This Is My Writing Blog.

things that I might need eventually but probably won't ever use it. Oh and maybe some little writing samples. We'll see.

[treybien]

joyscrolling on tumblr.com

[alcoholicanarchist]

writer aesthetics

john keats: the lavender in sunsets, flowers in the rain, sunlight slipping through clouds, lazy summer afternoons, the heavy scent of musk, flickering candlelight reflecting off the gold titles of books, fireflies on a cool summer night, being wrapped in fresh bedsheets, the ache of wanting what you can never have, dripping sunlight like gold, loving someone so exquisite, soft lips and soft whispers, fingers through hair, names of lovers carved in trees, broken glass, the insistence of being perpetually dreamy

f. scott fitzgerald: mahogany wood, crisp winter skies with cold bright stars, the solitude of an early autumn morning wrapped in fog, empty bottles on stacks and stacks of books haphazardly placed in a messy room, pale bruised arms reaching out into the darkness, cigarette smoke just barely hiding the scent of alcohol, a wall of books all poetry and old and weathered, a bad thunderstorm occurring at the end of a beautiful day, the way tragedy strikes in your heart but ends up stopping your breathing for a moment,  your favorite sweater, parties spilling into four a.m. with the stars above spinning and dancing, the contrast of blood against snow, a purple split lip oozing blood, black eyes fading to blue to pale skin, the butterflies of falling in love for the first time, the statues falling apart over time in cemeteries, the romanticization of self-destruction

franz kafka: the weight of dread that sits heavily in your stomach when thinking about the future, decrepit houses cloaked in mystery from children telling stories of people who died there, the way not even light can escape a black hole, the rich smell of old books,  delicate veins in the wrist, ghosts filling lungs, shattered bones, raindrops on the tongue, rusting metal, nostalgia that aches, the way hope feels like a plastic bag over your head

h.p. lovecraft:  the anxiety felt when staring into an unknown cave, pouring rain and mud, a child’s fear of the dark, thinking so many questions about your existence as you stare at the vast expanse of never ending ocean,  the silence of three a.m.,  danse macabre by camille saint-saens playing on a record in an empty house, the possibility of aliens and the weird feeling it gives you that you can’t explain, unexplainable phenomena, strange lights in the sky in the dead of night, ouija boards and urban legends

jack kerouac: the brisk pine air of being on a mountain, travels without a destination, those nights where you’re missing three hours of memory, screaming to a lifeless desert about how you’re so alive, coffee shops late at night, car rides at night spent speeding and laughing in the dark, naps spent in the sun,  novels highlighted and underlined with notes and epiphanies in the margins, the way uncertainty sits on the shoulders, ignoring flaws and loving life, wind through hair, depression as fog in the brain, impossible ideals, a quiet sunrise, walks alone, when you think about trying to discover all the secrets to the universe, dazzling people, open lands stretching out into infinity, falling in love with being alive

edgar allan poe: the ocean’s horizon inseparable from fog, hollow bones, a preserved heart held in hands, twinkling stars above an old graveyard, the way everything turns to dust, silent black birds with eyes full of wisdom, self-inflicted flames, perfection depicted as a rotting corpse, death as bricks in the heart, lips barely brushing against each other, glassy glazed eyes, biting into a lemon,  heart-shaped bruises, rotting flowers on a grave, dried blood and spilled liquor, the hush of dusk when it begins raining, the intimacy of a secret

[sirobvious]

Oh Lord Sir! A question if you will about Knights. I'm writing a fantasy-esque story where Knights(Men and women in full plate) are seen as the protectors of the peace and such. However I have to ask, is full plate or plate-mail easier to move around in? To add to that, what is the most effective way to kill a Knight in plate armor?

Firstly, “plate mail” and “full plate” are the same thing and also “mail” is a misnomer because it doesn’t mean just any armor, it specifically refers to chain armor. I’m taking my best guess at what you mean and assuming you mean the difference between this 

and this 

and they both handled about the same. Plate armor is a bit restrictive to your movement, but not so much that it actually hinders you in combat. The protection offered far outweighs the loss of dexterity. 

