lesbian and a writer

esther || 20 || spain || she/her || right now working on a fanfiction but i focus on lgtb contemporary romance and suspense

[thesapphicwriterblr]

Opened for NaNoWriMo beta reading

So as many of you know I started beta reading a few weeks ago and I thought that the best thing I could do with NaNoWriMo starting in a few days is not only beta read but also being available for yoy to text or message me about your story, since I think some people have too much anxiety to join writing groups and preffer one-to-one conversations. This works both for fanfiction and original work.

Im case you finally do, not only I will provide you with detailed feedback but I will be your developmental editor, meaning that while I will provide you with an extensive critique I will also give you different pathways in order to improve.

You will get:

Impresions on the first chapter and hook of first line.

Initial reader reactions.

Feedback on character arc, choesivness of plot, worldbuilding, pacing and tone.

I will also correct general grammar and spelling errors.

As additional work I do video chat meeting for 10$/hour and help you with outline, development... and anything you need/want to talk about! I won’t deliver in-depth grammar and spelling correction and I am not available for rewriting.

In terms of software we will work to use one that fits us both. If you have a questionnaire, I will work with it instead of a full critique.

This is how my PDFs usually look like:

The thing is I usually charge 20-25 dollars for 50k words (it’s a special fee if you come from Tumblr) since I REALLY REALLY need money. You always have the option when I deliver my feedback to cancel the order and have your money back if you are not satisfied and you have up to 3 reviews. Of course if you want to pay the total fee it’s very welcomed :D You can see them here https://www.fiverr.com/s2/71c807eb27?utm_source=CopyLink_Mobile (some people tell me the link doesn’t work, so if that happens message me please :D)

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Some reviews:

If you are not sure if your work fits me or want feedback on things I did not mention do not hesitate to message me! I like to talk before you order to see if we have the same goals and to understand the writer, and I will gladly answer any questions you have! Or if you can reblog for anyone to see this please

Of course I want to thank @dahladahlabills @kenny-valentine @ahotpeaceofshit for being my first clients and trusting me with their work! I am so happy you can’t imagine

[writingquestionsanswered]

I have an original story in which there is a bad guy and conflict, but for a good part of the book (maybe a third? I can’t really know because I haven’t finished) there is a storyline with the main characters and a conflict, that is basically he has been away, comes back and rebuild his relationships, it’s a adventure more than a conflict. Do you think that having this minor story first and then focusing on the actual villain it’s okay? Like when should I start actually deepening the villain?

Subplot Shouldn’t Come Before Main Plot

And Why Structure Matters

Think of plot as the skeleton upon which your story is built. Your plot should start unfolding at the beginning of the story and finish at the end. Subplots are meant to play out within that structure, parallel to it. So having a subplot that plays out prior to and independent of the main plot isn’t an effective way to tell a story. Your reader will assume that whatever adventure and rebuilding of relationships takes place during the first third or so of the story *is* the plot, so they’re going to be pretty confused when suddenly this whole other plot opens up.

Typically, for longer fiction anyway, story structure works like this:

1st quarter of story (set-up)

introduce protagonist and important support characters

show us protagonist’s “normal world”

show us protagonist’s flaws and what needs to change for them

build up to inciting incident/first plot point

25% mark or thereabout (inciting incident/first plot point)

something big happens that turn’s character’s world upside down

first glimpse of antagonist/henchmen/antagonistic force

2nd quarter of the story (response)

protagonist reacts to inciting incident and ultimately forms a goal

protagonist makes necessary plans to pursue that goal

starts to pursue goal and “fight back” against antagonist/force

b-story/subplots often kick off here

50% mark or thereabout (midpoint)

new information, skill, resource, or understanding creates game changer

protagonist may have a false triumph or false defeat

3rd quarter of the story (attack)

protagonist makes another big push toward goal

antagonist/force pushes back

75% mark or thereabout (final push)

final game changer/last piece of the puzzle

protagonist knows once and for all how to reach goal/win/defeat antagonist

Final quarter of the story (resolution)

big showdown/antagonist confronted once and for all

goal is reached (or not)

protagonist’s change (if they had a change arc) is evident

loose ends are tied up

we see the protagonist in their “new normal”

Now, to be clear, this is just a generalized mishmash of many different story structure templates/theories, but they’re all basically the same. The point is, although you don’t have to stick to all of these points exactly–you don’t have to hit all of them and they don’t have to be in the exact places mentioned–good stories do all play out generally in this way. So doing something like having the first third of your story be subplot and not kicking off the actual plot until that far in would be light years beyond anything that constitutes story structure. And while there are no true rules in writing, and sometimes it pays to take risks, you really have to ask yourself if a risk is worth taking. Are you going to alienate the reader by getting them invested in a false plot for the entire first act? Are they going to feel like their time is being wasted when they realize the real plot hasn’t even kicked off yet?

All things to consider! My advice would be to find a way to build that subplot into the main plot (as it should be), so that a lot of that relationship rebuilding is taking place as the actual plot is unfolding. It will be a lot more interesting that way! :)

[writingquestionsanswered]

Master List: Relationships - Romance

*** NOTE: if you are using the tumblr app, links may not appear correctly for you. Unfortunately, there’s nothing I can do about that.

