan names

Thai surnames

Asia is not a single country.

[kaylewiswrites]

List of Questions to Ask Yourself When a Story Feels Stuck

Basic Human Needs

When was the last time you took a break?

Are you mentally/emotionally/physically exhausted?

Have you recently had anything substantial to eat/drink?

Basic Writer Needs

How are you feeling? Examine any negatives. Self-doubt, jealousy, anxiety, etc. Why are you feeling this way? Did something prompt it? Reach out to others if you can.

Have you been writing in the same place for too long? Using the same playlist? Try changing it up.

When was the last time you took in creative media from someone else? Books, podcasts, movies, tv? Seek out stories other than your own. 

Are you falling into the trap of expecting perfection when there is no such thing?

Focus on the trouble spot

Do you know where you want your characters to be after the part you’re stuck on? 

Can something new be introduced? A ticking time bomb, a surprise attack, a betrayal, a murder, a confession? 

Do you like the constraints you’ve set up for yourself? That is, the setting, the characters present, the ‘props’ at their disposal? Anything you can add, change, or take away?

Reread the last couple of scenes before your trouble spot. Is there a way you could rewrite/detour the trajectory in a new, not stuck direction? 

The bigger picture

Do you know how the story ends?

Does your outline need to change? Would it help you to make an outline?

How do you want the events of this ‘stuck scene’ to affect the rest of the plot? Is there a different way to create the same results?

Are the characters acting in a way that doesn’t work with the plot? Which are you willing to change, the characters or the plot?

[cirrates]

types of trans men characters I would like to see:

large

grill dad

manlet but like in a danny devito way

gnc but not a twink

just like. mean.

outcast not because hes trans but because hes just fucking weird

mentor/father figure to the other main characters who are also trans

gay but not fetishized/the “”“”“”“”“”“girl”“”“”“”“”“”“”“ of the relationship

sexy but also not fetishized

truck freak

crazy ass

layed back

the fighter

just like. any fat trans men im begging

wario

[authorinmyhead]

[mlwangbooks]

The best writing teacher I ever had wasn’t the one who taught me grammar and spelling. He wasn’t the one who taught me outlining and paragraph structure, nor was he the one who taught me about themes, motifs, and symbolism.

He said, “Wiggle your pencil.

Put the tip of your pencil to the paper and keep the eraser end wiggling.

If you have nothing to write, write that: I have nothing to write, I have nothing to write, I have nothing to write, I have nothing to write, and eventually, by force of boredom, something else will come out.”

We would take 30 - 45 minutes every day to ‘wiggle our pencils’ in our wide-ruled notebooks, during which time, he was silent except to remind anyone who stopped to keep that pencil moving. 

I finished not one but two novel-length stories that year. It was fifth grade.

Wiggle your pencil.

[mitskism-deactivated20210120]

[ a guide to writing characters w/ mental illness ]

by me because if a writeblr help blog is qualified to answer asks about it after a few hours of googling, i qualify by being alive for more than a few hours.

anyway rip to you but the dsm-5… is not going to fix your novel and lack of character depth. it’s a medical manual. not flex tape, okay?

[the-noxxi]

Some writers will understand

[reverie-lavellan]

idk if anyone will find this useful, but this is how i go about planning my stories. i mostly write fantasy, so that’s what this is most applicable to. but it could work with other genres too.

so there’s three major components to a story: the characters, the plot, and the world. creating them individually is the easy part, but they all connect and affect each other in different ways. (like you can’t have a character who loves peaches and eats them every day if they live a peasant in a region that doesn’t grow peaches, for example.)

so i created a cheat sheet to help connect all three components together.

1) the world creates the characters.

this is related to the peach example above. the characters should be a direct result of the environment they grew up in and the environment they currently live in.

2) the characters are limited by the world.

also related to the peaches. characters can’t do anything outside of what the rules of their surroundings and universe allow, such as eating peaches when they’re not available. this also applies for magic users. they can’t have unlimited magic, so keep in mind what you want out of both the characters and the world when creating magic systems.

3) the characters carry the plot.

we’ve all heard it before: “bad characters can’t carry a good plot. good characters can carry a bad plot.” but we all like a good plot anyway. try to make sure you’re not giving your characters too heavy or too light of a plot to carry.

4) the plot pushes the characters.

if nothing in the plot happens, your characters will remain static forever. if you struggle with plots, try starting with what character development you want to happen, then go from there.

5) the plot depends on the world.

you can’t overthrow the evil government if there isn’t one. think of what your world needs most and what your plot is centered around, and fit those two together.

6) the world is changed by the plot.

even if your plot is centered around something most of your world would call “insignificant”, the world will still experience some change from the plot. either the evil government will be gone, or maybe that one teacher is now way more careful about keeping an eye on the test key. either way, the world will be different from now on.

final note: usually people will be able to write one or two of the components with ease, but don’t know where to go from there. i personally can’t write plots, but thinking this way has really helped me actually make a story out of the world and characters because i looked at what i needed from what i had. i really hope this can help you too! happy writing!

tl;dr this is a cheat sheet to help anyone who struggles with writing one or two of what i consider the three major components to a 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

[tinysidestrashcaptain]

Reblogging to save a writer

[ohbytheangel]

Hey fellow writers! Enjoy!

[sweetgrassbraids-deactivated202]

wash my hair, sing me to sleep, read to me, hand me half of your tangerine, perform small quiet acts of love and intimacy with me bro