The difference between these two suits of armor is a difference of about 50-75 years, but you could call them both full-plate(although it may be more accurate to call the first one “transitional plate” or something like that). Both of them are made up of many individual plates strapped to the body over chainmaille which is worn over a thick coat called a gambeson. The plates provide most of the protection while the chainmaille covers all the flexible parts that the plates can’t cover. The gambeson provides cushioning(but you can also wear a gambeson as armor by itself; they’re very protective on their own). 

The bottom one is obviously a bit heavier because it has more solid plates, but not so heavy that you can’t get up if you fall down, and both give you decent freedom of movement because, if you look, you’ll see that none of the rigid plates actually cover the wearer’s joints. Also, in the second suit of armor, to cut down on weight, that knights in that period often wore something like this

instead of a full shirt of chainmaille underneath. What is most important is that the joints are protected by chainmaille. The breastplate will take care of your organs. Oh also, in most cases, plate armor was custom-made for the man wearing it, so that it fit perfectly. This makes for even less restriction of movement. 

In summary, they’re both decently easy to move in, but I would consider the second one more protective.

Another point before I answer your second question is that while pretty much every knight wore plate armor to battle after plate armor was invented, not every man in plate armor was a knight. 

Your second question. 

Ways to kill a man in plate armor: 

1. Don’t. 

In most cases you actually wouldn’t want to kill him. It’s a better idea to capture him and sell his armor, then ransome him back to the enemy for an extra box of gold. Plus, it’s the chivalrous thing to do. 

2. Longbow or crossbow.

Even though plate armor isn’t something you can just cut with a sword like they do in movies, pretty much nothing can stand up to a longbow or heavy crossbow at close range. If the arrow doesn’t pierce all the way through his armor, which it probably still won’t, it’ll dent it and hit so hard that it might break his ribs through concussive force alone. 

Just don’t miss, because men in plate armor aren’t the slow turtles they’re made out to be. If you miss at that range, he’ll be on you before you can load a second arrow. 

3. Big blunt weapon. 

Just like above, it’s basically impossible to actually get through a piece of plate armor, but with enough concussive force you can still injure the wearer underneath. That’s what maces and warhammers were for. 

Obviously these hit pretty hard because they’re heavy-ended, but their shape is actually also very important. Plate armor is smooth and rounded on purpose, and this makes weapons glance/slip off to the side without delivering their full force. This is also why boobplate is a bad idea. It creates a groove which can ‘catch’ weapons and allow them to deliver their full force instead of glancing off harmlessly. 

To counteract this, weapons like these above were shaped like they are so that they would ‘grip’ the plate armor as they hit and not slip off. It’s kind of hard to explain unless you see it in action compared to something not designed this way. 

With these you’re going to want to target the head mostly, but they’ll hurt just about anywhere you swing them. 

4. Half-swording. 

Swords are were effective weapons against unarmored opponents, but not as much against armored opponents because even though they’re sharp and fast, they hit much lighter than maces and will just glance off plate armor harmlessly. However, if all you’ve got is a sword, you’re not completely defenseless against a man in full armor.

“Half-swording” is a technique where you grip the blade of your sword in one or both hands. This can be done for two reasons: 1. If you grip the part just above the crossguard, that part is usually not even ever sharpened because that’s not the part you’re supposed to hit with anyway. 2. Even though medieval swords were very sharp, contrary to what weebs will tell you, they weren’t lightsabers. If you grip the sharp part very tightly and don’t let it slide across your hand, it won’t cut you, especially if you’re wearing gloves. 

I mentioned earlier that the solid plates of the suit left the joints unprotected, but those are still pretty small targets and they’re probably protected by chainmaille as well. In most cases a sword can’t even thrust through chainmaille, it’ll just flex and wobble if you try, but if you put one hand on the blade to keep it from bending, it’ll usually make it through if you put some force behind it. Additionally, putting one hand on the blade essentially means you have a longer lever with which to control your sword tip, which means it’ll be much easier to aim it into those tiny gaps. Many fully-armored knights also did this with their swords when they were fighting pretty much anyone, because it’s hard to control a sword the normal way when you’re wearing bulky gauntlets. You can see this in the second picture and in the video I’m about to post.

Another way to do it is to hold the sword completely backwards, with both hands on the blade. It’s kinda awkward, but this way you can use the sword like a makeshift warhammer by striking with the hilt. See Option #3. 

