TheLadyInProgress

Writer. Reader. Listener. Welcome to the journey.

[the-scribbling-renfairy]

Questions For Your Characters To Get To Know Them Better!

What’s their most expensive hobby?

What’s their cheapest hobby?

How has the idea of their dream career changed over the years since childhood to present day?

Why do they want their current dream career?

Which birthday is their favorite? Why?

How good are they at keeping secrets?

How many secrets do they have?

What are those secrets?

When did they realize their sexuality/gender identity?

What was their favorite vacation destination?

What genre does your character think they’d be in?

What is your character’s thoughts on marriage? Bonus points if fantasy world and marriage works differently than our world!

What’s your character’s biggest fear?

Does your character have any phobias? Which ones?

How does your character act while drunk?

What’s something your character has always wanted to see?

What are some things that your character does when alone but has a hard time doing when around other people?

What’s the default pose your character goes for when someone asks them to pose for a photo?

How frequent do they do their laundry? Why do they do it that frequently/seldomly?

What are three embarrassing childhood moments of the character?

What are three embarrassing adulthood moments of the character (if they’re old enough for it)?

What was/is the character’s relationship with their grandparents?

What’s your character’s most controversial opinion?

What about your character’s most vanilla opinion?

What’s your character’s least favorite texture of clothing?

What’s a habit your character picked up from another character?

What’s their hair care routine?

What’s their skincare routine?

What’s a joke they’ll always repeat because it never gets old to them?

How often do they drink water?

[luna-azzurra]

When a Character is Falling in Love but Doesn’t Trust It

Love is terrifying. Especially for characters who’ve been hurt, shut down, or raised to believe vulnerability is weakness. So when they start falling? It doesn’t look like a Disney montage. It looks like panic in slow motion.

✧ They start noticing everything and it unsettles them. The way their voice cracks when they laugh. The way their fingers tap when they’re thinking. These little details burrow in and refuse to leave. And that awareness makes the character feel exposed.

✧ They become hyperaware of their own body. Where their hands are. How close they’re standing. If they’re blushing. It’s like being inside a body that’s betraying them constantly.

✧ They act a little mean. Not because they are mean. But because being cold is safer than being real. Sarcasm, distance, teasing, they use it like armor.

✧ They hate how much they want to share things. They’ll see a funny meme and instinctively want to send it. Then stop. No. Don’t get attached. They want to tell them about a childhood memory, then bite it back. Too personal.

✧ They become inconsistent. Warm one moment, distant the next. Showing up, then pulling away. They’re testing how much of themselves they can reveal before it feels like too much.

✧ They assume the worst. They know it won’t last. That this person will leave. That they’re misreading everything. Love doesn’t feel safe, it feels like a countdown to pain.

✧ They self-sabotage. Pick fights. Flake on plans. Pull away emotionally just to “protect themselves” before it goes wrong. It’s tragic and messy and real.

✧ They notice silence more. What wasn’t said. A delayed reply. A joke that didn’t land. Everything becomes a sign that maybe this love thing was a mistake.

✧ They want to run, but never do. The desire to bolt is constant. But they don’t. Because something about this person is pulling them back, despite every warning bell going off in their head.

✧ They don’t trust the feeling, but they keep falling anyway. And that’s what makes it beautiful. And heartbreaking. Because they don’t want to fall. But they do. And maybe, just maybe, that’s the bravest thing they’ve ever done.

[luna-azzurra]

Emotional Walls Your Character Has Built (And What Might Finally Break Them)

(How your character defends their soft core and what could shatter it) Because protection becomes prison real fast.

