Sunkissedgalaxies

||Just another Infp who writes|| |22|

[plotandelegy]

Crafting Future From Ruins: A Writer's Guide to Designing Post-Apocalyptic Technology

Crafting post-apocalyptic tech involves blending creativity and realism. This is a guide to help you invent tech for your post-apocalyptic world:

Tinker, Tailor, Writer, Spy: Start with modern tech. Take it apart (conceptually or literally if you're feeling adventurous). Using the basics, think of how your character might put it back together with limited tools and resources.

Master the Fundamentals: Understand the basic principles underlying the tech you're working with. Physics, chemistry, and biology can be your best friends. This understanding can guide your character's resourceful innovations.

Embrace the Scrapyard: The world around you has potential tech components. Appliances, vehicles, infrastructure - how could these be deconstructed and repurposed? Your characters will need to use what's at hand.

Cherishing Old Wisdom: Pre-apocalypse books and manuals are the new internet. A character with access to this knowledge could become a vital asset in tech-building.

Indigo Everly

Hello everyone! If you want to add some unique flora to your world-building, this article is for you. In this post, I'll go through some way

[artschoolglasses]

Seen a couple posts on the dashboard lately about writing with ADHD. So, for the ADHD and neurodivergent folks who like writing but struggle sometimes… check out StimuWrite.

You can set it to make little sounds as you type (or leave them off), and emojis pop up in the corner. You can change the background, dark and light themes, set your word goal, and it gives you a percentage and total word count at the bottom. Though it’s more meant for getting a draft written up, so it doesn’t have spell check or anything like that. You’re meant to just copy and past what you write here into Google Docs or Word or Scrivener or whatever else you use and go from there. Honestly love it when I’m struggling to get words down, though. And apparently there’s an update now for StimuWrite 2?👀

Anyways, give it a try if it looks like it may help. It’s currently name-your-own-price.

[lazywitchling]

Yo I just downloaded this thing and hammered out 3000 words????? Which is more than I’ve written in years????????

[lazywitchling]

Hey I’ve accidentally written 20,000 words in six days.

[tamquaam]

anne rice’s interview with the vampire (amc) • joni mitchell • raleigh ritchie • richard siken • bring me the horizon • florence and the machine • hozier • natalie diaz • terese marie mailhot • gustav vigeland

[fearbehere]

romantic devotion

take me to church, hozier / sappho / iris, the goo goo dolls / creation, michelangelo / church, fall out boy / love letter to fanny brawne, john keats / the pietà, michelangelo / a litany in which certain things are crossed out, richard siken

[metamorphesque]

Psyche Revived by Cupid’s Kiss by Antonio Canova

by Sappho

Litany in Which Certain Things Are Crossed Out by Richard Siken

To Fanny Brawne (13 October, 1819), John Keats

The Kiss, 1907 by Gustav Klimt

The Meeting in a Dream, Jorge Luis Borges

Holy Things in This World, Emery Allen

You Are Jeff by Richard Siken

[kosmogrl]

zlibrary gone... FUCK TIKTOK FUCK BOOKTOK I hope that app burns in hell

[dreamingofseastars]

library genesis is still up (very similar site) and r/freemediaheckyeah and r/piracy have lots of other alternatives. zlib was the GOAT though. fuck tiktok

(originally commented. putting as a reblog as its important)

[kosmogrl]

for anyone that wants to know about other sites, I also didn't know so this is a big help!!! thank you!

[ichornyra]

some sites i use to read online: - https://libgen.li/ - https://www.pdfdrive.com/ - https://libretexts.org/ - https://openlibrary.org/ - https://novel80.com/ - https://www.allfreenovel.com/ - https://bookreadfree.com/ - https://allbookshub.com/ - http://thefreeonlinenovel.com/ - https://www.epub.pub/ - https://www.readingsanctuary.com/ - https://yes-pdf.com/ - https://www.booksfree.org/ if none of the links work if you just search up "(book title) read online free" there's almost always gonna be a pdf link and those are always good to read from too

[cedar-west-deactivated20230408]

If your plot feels flat, STUDY it! Your story might be lacking...