Also, this video explains Option #4 much better than I did, and provides an excellent demonstration, which also happens to be one of the most realistic and intent-y swordfights I’ve ever seen on video. In this video you can also really see just how wrong those myths are about how plate armor slowed knights down. 

[sirobvious]

I completely forgot something very important!

5. Grappling.

Even though it’s a total myth that armored knights couldn’t get up if they were knocked down, if you do manage to knock a fully armored man down, it’s pretty easy for you to actively prevent him from getting back up. You can then get a dagger into his viewport or in between one of the armor gaps. 

(Do not try this unless you’ve got at least some armor on yourself.)

[armthearmour]

@sirobvious​ has asked me to address a small bit of misinformation in this post which has been shown recently to be inaccurate. New research done my Mike Loades for his book War Bows

and the series of videos by Tod’s Workshop testing Agincourt period armor against a 160 lb warbow have proven the efficacy of armor to be even greater than previously imagined.

These tests have shown that armor of a quality which would have been considered mid-range at the time can easily withstand the powerful blows of even a bow drawn at 160 lbs. Mike Loades’ book is available online here or here (I do recommend it) but you can also see Tod’s test (for free) here.

If you watch the video, you can see that the bow often doesn’t even dent the armor (there are a few blows which leave shallow dents), and typically barely leaves a scratch.

Equally, given the space between the wearer’s body and the actual breastplate, as well as the padding worn beneath, it is unlikely that the wearer would be wounded at all by a blow like those we see in the video.

It is true that on other parts of the body (like the arms and legs) the steel tends to be quite a bit thinner, however these parts of the body also have tighter curves and thus greater glancing surfaces, so it is likely the effect would be the same. Ultimately, against a fully armored knight, the bow is only properly effective against those areas which are vulnerable to swords as well; areas protected only by maille and padding, or perhaps only by padding.

This information is relatively recent, and the rest of this post is filled with great info should you ever find yourself filled with the pressing need to kill a late medieval knight. I hope this has been informative, cheers!

[writing-tips-and-else]

[lux-astralis]

[adamwhorelock]

oh my god its a fictional world generator im so happy this is hte best thing i have ever found on the internet

[yousay-foodoh]

hopefully this link will work

[cerulean-spork-blog]

bc you can never have too much help worldbuilding

[writers-are-writers]

Thank you to whoever made this :) I felt like posting some writing tips.

[writing-and-guacamole]

Having Writer’s Block:

[concerningwolves]

Further Notes on Writing Signed Language

So I had a good think about this, based off of what I have written lately. As I go further into my novel, do even more research into different types of sign, and start on the arc that is written solely from the POV of my deaf character, I’ve begun to realize some other differences between signed and spoken dialogue.

For one thing, punctuation doesn’t apply in the same way. There is punctuation in sign language, but as I’ve talked about before, it is mostly facial; therefore, you describe it as a part of the dialogue tags. So then, what do about the commas, colons and semi-colons? In this case, the n-dash is your friend! The aforementioned punctuation marks indicate changes in tone, alterations of pace and pauses. Therefore, they can be replaced with an  n-dash, like so

“You and I – I don’t think we can continue.”

And fingerspelled words would be written as single letters, hyphenated into a word:

”You and I - going to L-O-N-D-O-N.”

For another, the syntax of your translated signed dialogue is subtly different. One sign can ususally mean several different words and filler words are absent. If someone were to say “really big.” in sign, they might just make the sign for “big” and super over-exaggerate.

So, verbal dialogue version:

“It was really, really big!” Lottie jumped and down in excitement, her eyes shining. 

And the signed dialogue version:

“The dog was huge!” Lottie flung out her hands into the word, making it larger than it needed to be, bouncing on her heels.

Keeping in mind that large, big, huge, bountiful (and other connected synonyms) are all the same sign.

I don’t like to write signed language in the syntax that it would be signed in (Name, yours, what instead of “what is your name”). Not only is this confusing for non-signing readers, but it also reads as childish or overly-simplistic for readers who don’t understand sign, which reinforces the harmful stereotype of deaf people being stupid/infantilisation of deaf people. It is impossible to truly do signed language justice in writing, because it’s a language made for hands, bodies and faces.

This all comes together to mean that the sentence structure of dialogue in sign will be different. You would use less contractions (isn’t, you’re, might’ve etc), fewer modifiers and shorter chunks of dialogue with the description of the sign in between.