✶ Sarcasm as armor. (Break it with someone who laughs gently, not mockingly.) ✶ Hyper-independence. (Break it with someone who shows up even when they’re told not to.) ✶ Stoicism. (Break it with a safe space to fall apart.) ✶ Flirting to avoid intimacy. (Break it with real vulnerability they didn’t see coming.) ✶ Ghosting everyone. (Break it with someone who won’t take silence as an answer.) ✶ Lying for convenience. (Break it with someone who sees through them but stays anyway.) ✶ Avoiding touch. (Break it with accidental, gentle contact that feels like home.) ✶ Oversharing meaningless things to hide real depth. (Break it with someone who asks the second question.) ✶ Overworking. (Break it with forced stillness and the terrifying sound of their own thoughts.) ✶ Pretending not to care. (Break it with a loss they can’t fake their way through.) ✶ Avoiding mirrors. (Break it with a quiet compliment that hits too hard.) ✶ Turning every conversation into a joke. (Break it with someone who doesn’t laugh.) ✶ Being everyone’s helper. (Break it when someone asks what they need, and waits for an answer.) ✶ Constantly saying “I’m fine.” (Break it when they finally scream that they’re not.) ✶ Running. Always running. (Break it with someone who doesn’t chase, but doesn’t leave, either.) ✶ Intellectualizing every feeling. (Break it with raw, messy emotion they can’t logic away.) ✶ Trying to be the strong one. (Break it when someone sees the weight they’re carrying, and offers to help.) ✶ Hiding behind success. (Break it when they succeed and still feel empty.) ✶ Avoiding conflict at all costs. (Break it when silence causes more pain than the truth.) ✶ Focusing on everyone else’s healing but their own. (Break it when they hit emotional burnout.)

[nondelphic]

perfectionism is a liar and a hater. write your messy little heart out.

[the-lady-in-progress]

I needed to read this today 💛

[nondelphic]

if you feel like you forgot how to write: good. forget the rules. be ungovernable. invent a new genre.

[writing-prompt-s]

You were the sidekick to a super hero. You worked hard, doing all the labor while he got the credit but it's fine. Anyways, while saving people in a fire, you get trapped. You scream out for help, but all he does is stare at you. "Sorry, kid." He shrugs and leaves you there to die.

[xyywrites]

The Psychology of Morally Grey Characters: What Makes Them Tick

What Makes a Character Morally Grey?

They’re not fully good or evil. Instead, they operate in the messy middle, where ethics clash with desires, survival, or flawed logic.

They’re justifiable but not excusable. Readers might understand their motives but can’t always condone their actions.

The Psychology Behind Morally Grey Characters

1. They Operate Based on Personal Morality

Grey characters don’t lack morals—they just don’t align with societal norms. They may follow their own code of ethics, which can feel justified to them but questionable to others.

Walter White (Breaking Bad): His descent into crime stems from wanting to provide for his family. His personal moral code excuses his actions, even as they spiral into destruction.

2. Their Actions Stem from Trauma or Desperation

Morally grey characters often carry scars—trauma, loss, or desperation drive them into morally ambiguous territory.

Zuko (Avatar: The Last Airbender): His quest to capture the Avatar is fueled by years of familial abuse and a desperate desire for his father’s approval. His actions are harmful, but his pain is undeniable. 

3. They Prioritize Their Goals Above Morality

A morally grey character may believe the ends justify the means. They’re willing to cross lines for what they see as a greater good—or personal ambition.

Kaz Brekker (Six of Crows): He’ll lie, steal, and kill to protect his crew and achieve his goals. 

4. They Live in Shades of Contradiction

Humans are contradictory, and morally grey characters embrace this truth. They can be kind one moment and ruthless the next, depending on their circumstances.

5. They Force Readers to Question Their Own Morality

The best morally grey characters don’t just act—they make readers uncomfortable. They challenge black-and-white thinking and force readers to empathize with the unthinkable.

Thanos (Marvel Cinematic Universe): His belief in sacrificing half the universe for survival sparks fierce debates about utilitarianism versus morality.

Tips for Writing Morally Grey Characters

1. Give Them a Relatable Core

Readers don’t need to agree with your character, but they need to understand them. Ground their actions in something universal—love, survival, revenge, or a desire for belonging.

2. Show Their Justifications

Grey characters don’t see themselves as villains. They often have strong internal logic that explains their choices, even if the world disagrees.

3. Make Them Likable in Unexpected Ways

Even the darkest characters should have moments of levity, charm, or vulnerability. These moments make readers root for them despite their flaws.

