The Writing Czarina

An aspiring writer and editor here to post all your writing needs. Go to my welcome page to find out more.

[ebookporn]

The ‘Bookstore Without a Store’

Hold on to your preconceived ideas of the need for a “brick and mortar” storefront operation.

With The Snail on the Wall bookstore, Huntsville’s Creative Entrepreneur of the Year winner, Lady Vowell Smith, has developed the perfect mix of online sales and pop-up events.

Smith, owner and founder of The Snail on the Wall bookstore, is a book aficionado with a Ph.D. in literature. She established The Snail on the Wall as a “bookstore without a store” in 2017, starting with a pop-up store at Randolph’s Under the Christmas Tree market.

With razor-thin margins on books, coupled with major competition from the “Big Box” bookstores, community bookstores have had a hard time surviving, even in the best of times.

Smith’s business model has low overhead and high flexibility, but also offers the same services that a “brick and mortar” independent bookstore would customarily provide: a curated selection of books, personal recommendations, gifts for readers, author events, and community partnerships with schools, organizations, and businesses.

A lack of small local independent bookstores – a place where readers and authors could meet and share ideas is what prompted the creation of The Snail on the Wall, she said.

“I knew that Huntsville was missing out on nationally known authors coming to our city,” said Smith. “They were stopping in Birmingham, Nashville, Atlanta, and every place around us because they had independent bookstores and Huntsville didn’t.

“I didn’t know anything about bookselling, so I thought I would experiment with a ‘store without a store.’ Then, once the model started, the delivery service worked, and it reaches more people than it would if it were in one fixed location.”

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[childhoodgrave]

“omg how do u come up w this stuff” well ive been plagued by visions since birth

[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.

[tiktoks-for-dead-pope]

[weirdlandtv]

Shakespeare covers by Milton Glaser. 1963-4.

[juliuscaesarofficial]

listen to me. listen to me. trans ppl, you can tune out, but cis people: if youre going to write a trans person, you dont have to tell us their deadname. it just doesnt need to happen. in fact, you probably shouldnt, bc unless the character is still going by that name, theres really no reason for you to bring it up. “but what if someone finds out what it is?” then just dont put the name itself in the text. its that easy. please stop being weird abt trans peoples’ deadnames bc they have no bearing on our current identity and yalls fixation on bringing it up is gross

[juliuscaesarofficial]

one year later and this post pops up on my dash so i would like to say: i stand by this post wholeheartedly. i retract none of it. 

so, to reiterate: cis people’s fixation on bring up trans characters deadnames is gross

[writing-prompt-s]

You move into an apartment with a bedroom that has a wall painted as a forest scene. You fall asleep and when you wake up, you notice a cabin that was never there before. A week later, you see a light in the window.

[ao3commentoftheday]

What are the best ways to show additional love to your favorite author or a fanfic?

The top two easiest ways are leaving kudos and writing a comment. Here’s a list of a few other ways:

publicly bookmark their fic with the Rec box checked

publicly bookmark their fic with tags or a comment about how much you like it

recommend their fic to friends in conversation

write a post recommending their fic to your followers

create fanart for them - a drawing, a moodboard, a comic, whatever your style might be

send them an ask telling them they’re your favourite author

ask them for permission to podfic or translate their story to bring it to a new audience

tell them if you’re rereading their fic (a truly amazing compliment)

That’s all I can think of off the top of my head. Let’s see what other people think!

[queenangst]

likes on social media/kudos on ao3

sharing/reblogging/retweeting their work on social media

liveblogging/live reactions while reading a fic 

sharing theories of what you think will happen next

engaging with the author online through ask games/memes

asking the author about their writing process/choices they made about a specific fic

any secondary fanworks (with their permission), which includes fanart and podfic as ao3cotd mentioned, but also fanfic - remixes, inspired bys, all of it; and any other creative medium you can think of, such as fan edits or playlists

also no such thing as too many comments - a thread/multiple comments are wonderful too

[jellylollie]

Things I've done that I'm not sure authors have appreciated:

Murder-boarded an author's entire blog to theorize what the next installment of a story would be about;

Made cookies inspired by a flashback scene in which a character was baking while drunk. The cookies had 0.3% of relevance in the story;

Started randomly quoting one of my favorite fics in a fandom discord the author was also a part of;