Stakes - What would happen if the protagonist failed? Would it really be such a bad thing if it happened?

Thematic relevance - Do the events of the story speak to a greater emotional or moral message? Is the conflict resolved in a way that befits the theme?

Urgency - How much time does the protagonist have to complete their goal? Are there multiple factors complicating the situation?

Drive - What motivates the protagonist? Are they an active player in the story, or are they repeatedly getting pushed around by external forces? Could you swap them out for a different character with no impact on the plot? On the flip side, do the other characters have sensible motivations of their own?

Yield - Is there foreshadowing? Do the protagonist's choices have unforeseen consequences down the road? Do they use knowledge or clues from the beginning, to help them in the end? Do they learn things about the other characters that weren't immediately obvious?

[2soulscollide]

How to get rid of this writer's block NOW!

oh, yes, you read it right! you're getting rid of your annoying writer's block like right now with these tips. ready? let's get started.

stop. being. a. perfectionist (please)

i knowww, i know. you love to do everything right and make sure it's the best you can do. trust me, i feel you. however, being a perfectionist can stop you from writing because you're always looking at everything you've wrote so far and rewriting it over and over again (oh gosh, this feels so so familiar to me...)

so, rach, how can i stop being a perfectionist? you ask me. well... let me do a quick research:

focus on maximizing the impact of your effort so you can concentrate on what’s important. similarly, learn to calibrate your standards. - from Harvard Business Review

now that we know how to stop trying to make everything perfect, it's time to:

get rid of distractions

imagine this: you open your laptop to write a chapter of your novel but, just before you do so, you open youtube to play your favorite song (but watch three recommended videos first), then open tumblr to check the notifications and, when you look at the clock, it's time to do something else. what did you write? exactly, noting! (i'm not judging you, this has happened to me countless times)

if you get distracted by your laptop, get a distraction blocker; if you get distracted by your tv, turn it off and put the controller away from you; if you get distracted by your surroundings, try to find a peaceful place where you can be free from distractions.

read

suddenly you feel like everything you write sucks. yeah, i've been there. the best you can do is to pick up a book you love and read it. touch its pages, smell it (i swear it is not as crazy as it might sound). imagine that your book will be someone's favorite book, and they will love the smell of it, too.

manage your time

you never, ever, have time to write, right? maybe it's because you don't plan your writing sessions ahead.

try doing this: when planning your week or month, include a few minutes every day on your schedule just to write (ten minutes will always be better than zero).

maybe you don't stick to your plan... try timeblocking! it's life changing, i swear. when you look at your calendar you see how organized your life / routine is, so hopefully you'll feel less anxious. you got everything under control, so there's still time to write.

advice

to finish the post, i want to tell you this: PLEASE, PLEASE DO NOT BLAME YOURSELF IF YOU DON'T FEEL LIKE WRITING! it's okay, you'll eventually feel inspired to get back on track. in the meantime, lay back and relax. practice meditation, listen to yoour thoughts, and breathe. you got this!

[sweet-as-writing]

A lot of emphasis is on character arcs and development, often on either a positive or negative arc. But there are other options that still can create well rounded and interesting characters, even main characters, while still allowing them to maintain their beliefs and personalities. Here’s two:

1. Challenge to Keep a Trait: As suggested, this occurs when a character has one of their beliefs/traits/etc challenged, either by another character, society, the setting, or themselves. A character here can develop the challenged trait to face the challenge and prove themselves. For example, maybe a society where lying leads to success challenges a character’s belief in honesty. Or the opposite.

2. Contradictory Development: Characters can go beyond simple “positive” or “negative” traits. In fact, in real life, most people change in more nuanced ways. Maybe a character develops to be more trusting, but they also become more gullible. Or they have a corruption arc where they become more greedy, but they also gain a lot of intelligence that they can use to help others (when it benefits them too).