4. Give Them Moments of Humanity

Highlight their internal conflict or flashes of goodness to remind readers they’re human, not caricatures.

5. Show the Consequences of Their Actions

Grey characters rarely walk away unscathed. Their decisions should create fallout—relationships broken, guilt weighing on their conscience, or irreversible damage.

Examples of Morally Grey Characters in Fiction

1. Severus Snape (Harry Potter):

His cruelty toward Harry is undeniable, but his love for Lily adds layers of tragic complexity.

2. Victor Frankenstein (Frankenstein):

A brilliant scientist driven by ambition, Victor creates life but abandons his creature, sparking tragedy.

3. Thomas Shelby (Peaky Blinders):

A crime lord who manipulates, kills, and betrays, yet he fiercely protects his family and battles his inner demons.

4. Eleanor Shellstrop (The Good Place):

Selfish and manipulative, Eleanor starts as morally grey but evolves as she confronts her flaws and learns to do good.

Morally grey characters live in the space between right and wrong, where humanity is at its rawest and most interesting. By exploring their contradictions, vulnerabilities, and justifications, you can create characters that feel as real and complex as life itself.

[the-lady-in-progress]

This needs more notes. Morally grey characters are some of the best. Especially in stories where a majority of the characters are morally grey. Yes there are clearly people who do more good than evil or vice versa, but in the end they’re all people with individual motivations. Unless of course, the character isn’t human, but even then they still have their own motivations. When you make sure to have those established, it becomes easier to structure subplots and seed foreshadowing.

[hayatheauthor]

10 Non-Lethal Injuries to Add Pain to Your Writing

New Part: 10 Lethal Injury Ideas

If you need a simple way to make your characters feel pain, here are some ideas: 

1. Sprained Ankle

A common injury that can severely limit mobility. This is useful because your characters will have to experience a mild struggle and adapt their plans to their new lack of mobiliy. Perfect to add tension to a chase scene.

2. Rib Contusion

A painful bruise on the ribs can make breathing difficult, helping you sneak in those ragged wheezes during a fight scene. Could also be used for something sport-related! It's impactful enough to leave a lingering pain but not enough to hinder their overall movement.

3. Concussions

This common brain injury can lead to confusion, dizziness, and mood swings, affecting a character’s judgment heavily. It can also cause mild amnesia.

I enjoy using concussions when you need another character to subtly take over the fight/scene, it's an easy way to switch POVs. You could also use it if you need a 'cute' recovery moment with A and B.

4. Fractured Finger

A broken finger can complicate tasks that require fine motor skills. This would be perfect for characters like artists, writers, etc. Or, a fighter who brushes it off as nothing till they try to throw a punch and are hit with pain.

5. Road Rash

Road rash is an abrasion caused by friction. Aka scraping skin. The raw, painful sting resulting from a fall can be a quick but effective way to add pain to your writing. Tip: it's great if you need a mild injury for a child.

6. Shoulder Dislocation

This injury can be excruciating and often leads to an inability to use one arm, forcing characters to confront their limitations while adding urgency to their situation. Good for torture scenes.

7. Deep Laceration

A deep laceration is a cut that requires stitches. As someone who got stitches as a kid, they really aren't that bad! A 2-3 inch wound (in length) provides just enough pain and blood to add that dramatic flair to your writing while not severely deterring your character.

This is also a great wound to look back on since it often scars. Note: the deeper and wider the cut the worse your character's condition. Don't give them a 5 inch deep gash and call that mild.

8. Burns

Whether from fire, chemicals, or hot surfaces, burns can cause intense suffering and lingering trauma. Like the previous injury, the lasting physical and emotional trauma of a burn is a great wound for characters to look back on.

If you want to explore writing burns, read here.

9. Pulled Muscle

This can create ongoing pain and restrict movement, offering a window to force your character to lean on another. Note: I personally use muscle related injuries when I want to focus more on the pain and sprains to focus on a lack of mobility.

10. Tendonitis

Inflammation of a tendon can cause chronic pain and limit a character's ability to perform tasks they usually take for granted. When exploring tendonitis make sure you research well as this can easily turn into a more severe injury.

