Metrophobia

Mel / 21 / A crappy writer I have so many writing scraps, both poetry and prose, that are just rotting in random documents that I decided I needed to put them somewhere. Maybe I will finally do something with them. You can find me on dA: http://thebloodyepicpumpkin.deviantart.com/

[leothil]

These are probably my favourite covers for this series so far!

[putthepromptsonpaper]

“Would it be so terrible? To not hate ending up with me?”

[the-writing-process]

Just very quickly: Farther refers to physical distance. Further refers to figurative progress.

[justsomecynic]

From the makers of the no-effort character checklist, I bring to you… The no-effort complete character sheet for lazy writers like you and me™! 

Because the extra effort I put in staying up until 3 am to do put this together can save us all a lot of effort filling out longer character sheets ^^

You’re supposed to print it out and fold it in half to make a little booklet but you can save ink and do it on your computer :P

Link to PDF on google drive (fixed typo)

[fictionwritingtips]

7 Ways End Your Novel

Figuring out the right way to end your novel can be difficult and it can make or break your story. If you’re stuck, try to understand that your ending should match the tone of your story. Here are a few common ways to end a novel to keep in mind:

Happy

There’s nothing wrong with a happy ending. If you want your novel to end on a joyful note with everyone getting what they want, that’s perfectly fine. Just make sure it’s in line with how your characters have behaved throughout your novel.

Sad

Writing a sad ending depends on how you built up your novel. A sudden, sad ending shouldn’t come out of nowhere. It should tie in with the tone of your story. If you want to write a sad ending, make sure it makes sense in the world you’ve created.

Open

Sometimes due to the nature of your story, your ending will remain open. Maybe your audience will have to come to conclusions themselves or maybe you’re leading into your next novel. If you’re writing a sequel, writers will often end with it open or a cliffhanger.

Complete

Happy or sad, some writers tend to complete their novel. These means they’ve tied up all loose ends, plots, and subplots, and created a solid ending. Usually this leaves no room for a follow-up and the novel can stand complete on its own. 

Twist

The twist ending can be hard to pull off, but if done correctly it can really blow your readers’ minds. This is when you lead up to one conclusion and then reveal that an assumed truth was false the whole time. Study up on twist endings if that’s something you want to do in your story.

Tie-back

This is when the ending ties back around to the clues in the beginning. Stories with a tie back ending sometimes have a full loop and give the story a feeling of completeness. They make readers feel as if everything is connected in some way.

Epilogue

An epilogue often gives readers details beyond the perceived ending. Writers will sometimes use epilogues if there’s a lot to sum up. Just make sure the epilogue fits your novel and it’s not something you can explain in the main sections of your story.

-Kris Noel

[sunspotery]

So according to an interview with Neil Gaiman in the back of Good Omens, before Terry Pratchett became a full time writer he wrote at least 400 words a day.

I’ve been trying it out for a couple weeks now and let me tell you 400 words is a totally awesome goal. It is very approachable and not intimidating, often leads to more than 400 words cause well now I have to finish this scene. 

Seriously I probably would have written nothing in the last couple weeks, instead I’ve written 1000′s of words. 

10/10 would recommend.

[neil-gaiman]

Terry would be proud.

[therosielord]

In case you still don’t understand why it’s bad to write fiction with a disabled character who is magically “cured”:

Imagine this for a second: you’re a kid in a wheelchair.

It’s pretty isolating. You love reading, but every book you read has a hero who can walk. After a while, you start to get the message: only kids without disabilities are allowed to have adventures. Because of your condition, you’ll never be able to have a story worth reading.

Now imagine you discover a book about a kid in a wheelchair.

It’s fantastic. All of a sudden, there’s someone like you who gets to go on awesome adventures. Maybe your story actually is worth telling after all!

But then the hero gets their greatest wish granted: their legs are fixed and they rise from their wheelchair, healthy and strong.

And there you are, the reader, still stuck in your wheelchair.

Your legs will never be fixed.

You will never be granted that magical wish.

And the character who used to just be like you is now something you can never be. The writer has decided that their story is only worth telling if they end up magically abled.