Fanarted not only scenes in stories but also random headcanons the writers I follow came up with once;

Sent prompts when authors asked for some;

Followed them on different social media platforms;

Supported their various projects, even for fandoms I was not that invested in;

Added their info to fanlore pages;

[rhysweston]

also, really, I think writing boils down to "do it anyway"

"What if I can't" and "why am I doing it" questions often get you lost in the weeds

Worst case scenario, you're right, and you can't do it, but now you have knowledge to make you a better writer

Best case scenario, you have a fuckload of fun writing something new and unexpectedly awesome

Do it anyway

[sorin-sunchild]

I once read a book that despite it’s flaws, almost wrote a good non-binary character. Almost. I won’t say which book because I’m not a snitch but I was so hopeful for this writer and the character until the writer fell into the trap of ‘well I have to tell them what my character was assigned at birth’. 

That took all the effort that went into telling us, the reader, that the character was non-binary and that was the end of it (including a scene where they tell off another character for trying to ask their birth sex) and smashed it to pieces in one grand notion of BUT JUST SO YOU KNOW, THEY WERE BORN AS A GIRL. Now, I kind of saw this coming because the writer seemed to be having a hard time writing about non-cisness without explaining it in chunks of exposition and seemed to want to make the main pairing a lesbian one, but not because one of them is non-binary, but up until then effort had at least been put in to take the character seriously as simply non-binary and that’s that. The whole reason I’m writing this is because the above scenario happens a lot, especially by cis writers and it bothers me to no end that there aren’t many characters who are ‘just trans’ and who cares what their birth sex is? It’s important to understand that we do need more characters who are trans or non-binary, but you don’t need to have some huge birth sex reveal just to show they are trans. You could try instead having the character be open about being trans, or making casual references to trans specific things either to do with passing, or surgery or experiences (ask trans people for advice!). You should avoid having another character be ‘snooping’ on them changing and finding out they’re trans, or have it revealed only when they are about to have sex (also a reminder that there are trans people who have had lower surgery so don’t have their birth genitalia any more anyway and it’d be nice to see more of them written) because it makes out that our transness is some kind of lie that must be revealed to others.

The best way to write a trans character is to just…have them be trans. If you always use ‘they/them’ for a character including in others speech, it gets across the point that they are non-binary, you don’t need to say if they’re afab/amab because you want your reader/listener to simply accept that the character is non-binary. You need to let go of the birth sex being ‘important’ to the character, because 9/10 it’s really not. If you write a ftm or mtf character and the story isn’t about their gender journey explicitly, there’s almost no reason for it to become a huge issue or plot device. We need to get the point across that ‘some people are just trans’ and it’s natural and just is and to do so, we need to write it as casual and just a fact of that person’s existence. A trans woman is just a woman who is trans. A trans man is just a man who is trans. A non-binary person is just a person, who is non-binary.  I’m not saying you’re bad for writing angsty trans stories, especially if you’re trans yourself, but if you’re cis I’d stay away from that kind of story unless you really study up on it. It’s also good to remind yourself that a trans character doesn’t have to a sad character, doesn’t have to not pass and if you have other character talk or think about how it is/was ‘obvious’ the character is trans they’re gonna kinda sound like a dick.  Of course, I’d just one person, but if you want at least one trans opinion on something you’re writing I’d be happy to give it. All in all, keep writing and keep practising ^^

[scifi-fantasy-horror]

by  Angelina Stroganova

[sosoukoku]

In light of JK’s new book, here’s a link to donate to the UK Charity Mermaids who help provide support to trans and gender diverse children and young people!

And here’s a link to the trans rights carrd and the black trans lives matter carrd!! Even if you can’t donate signing petitions can do a lot of good!

Love you all, especially my beautiful trans and non binary followers out there! Keep being the most incredible souls! 💕💖💕💖

[letmetellyouaboutmyfeels]

We talk a lot about consent, and that’s a good thing. We talk a lot about autonomy, and that’s a good thing. We talk a lot about privacy, and that’s a good thing.

But we talk mostly about all of that in respect to sex, and relationships, and it’s important to remember this applies to other things, too.

If someone says, “don’t tell anyone I got this new job,” and you then tell people, you’ve violated their consent, their privacy, and their autonomy.