This is a quick, brief list of ideas to provide writers inspiration. Since it is a shorter blog, I have not covered the injuries in detail. This is inspiration, not a thorough guide. Happy writing! :)

Looking For More Writing Tips And Tricks? 

Check out the rest of Quillology with Haya; a blog dedicated to writing and publishing tips for authors!

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[morallysuperiorlips]

PLEASE Write Your Book!

I'm serious. Please write it. If you need a sign to start, continue, or whatever is inbetween, this is it. Go do it.

I spent the past couple weeks indulging myself in some BookTok recommendations. While some were indeed good (Kings of Sin, my beloved), some were just...I don't need to finish my sentence there.

I DNF'd some books for the first time since I read Lord of the Flies (sorry Golding, you put me to sleep with your descriptions) and I powered through others in hopes that they would eventually get better. The general consensus I ended up getting was that I could not understand for the fucking life of me how these books got published. The writing in some of them was no better than that of a 2010s teen writing Maximum Ride fic on Wattpad for the first time, with the characterization abysmal enough to match.

I don't want to knock any specific author or book here, because I will concede one thing: they finished their books. They got them published. They're successful. For that, I commend them, because I'm still on my way there myself and I can't take that away from them. Jolly good show.

But that brings me to my point: if they can do it, YOU absolutely can do it too.

If some of these Amazon and NYT bestsellers can have prose on a Wattpad level with characters that have enough poorly-written cognitive dissonance to make Deadpool or Walter White jealous, your fleshed out, deeply intuitive, and remarkably creative epic can sit right alongside them no problem. Whether you're writing the next GoT or a romantic slice-of-life, there is a not a goddamn thing on this planet stopping you from rolling up with the big dogs.

If these guys can do it, so can you.

So, stop telling yourself you can't. Stop letting other people tell you you can't. Stop comparing yourself to these authors who, respectfully and bluntly, can't write for shit (or at least need to fire their fucking editors, good lord).

WRITE YOUR DAMN BOOK. PLEASE. WE NEED IT.

(If you like my guides, prompts, writing, or art, consider supporting the blog today! All donations help me keep this thing up and running and all are appreciated <3)

[writingtips-resources]

I Stole These Political Systems from Rulebooks for Worldbuilding

Here’s a list of society and government types I’ve pulled from some of the weirdest, most creative worldbuilding rulebooks.

Some of these may sound outlandish, but that’s the beauty of worldbuilding – you can break the rules!

If a system seems like it could never work in the real world, just write it for your fictional world and see where it takes you.

Athenian Democracy: Every citizen gets to vote on every law, and everyone’s voice is heard – no representatives needed.

Merchants in Charge - Imagine a world where merchants hold all the power and shape the economy and governance.

Defeat the Ruler - In this society, you become the ruler by defeating the current leader in battle.

Intellectual Rule - A society where the most intelligent people govern, making decisions based on knowledge and reason

Meritocracy: Only those who pass rigorous testing or prove themselves in battle can hold positions of power.

Theocracy: Religious leaders control the government, and their beliefs dictate the law.

Plutocracy: Whoever has the most wealth is the one in charge – money makes the rules.

Cybercracy: The entire government runs on computer systems, where decisions are made based on data and algorithms.

Clan System: A society where family clans rule and the oldest member of each clan holds the highest power.

Corporate State: Powerful corporations take control, and everything is run like a business – profit over people.

Unique Variations:

Bureaucracy - A slow, inefficient system where red tape and high taxes dominate.

Cybercracy - A system governed by a computer, where programming and technology dictate decisions.

Meritocracy - Only those who pass rigorous tests can rise to power.

Matriarchy/Patriarchy - Gender-exclusive positions of authority, where either women or men dominate the leadership roles.

These are just a few examples, but the beauty of worldbuilding is that you can mix, match, and tweak these systems to create a society that fits your story's needs.---

Suggestions to Get Creative:

Combine two or more systems to create conflict.

Imagine a Technocracy that’s challenged by a Plutocracy.