If it reads differently or feels strange, that’s okay: signed language is different to verbal language and so they won’t sound the same as one another in writing. They’re more like cousins or step-siblings than part of the same direct family group. You’re utilizing different descriptors and tools.

Hopefully, this also answers the repeated issue of differentiation, which has come up time and time again from various people. Best of luck to you all with your writing x

[leave-her-a-tome]

“For The Plot,” I whisper, deleting a rad detail that no longer works as tears fall from my eyes

[wrangletangle]

Don’t delete it!

Take the detail and put it in a cut scene file. Less anguish + can be used again if needed later. Recycling!

Brought to you by: I never used to be merciless enough as an editor because losing bits made me sad. Now that I know I can bring them back for a sequel or even post cut scenes separately, I am so much more vicious, and my writing is better for it.

[dieofthatroar]

Instead of killing your darlings, I’ve called it cryogenically freezing your darlings

[the-writers-society-deactivated]

Hello! Would you mind doing an example of not using filter words in a first person point of view? While I know that you can just switch out the pronouns for I/me/my, I just want to see it in action and when you should (and shouldn't) use the filter words. Thank you!

Hi there! I would love to! I think I’ll start out with an example with filter words and then cut out the filter words to show you the difference.

For those of you who haven’t seen my post on Filter Words.

Now, for the example:

I felt a hand tap my shoulder as I realized I had made a huge mistake. I knew the consequences would be unsettling, but I had no other choice. I saw the light of my desk lamp bounce off of the officer’s badge before I had even turned around. It seemed like I always found my way into trouble.

It was the first thing off the top of my head, so it’s a bit rough sounding….

Now for without filter words (And a bit of revision):

A hand tapped my shoulder as it dawned on me: I had just made a huge mistake. The consequences would be unsettling if I didn’t get out of this mess, but I had no other choice. The light of my desk lamp bounced off of the officer’s badge. I always found my way into trouble.

By taking out filter words, you get right to the point.

I’d also like to add a few more notes that I didn’t have the chance to post previously.

Some Examples of Filtering:

I heard a noise in the hallway.

She felt embarrassed when she tripped.

I saw a light bouncing through the trees.

I tasted the sour tang of raspberries bursting on my tongue.

He smelled his teammate’s BO wafting through the locker room.

She remembered dancing at his wedding.

I think people should be kinder to one another.

How can you apply this?

Read your work to see how many of these filtering words you might be leaning on. Microsoft Word has a great Find and Highlight feature that I love to use when I’m editing. See how you can get rid of these filtering words and take your sentences to the next level by making stronger word choices. Take the above examples, and see how they can be reworked.

FILTERING EXAMPLE: I heard a noise in the hallway.

DESCRIBE THE SOUND: Heels tapped a staccato rhythm in the hallway.

FILTERING EXAMPLE: She felt embarrassed after she tripped.

DESCRIBE WHAT THE FEELING LOOKS LIKE: Her cheeks flushed and her shoulders hunched after she tripped.

FILTERING EXAMPLE: I saw a light bouncing through the trees.

DESCRIBE THE SIGHT: A light bounced through the trees.

FILTERING EXAMPLE: I tasted the sour tang of raspberries bursting on my tongue.

DESCRIBE THE TASTE: The sour tang of raspberries burst on my tongue.

FILTERING EXAMPLE: He smelled his teammate’s BO wafting through the locker room.

DESCRIBE THE SMELL: His teammate’s BO wafted through the locker room.

FILTERING EXAMPLE: She remembered dancing at his wedding.

DESCRIBE THE MEMORY: She had danced at his wedding.

FILTERING EXAMPLE: I think people should be kinder to one another.

DESCRIBE THE THOUGHT: People should be kinder to one another.

See what a difference it makes when you get rid of the filter? It’s simply not necessary to use them. By ditching them, you avoid “telling,” your voice is more active, and your pacing is helped along.

The above list is not comprehensive as there are many examples of filtering words. The idea is to be aware of the concept so that you can recognize instances of it happening in your work. Be aware of where you want to place the energy and power in your sentences. Let your observations flow through your characters with immediacy.

Ok, sorry for the lengthy answer, I know you just wanted an example…. sorry!