Basically, if you want characters to be realistic, a simple “he becomes kinder” or “she grows evil” is not always enough, and these ideas can help challenge and grow your characters in other ways.

[2soulscollide]

Notion template for WRITERS [free!]

GUESS WHAT!? i'm finally sharing my new notion template with you (omg i'm so excited!!)

your new little place is called "writer's café"

homepage:

right there you can manage your word count (synced with your novels dashboard), take a look at the calendar, create a quick to-do, and navigate through the menu.

step by step:

the title is pretty self explanatory - i created a list with all the things you need to do to complete your novel! (please let me know if i should include something else)

goals:

ideas:

your novels:

then, as you open your novel, you find the following template:

resources:

note: i'll keep updating this page, so you might want to check it out sometimes!

socials:

i hope you fin this useful and enjoy it! <3

here's the link: notion template

[moonlitinks-deactivated20250331]

ways you can further develop your main character

give them a misbelief

no characters have a personality when the plot starts. all of them have backstories, a past, and a mindset that they grew up with!

basically, a misbelief is the wrong mindset that they grew up with, and is also a belief that will be restructured by the end of your novel.

this not only shows character growth and development as their mind is "restructured" or they learn their life lesson, but also drives the internal plot of your story, which differs from the external (or action) plot that most people seem to read.

+ this gives readers a deeper insight to your character!

give them a goal

every character has a goal, or something they want in their lives. having them strive for it would essentially drive your plot, and may also help you dig deeper into your character's motivations!

this goal doesn't always need to be achieved, or may be impossible to (for example, someone wanting to meet a loved one who turns out to be dead; they may have not reached their goal, but it took them on a journey)

this goal should also be concrete if possible! vague ones like "they want to be happy," isn't very helpful. what do they think will make them happy?

(side note: wanting everything to be the way that it is can also be a goal, cause they're striving to make things go back to the way they were!)

more notes / explanations here! most of these notes in this post are taken from story genius by lisa cron, and i thought they might help. please take all this information with a grain of salt, and maybe use it in a way that'll work best for you! <3

[mj-is-writing]

How do those of you writing fantasy epics organize extensive worldbuilding? I have an entire expanded universe I want to write, but the amount of worldbuilding I need to do before writing is just very overwhelming (and I know you don’t need every detail before writing, but I’m going to need a lot if I want the story to really work in this world). How do you start from basically nothing and build a huge, detailed setting?

[thetruearchmagos]

Well, I can assure you, it'll take time. Lot's, and lot's, of time.

Fortunately, aside from that, a creative spirit, internet and WIki access, and some medium to record it, you don't necessarily need much else! I go with World Anvil myself, but really anything up to and including an infinitely large number of google Docs culd work, so long as it's reasonably accessible, high capacity, and workable. Then we get to the process of creation itself. I'll preface this by saying that in many cases, other people's advice may not always apply to you, but I hope I can be of some help at least! If you want some in depth guidance I could offer it through DMs, but in general, I find the best way to get worldbuilding done, by far, in terms of volume, quality, and personal enjoyment is to simply let it come to you, rather than search it out. Sometimes this means living your day and having something catch your eye, and gaining a flash of inspiration, other times it may mean sitting down or back and letting your thoughts about your world wander and drift, until you see a thread or train of thought that seems particularly intereting that you grab onto and pull, unravelling some grand web of ideas and dragging yourself into a rabbit hole of new concepts. Instead of forcing yourself to follow certain tracks and lines, keep your overall sense of the World in mind and let the ideas come naturally, forming the lines of relation between them as you go.

Hope at least some of this was useful, and let me know if any worldbuilding troubles arrive further!