But you will never end up magically abled. So what does this tell you?

Your story will never be worth telling.

Now do you understand?

[writerswritecompany]

Although editing and proofreading are often mentioned together, they are two different things. Editing means improving writing to put the writer’s message across in the best way. Proofreading means checking to ensure the writing is technically and aesthetically sound.

Read more here

[writeaboutnowblr-blog]

Write About

Write a scene taking place during a fire drill.

[aprilwitching-deactivated201808]

the checkmarks aren’t mine, but i found this chart flipping through a self-help book about personality types and it resonated out of context

i think most people experience all of these desires at some point

[the-library-and-step-on-it]

Dan Harmon’s Story Cicle (as inspired by Joseph Campbell’s The Hero’s Journey)

1. You (a character is in a zone of comfort)

ESTABLISH A PROTAGONIST… Who are we? A squirrel? The sun? A red blood cell? America?

2. Need (but they want something)

SOMETHING AIN’T QUITE RIGHT… Something is wrong, the world is out of balance. This is the reason why a story is going to take place. The “you” from (1) is an alcoholic. There’s a dead body on the floor. A motorcycle gang rolls into town.

3. Go (they enter an unfamiliar situation)

CROSSING THE THRESHOLD… For (1) and (2), the “you” was in a certain situation, and now that situation changes. A hiker heads into the woods. Pearl Harbor’s been bombed. A mafia boss enters therapy.

4. Search (adapt to it)

THE ROAD OF TRIALS… Adapting, experimenting, getting shit together, being broken down. A detective questions suspects. A cowboy gathers his posse. A cheerleader takes a nerd shopping.

5. Find (find what they wanted)

MEETING WITH THE GODDESS… Whether it was the direct, conscious goal or not, the “need” from (2) is fulfilled. We found the princess. The suspect gives the location of the meth lab. A nerd achieves popularity.

6. Take (pay its price)

MEET YOUR MAKER… The hardest part (both for the characters and for anyone trying to describe it). On one hand, the price of the journey. The shark eats the boat. Jesus is crucified. The nice old man has a stroke. On the other hand, a goal achieved that we never even knew we had. The shark now has an oxygen tank in his mouth. Jesus is dead- oh, I get it, flesh doesn’t matter. The nice old man had a stroke, but before he died, he wanted you to take this belt buckle. Now go win that rodeo.

7. Return (and go back to where they started)

BRINGING IT HOME… It’s not a journey if you never come back. The car chase. The big rescue. Coming home to your girlfriend with a rose. Leaping off the roof as the skyscraper explodes.

8. Change (now capable of change)

MASTER OF BOTH WORLDS… The “you” from (1) is in charge of their situation again, but has now become a situation-changer. Life will never be the same. The Death Star is blown up. The couple is in love. Dr. Bloom’s Time Belt is completed. Lorraine Bracco heads into the jungle with Sean Connery to “find some of those ants.”

[fixyourwritinghabits]

Hemingway’s Advice on Writing, Ambition, the Art of Revision, and His Reading List of Essential Books for Aspiring Writers

“In any art you’re allowed to steal anything if you can make it better.”

I’m not going to try to summarize much of the great advice in this article. Just read it.

Hemingway certainly has his critics (and they bring up many excellent critiques), but with a Pulitzer and a Nobel, he must’ve been doing something right.

[agirlneedsgoals]

Writing Alcoholics

Okay, real talk about a sensitive subject: Tony Stark is an extremely high functioning alcoholic.

High functioning alcoholics can function like normal people, for the most part, even when smashed. They don’t slur their words or stumble or show any real overt signs of drunkenness until they are WAY past the normal threshold. The tipoff is the smell. You can smell the liquor on them even if they haven’t spilled a drop. Sometimes, I think it comes through their pores.

Alcoholics usually have a higher tolerance for alcohol, built up like an immunity to poison…because that’s basically what it is. Often they will begin their day with alcohol, for a variety of reasons, not least of which is the ever present hangover. Some can’t function normally without it. But high functioning alcoholics will generally seem normal while intoxicated.