If you have any questions, feel free to ask at my ask box

[thewinterotter]

THIS IS SO GREAT. I dind’t even know there was a term for this (I should have figured, right, because writers have words for everything), but it’s one of those things that being aware when you’re doing it (and editing it right the fuck out) will improve your writing SO MUCH. Removing the filtering helps to draw your readers more intimately into the action of your story, and as the text above says, adds power and immediacy to every sentence. THIS IS SUCH AN IMPORTANT TIP I WANT TO SCREAM ABOUT IT.

[roane72]

My two cents, because I always have two cents, right? :)

This is ENORMOUSLY HELPFUL. I mean seriously. My sentence level writing LEAPT forward when I started looking for filter words and being aware of them.

That said, two things:

Don’t twist yourself into a pretzel trying to avoid them, especially not in the first draft. Filter the shit out of everything in the first draft if that’s what comes out. Just get it written. Fix later.

Don’t overdo this, particularly if you’re writing in first person or deep third persion POV. Sometimes we think in filters, so it’s okay to leave some of it in your narration. Just be aware of it and make sure you’re doing it deliberately. And hooboy, don’t mess with your dialogue. People don’t speak in polished prose. We filter in speech all the time, saying things like, “I saw Joe pick up the ball” instead of “Joe picked up the ball”. That may be obvious to most folks, but I wanted to mention it because sometimes we get overeager to “follow all the rules” to the letter. Writing is about learning the ‘rules/guidelines’ and using them to best effect, then chucking them out the window in places they don’t work. Becoming a better writer is learning when to follow and when to chuck. :)

[writerswritecompany]

[nanowrimo]

Publishing: Where do I start?

Maybe you’re at a point in your writing where you have an actual manuscript sitting on your desk. Congratulations! Now, how do you take that looming stack of finely turned phrases and well-placed plot points and convert them into a bound book? Today, NaNoWriMo participant Kayla Stansbury delivers a step by step guide to support you on the journey to publication: 

You’ve written the thing.

You love it. You hate it. You’re ready to publish it.

The starting point for your publishing journey depends on your work and your goals for your writing. There are a few common steps regardless of whether you are publishing a children’s nonfiction book on plant emotions or a high fantasy epic poem.

1. The Market

First, you should determine the market for your work. Start with readership: children, middle grades, young adult, or adult. The age of your protagonist doesn’t necessarily dictate the readership age, but keep in mind that most publishers expect to see a young protagonist in children and middle grades fiction and a teenage protagonist in young adult fiction. Consider the content of your work. Are the themes of your novel, poem, or short story relevant to the concerns of your readership age? Once you have an audience, start researching the publishers who target that market.

Keep reading

[theinformationdump]

Body Language Cheat Sheet for Writers

As described by Selnick’s article:

Author and doctor of clinical psychology Carolyn Kaufman has released a one-page body language cheat sheet of psychological “tells” (PDF link) fiction writers can use to dress their characters.

[writing-in-the-grave]

ATTENTION WRITERS

Google BetaBooks. Do it now. It’s the best damn thing EVER.

You just upload your manuscript, write out some questions for your beta readers to answer in each chapter, and invite readers to check out your book!

It’s SO easy!

You can even track your readers! It tells you when they last read, and what chapter they read!

Your beta readers can even highlight and react to the text!!!

There’s also this thing where you can search the website for available readers best suited for YOUR book!

Seriously guys, BetaBooks is the most useful website in the whole world when it comes to beta reading, and… IT’S FREE.

[shinningstarz]

HEY! BECAUSE OF OP, THEY CREATED A SPECIAL WELCOME IF YOUR FOUND THEM THRU A TUMBLR WELCOME, ITS A YOUTUBE VIDEO.

[writing-in-the-grave]

They also sent me this; which was super cool

[writingonjupiter]

*slams reblog button*

[cianmars]

@findingtallahassee holy shit! This is cool!

[lalalandlala123-deactivated2021]

“Authors retain all rights to works posted on BetaBooks, and can add or remove content at their discretion. BetaBooks makes no claim to any of the work posted on the site.”

Incase anyone was wondering

[tane-p]

@judiops

[auaddict]

@megan-cutler

[jordanmcmakin]

“The 49 Personality Archetypes” 👤

(image source)

[writerswritecompany]

Words