Introduce a Nomadic Tribe society where leadership is based on the most experienced warrior or hunter.

Experiment with an All-Night Ruling System, where the ruler only governs during certain hours or seasons.

Create a Parliamentary Duel System where the leaders can only change through formal debates or duels, combining elements of law and combat.

Challenge the Bureaucracy with a rebellion, where citizens rise up against the slow-moving system to create a more direct, responsive governance.

Get creative with your world!

If it doesn’t work in the real world, that doesn’t mean it won’t be a perfect fit for your fictional society.

[thoughtkick]

“I appreciate your concern. None of this is your fault. It’s me. It’s me and my head.”

— Virginia Woolf, from a letter to Violet Dickinson written c. January 1909

[writing-prompt-s]

You are a devoted paladin of the god of hatred. The followers of the “good” gods fear you. The followers of the “evil” gods try to get chummy with you for about five seconds before they REALLY fear you.

[the-lady-in-progress]

Ooh this one could be a really good short story. Although I never fully read the Percy Jackson series, I think it would be good to brush up on something like that before jumping on a cute exercise like this.

Also maybe I should actually write something instead of going on Tumblr and day dreaming about writing and my stories.

[writer-logbook]

How did I improve my writing style... without actually writing.

Intro : It's just a clickbait title to talk about theory and side techniques - before actually practicing, of course.

LINGUISTIC ISN'T GRAMMAR - AND IT'S BETTER TO KNOW ABOUT BOTH. It's useful for writing impactful dialogue and giving your characters depth. Your characters' language should (ideally) take into account: their social position (rich or poor), the locality (local expressions?) and sometimes their age (different cultural references). And this is best transcribed with linguistic knowledge. In short: linguistics is descriptive, grammar is prescriptive.

The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences),  semantics (meaning),  morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds and equivalent gestures in sign languages), phonology (the abstract sound system of a particular language, and analogous systems of sign languages), and pragmatics (how the context of use contributes to meaning). (Linguistics, Wikipedia)

Literary theory isn't as boring as it sounds. Learn more about internal criteria of the text (figure of speech, style, aesthetic...) and external criteria of the text (the author's persona and responsability, the role of the reader and what is left to interpretation...). I refer you to the French Wikipedia page, which you can translate directly via your browser in case you need more information. (Make sure you translate the page not switch language, because the content isn't the same).

Listening to Youtube Video about the analysis of film sequences and/or scenario. Remember when I told you to read historical fiction to learn how to describe a castle properly ? Same vibe.

Novel adaptations of movies. = when the movie exists before the book, and not the other way around. e.g : The Shape of Water ; Pan's Labyrinth. In line with tip n°3, it allows us to see how emotions, scenes and descriptions have been translated into writing - and thus to better visualize concepts that may have been abstract.

Read books about authors' writing experiences. e.g : Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft. Everyone's different, but they can provide some insightful tips not only on the act of writing itself, but on the environment conducive to writing, planning… Comparing completely different authors' experience could also be fun (this video of King and Martin is actually one of my fav)

Ah and many thanks for your ❤ and reblogs on my latest post ! UwU

[the-lady-in-progress]

Thank you for this content. Once again, this is why I choose Tumblr and its lovely residents.

[antleredheretic-deactivated2025]

I hoard books (and animals) feeling extremely antisocial today

[writing-prompt-s]

“No? Why? Because I’m a vampire?” “No… Actually, pretending you’re 21 and attending high school for eighty years is a little weird, man.”

[the-lady-in-progress]

If someone doesn’t rewrite Twilight as a horror story then gosh darn it I’m going to have to do it myself!!!

[askyea-poesy]

I still catch myself feeling blue about things that don't matter anymore.

Kurt Vonnegut

[writing-prompt-s]

Since the day he gained his powers, his parents knew. It wasn't that hard to tell; their kid is a terrible liar. Even though they were never let in on the secret, they did what they could to help out. Anything to help cover for the new superhero in town, the teenage kid that they are proud of.

[the-lady-in-progress]

This would be a good movie. But having the book first would be even better.