If you suddenly remove all alcohol, some of them experience delirium tremens (DTs), which you’ll need to look up if you want to use; they are rough and can be fatal if not experienced under the care of a medical facility.

Now, not all Tonys are alcoholic, I’m just taking about the ones who are. High functioning alcoholics are not silly drunks or cartoonish. They can walk a straight line, they can even operate vehicles (they are still impaired, they just hide it better).

He doesn’t slur or slide his consonants. He doesn’t fall down. Hell, drinking might actually calm normal mood swings for him. He could still be charming. He could be MORE charming while drunk.

And remember, people are alcoholics for REASONS. It’s self medication. Nobody is addicted to alcohol for fun. Nobody gets there on purpose.

[macgyvermedical]

Addition for those who feel like writing something featuring a character in withdrawal, here’s some info:

Alcohol withdrawal is one of the worse withdrawals a person can go through. Even in hospitals with access to advanced medical care, it can still prove fatal.

Withdrawal can start as soon as 2 hours after the last drink, but usually starts somewhere between 6-24 hours. The initial symptoms include shakiness, nausea, vomiting, sweating, anxiety, headache and insomnia. While these symptoms can sometimes last for several weeks, at this point they are non-life-threatening. For some people, this is all the withdrawal symptoms they will experience.

If you feel like continuing your character’s torture, between 12 and 24 hours after their last drink, visual hallucinations may begin. These usually won’t last beyond 48 hours, and your character will typically know they are hallucinations and not real. The hallucinations typically take the form of spiders, snakes, or other creepy crawlies.

If that is still not enough for your whump goals, in some patients tonic-clonic (grand mal) seizures start 24-48 hours after the last drink. While the seizures are usually self-limiting, this is where the withdrawal starts to get potentially dangerous- about 3% of people who develop withdrawal-related seizures will develop status eplepticus, a condition in which a seizure may last for more than 30 minutes, deprives the body of oxygen, and may cause brain damage.

Now, if you’re really looking to put your character in danger, Delirium Tremens is the next step. This starts at about days 3-10 (peaks around day 5) and is hugely dangerous- untreated, 35% of people who develop DTs will die. Even with medical treatment, this number only goes down to about 10%. That’s one in about 10 people will still die even under medical supervision.

DTs symptoms include: High blood pressure, visual and/or tactile (touch) hallucinations which the person cannot distinguish from reality, tachycardia (high heart rate), fever, confusion, severe shaking, severe anxiety, profuse sweating, additional seizures, irregular heartbeat.

Treatment includes:

Benzodiazepines- the body uses these chemicals similarly to the way it uses alcohol- meaning they can help decrease or postpone withdrawal without exposing the person to actual alcohol. They can also decrease blood pressure, heart rate, anxiety and occurrence of seizures, making them ideal drugs for treating withdrawal.

Antipsychotic medications (often haloperidol) for treating hallucinations

IV Glucose (D5W), which decreases risk of DTs or worsening withdrawal.

IV Electrolytes

IV nutrient replacement- particularly thiamine, folate, magnesium and niacin. These are typically vitamins and minerals the body has a difficult time absorbing after long-term alcohol use, and replacing them reduces risk of complications.

If caught early and treated aggressively, the person has a higher chance of surviving. One problem is that the medications (particularly the benzodiazepines) must be given in very high doses to be effective. Medical professionals may not recognize this need and so may not prescribe or administer appropriate amounts of the drugs to counter the withdrawal symptoms. This is a very real problem and sometimes results in under medication, which can be extremely dangerous or uncomfortable to the person in their care.

R E F E R E N C E S

[writeworld-blog]

The taste of blood in my mouth feels almost nostalgic.

Writer’s Block

In one sentence is the spark of a story. Ignite. Mission: Write a story, a description, a poem, a metaphor, a commentary, or a memory about this sentence. Write something about this sentence. Be sure to tag writeworld in your block!

[thewritershandbook]

The Twelve Character Archetypes

[thewritershandbook]

[a-mahariels-travels]

How to be a Writer

Step 1: Hate everything you ever write ever.

Step 2: Keep writing.