If a friend says, “I don’t like it when people touch my hair,” and you keep touching their hair, you have violated their consent, their autonomy, and their privacy.

If a coworker asks you not to tease them about their new boyfriend, even if it seems like gentle and friendly fun to you, and you do it, you’ve violated their consent, their autonomy, and their privacy.

People remember these things, and they hurt. Not as much as sexual assault, obviously. But those small violations of your wishes, those instances of disrespect, still hurt, and they can add up.

Consent doesn’t just apply to sex. Respect the wishes of others.

[ilsa-fireswan]

If someone one says to stop tickling them. STOP! This applies even if they are a kid. Consent is for everyone.

[throwaninkpot]

There's this one customer who comes into the store pretty regularly, a very short and muscle-y and dressed very punk, who speaks like the most smooth southern gentleman you ever did see, and I instantly feel better everytime I talk to them.

[throwaninkpot]

They invariably ask me to get something down off a top shelf for them, and it's always like, "Pardon me, but would you kindly get me that box of lasagna there? See, my mama wouldn't let me grow higher than this, so I have to find some good hearted folks to let me borrow their height for a mo'ent. Ah, thank ya, thank ya kindly." I love them.

[throwaninkpot]

I'm glad this beautiful soul is getting the appreciation they deserve.

Ten questions to ask a friend who just read your novel

Here are ten questions to ask that will not put your friend in a tough spot, but will still give you some useful input on your novel:

1. At what point did you feel like “Ah, now the story has really begun!”  2. What were the points where you found yourself skimming?  3. Which setting in the book was clearest to you as you were reading it? Which do you remember the best?  4. Which character would you most like to meet and get to know?  5. What was the most suspenseful moment in the book?  6. If you had to pick one character to get rid of, who would you axe?  7. Was there a situation in the novel that reminded you of something in your own life?  8. Where did you stop reading, the first time you cracked open the manuscript? (Can show you where your first dull part is, and help you fix your pacing.)  9. What was the last book you read, before this? And what did you think of it? (This can put their comments in context in surprising ways, when you find out what their general interests are. It might surprise you.)  10. Finish this sentence: “I kept reading because…”

Your friend is probably still going to tell you, “It was good!” However, if you can ask any specific questions, and read between the lines, you can still get some helpful information out of even the most well-meaning reader.

Source: Examiner

[letswritesomenovels]

This is really useful advice, especially if the person you’ve shared your story with hasn’t had much/any experience critiquing. 

It does a great job of asking for a balance of both positive and negative feedback in a way that’s comfortable for both the author and reader. 

[fixyourwritinghabits]

If you’re just getting into critique, this is a great starting list. Often it’s hard to give really solid feedback, as it requires time and training. This can really help!

[livinthefuture3000]

hhhhhhhhh w h a t is going on

[ livinthefuture | 13/? ]

[teashoesandhair]

Oh how I yearn for a simpler time, when a young man would simply give his paramour an intricately crafted wooden spoon to show his affection and ability to provide for their future family, especially if they ever ran out of spoons

[teashoesandhair]

It has come to my attention that not everyone knows what lovespoons are.

This is a lovespoon. They’re found in several cultures worldwide, particularly in Scandinavia, but most famously in Wales (that photo is a Welsh lovespoon) and, from at least the 17th century, they were given as gifts by a suitor to his intended lady. They’re supposed to be carved from one block of wood, and decorated with various symbols which have slightly nuanced meanings, all basically a variation on ‘you’re rad, want to get wed?’

Because marriage in poor, rural parts of Wales was often more akin to cohabitation at the time (i.e. you didn’t really have a big ol’ legal ceremony, you just sort of said ‘we’re married now’ and shacked up together) a lovespoon could act as a wedding ring of sorts; you’d put your goshdarn heart and soul into carving it and you’d give it to the dame you sought, and if she accepted the spoon, then you were essentially wed, or at least bound together in a meaningful way. It’s assumed that they were initially supposed to be at least somewhat functional, because people did in fact eat with wooden spoons back in the day, but they’re now purely decorative. And hoo boy, can they be decorative. These are some of the ones on display at St Fagans Museum:

Nowadays, they’re generally mass produced, and tend to look more like this:

Brings a whole new meaning to the sheer romance of spooning, doesn’t it?