[shineywrites]

I started my worldbuilding with a Google doc and lots of formatting and bullet points. I also created a private Pinterest board that I could create different sections for each location so I could image references. I drew a map to give me a basic idea of land masses and water so I could place locations and use what I drew to help add to my descriptions. Now that I’m breaking down thing even further I’m using world anvil to help organize without adding to my already 10 page Google doc.

[blue-kyber]

So, I'm a mess.

A huge ADHD mess.

When I get started, it's all in one document like papers scattered across the desk of an overly exhausted detective that hit a dead end in the case.

It stays that way until I get frustrated looking for a certain note. That's when I break it up into multiple documents for different areas:

The Lexicon - if the world has a different language, this is where the dictionary, colloquialisms, and slang would go, as well as their origins (why do they say that?).

The Characters - all info on major and minor characters.

The Lightbulb - chapter ideas (this one never progresses beyond organized chaos).

The Words - Individual lines of dialogue. Zingers, one liners, and emotional punches to the gut that I really love, but have no idea where to put. Sometimes an entire chapter will be written just so I can include one line. As in the case of my first novel - a fantasy sword and sorcery - I morphed the climax just to fit in the line from the antagonist to the corrupted protagonist regarding the protag's teacher, "Kill him."

The Inhabitants - species, planets, races, plants, peoples, and their cultures, traditions.

The Dumpster - discarded ideas that I liked and may resuscitate and frankenstein to use elsewhere in the story.

The Multiverse - short stories taking place either before, after, or during the main story. These are often a mess. This also includes legends, fables, songs, and myths.

The Polished Multiverse - the organized and completed multiverse.

The Photogallery - one folder on my computer that contains a mess of resource pictures for inspiration, idea-jamming, and character look-alikes. This has multiple specialized folders for characters, locations, concepts, ect.

Even with all of this, I often still have to treasure hunt for specific ideas I know I wrote down, but forgot where I put it.

[letswritestories101]

Good tips!

[emotionalmilkshake]

As a purveyor of weird/quirky internet things, there are few things I love more than coming across a new little tool to make fun things with. Here's a running list of some of my favorites that I've found!

Games

Bitsy is a "little editor for little games or worlds" and one of my personal favorite tools on this list. A good first start if you want to make a game and have never made one before. It's got a pretty extensive wiki if you want to add audio, animations, etc.

Flickgame is just about as simple as it gets. You get 16 colors and 16 slides, and clicking colors is how you get to different slides. Super easy and fun!

Flicksy is both of the above combined! Make more complicated sprites that lead between branching rooms. Full disclosure, I've never actually made something with this, but it's been on my radar for a while.

Twine is almost too mainstream to put on this list, but it's a great one to know about. It's a tool for making those interactive fiction games where you click on the words to progress. So fun and hugely customizable.

Music

Beepbox is my current favorite way to create music. You get 16 measures and a pretty expansive set of preset instruments, with the option of making your own adjustments. The song is stored in the web address, so sharing is as simple as copy pasting the link! You can also export your music (so that you can add it to your games) UPDATE: Turns out you can have more than 16 measures! I just can't read. That makes it more cool!

Art

Piskel is an easy way to make pixel art sprites and animations. It's easy to use and you can resize sprites too!

Websites

Neocities!!! I cannot recommend this one enough. Build your own websites from scratch! Revel in the vibes of the internet in the late 1990s - early 2000s! This does require some coding knowledge, but there are plenty of resources out there to help. Speaking as someone who had 0 coding skills before making my site, it's very easy to pick up.

Domino is another tool that I've never actually used but have always wanted to. It's "a tool for collaging fragmentary thoughts and ideas without the friction of assembling them into linear writing", and is essentially a bunch of boxes that connect to one another, sort of like a mind map.

ProBoards is a free(!) forum creation website. You can even customize the layout with your Neocities coding knowledge!

Carrd is in no way underground, but as far as easy website tools come, it's one of the best, so it deserves to be here. Plus you can definitely make interesting and quirky things with it - this little game is one of my favorite carrds I've ever seen!

Please add any tools you love in the notes! I just adore finding things like this, and I'm sure there are some I've missed. It's important for creativity to sometimes spend an afternoon making a weird song or website that you never would have normally. I hope this inspires you to create!

[luckpdf]

Additions.

EleutherAI - text generator! Very helpful for inspiration.

Grapedrop - Alternative to Carrd for the more expert out there. More customization!

Scratch - make games or other stuff! It’s a simple programming language.

[em-dash-press-deactivated202410]

Game-Changing Sites for Writers

A recent search for a specific type of site to help me build new characters led me down a rabbit hole. Normally, that would make me much less productive, but I have found a treasure trove of websites for writers.

Bring Characters/Places to Life

There are a few different places you can use to create a picture of something entirely new. I love this site for making character pictures as references, instead of stock photos or whatever pops up on Google Images.

thispersondoesnotexist: every time you reload the page, this site generates a headshot of someone who doesn't exist. This is great if you're thinking about a character's personality or age and don't have specifics for their facial features yet.

Night Cafe: this is an AI art generator that takes your text prompt and generates an image for it. I tried it for various scenery, like "forest" or "cottage." It takes a minute for your requested photo to load, but no more than maybe five for the program to finish the picture.

Art Breeder: this website has endless images of people, places, and general things. Users can blend photos to create something new and curious visitors can browse/download those images without creating an account. (But if you do want to make an account to create your own, it's free!)

Find Random Places on Earth

You might prefer to set a story in a real-life environment so you can reference that place's weather, seasons, small-town vibe, or whatever you like. If that's the case, try:

MapCrunch: the homepage generates a new location each day and gives the location/GPS info in the top left of the screen. To see more images from previous days, hit "Gallery" in the top left.

Atlas Obscura: hover over or tap the "Places" tab, then hit "Random Place." A new page will load with a randomly generated location on the planet, provide a Google Maps link, and tell you a little bit about the place.

Random World Cities: this site makes randomly selected lists of global cities. Six appear for each search, although you'll have to look them up to find more information about each place. You can also use the site to have it select countries, US cities or US states too.

Vary Your Wording

Thesauruses are great, but these websites have some pretty cool perspectives on finding just the right words for stories.

Describing Words: tell this website which word you want to stop repeating and it will give you tons of alternative words that mean the same thing. It typically has way more options than other sites I use.

Reverse Dictionary: type what you need a word for in Reverse Dictionary's search box and it will give you tons of words that closely match what you want. It also lists the words in order of relevancy, starting with a word that most accurately describes what you typed. (There's also an option to get definitions for search results!)

Tip of My Tongue: this website is phenomenal. It lets you search for that word you can't quite place by a letter in it, the definition, what it sounds like, or even its scrambled letters. A long list of potential options will appear on the right side of the screen for every search.

---

Hope this helps when you need a hand during next writing session 💛

[llovelymoonn]

Keep reading

[raeiyyn]

1.dorothy kunhart, pat the bunny // 2. // 3. mitski, a pearl, art by @hauntedomens // 4.hieu minh nguyen, buffet etiquette // 5.art from pinterest // 6.christa wolf tr. by jan van heurck, cassandra: a novel and four essays // 7.extracurricular (2020) dir.kim jin min // 8.louise bourgeois, destruction of the father/reconstruction of the father: writings and interviews 1923-1997 // 9.alice osman, radio silence // mitski, fireworks, art by uol.art (on insta)

[theoptia]

Philip Ball, Seeing Red; Archive for Research in Archetypal Symbolism, The Book of Symbols: Reflections on Archetypal Images; David M. Odorisio, Of Gods and Stones: Alchemy, Jung, and the Dark Night of St. John of the Cross; Carl Jung, Collected Works of C.G. Jung, Volume 14: Mysterium Coniunctionis; Jo Hedesan, The Four Stages of Alchemical Work; Lyndy Abraham, A Dictionary of Alchemical Imagery.