Guide: Love Triangles and How to Tackle Them Guide: Creating Romantic Chemistry Guide: Characters Falling in Love Guide: Writing a Slow Burn Romance Guide: Choosing a Love Interest Adding Surprise to a Slow Burn First Kiss Writing Romance without Experience Writing the “Almost Sex but Not Quite” Scene Writing Sex Scenes with a Little More Heat Writing a Romantic Sex Scene Avoiding Cringe in a Love Scene Writing a Kissing Scene Writing a Wholesome Romance The Subtle Signs of Romantic Interest and Love Transitioning Through Levels of Affection Are Verbal Love Confessions Hokey in Fiction? Enemies to Romance Playful Dislike to Love Friendship Turns to Romance Friends/Love Interests to Enemies Ways for Love Interests to Meet Healthy Conflict in a Romantic Relationship Emotions When Old Flames Reunite Romance Started to Build Before Story Began Even Romance Needs a Little Conflict Two Exes Falling in Love Again Turning Romantic Main Plot Into Subplot Antagonist Becomes Love Interest Partnerships: Platonic, Romantic, and Romantic w/o Physical Showing Feelings Developed Pre-Story Through Recall Writing a Healthy May-December Romance

[sword-of-stars-deactivated20200]

PREPPING YOUR NOVEL.

if you want to start your novel but you’re not sure where to start, i’ve collected a bunch of resources to help you along! this includes characterization, plotting, worldbuilding, etc. @made-of-sunlight-moonlight

CHARACTERS.

name generator: this one is pretty handy. it has a bunch of different generators based on language, gods, fantasy, medieval, archetypes, etc.

➥ reedsy name generator

personality types: this is just the standard mbti personality list. it lists the strengths and weaknesses of each type, as well as how they do in relationships, etc.

➥ mbti 16 personalities

enneagram: the enneagram personality types. this may help with characterization because it has “levels of development.” it also lists common fears, desires, and how each type interacts with one another.

➥ enneagram types

emotional wound: your character should have something they believe about themselves that isn’t true. (ex: i’m worthless, i’m powerless.) this should start with an “origin” scene from their past, where something happens to create the wound. then there are three “crossroads” scenes to brainstorm, where things could have gone right for your character, but didn’t due to the wound, and because of that strengthened their belief in the wound. this helps you figure out why your character acts like they do. this is a really important one!!!

➥ emotional wound explained

WORLDBUILDING.

worldbuilding template: this is a pretty good template / guide about how to build your world. it talks about geography, people, civilizations, magic, technology, economy, and politics. (you have to download this through email though.)

➥ reedsy worldbuilding template

world anvil: if you really really want to go in-depth — this website is for you. there is so much you can do with this; i can’t list it all. history, timelines, important objects, cities, species — you name it, it’s probably on there.

➥ world anvil website

worldbuilding bible: this is just a general list on things to think about when worldbuilding.

➥ ellen brock’s worldbuilding bible

world creator: this website generates an entire planet. you can play around with the amount of land, as well as climate, although i’m not sure since i haven’t used it too much. here is the link if needed, though!

➥ donjin fractal world generator

inkarnate: this is a really commonly used one. it’s free and makes good quality maps. you can lay out cities, landmarks, regions, and they even have little dragon drawings you can put on your map.

➥ inkarnate website

a tip: don’t over-worldbuild! you’ll end up spending a lot of time on things you won’t need. focus mainly on the things that you will use!

PLOT.

plot generator: this one’s kind of nice because you can lock elements of the plot that you like. that way you can get rid of the ones you don’t like while keeping the ones you do.

➥ reedsy plot generator

writing exercises: this one has a couple different generators, including one that gives you a situation, characters, and themes.

➥ writing exercises

plot cheat sheet: this lists a whole bunch of plotting methods and their basic steps. i would play around with them and see which one works best for your method.

➥ plot cheat sheet by ea deverell

plot formula: this is mentioned on the cheat sheet, but it lists a bunch of beats and scenes which you might want to consider for those beats. kind of fill-in-the-blank-ish sort of thing?

➥ plot formula by ea deverell

save the cat: a method of plotting also on the plot cheat sheet above, but i wanted to point it out. i have been using this recently by taking a giant piece of paper, laying it out onto the floor, and making a timeline. pivotal scenes go on the right (ex: catalyst), while the bulk of scenes go on the left (ex: fun and games). i didn’t really have a website on this, but here is one that explains the beats. (i might make a post about this later, though?)

➥ save the cat explained

ETC.

story planner: this basically has a lot of templates that cover everything up there. the problem is that you get a free trial for a little while where you get as many documents as you want, then you have to pay for it. (although you can get around this by copying and pasting into a doc...?)

➥ story planner website

describing / related words: these kind of go hand in hand. if you put a word intothese websites, they will give you either a list of related words or adjectives respectively.

➥ describing words website

➥ related words website

ea deverell: i've pulled a lot of stuff from this website to put in this post, but there's a lot more that can be used. Like a lot on basically anything — plot, character, world, outlining, writing itself.

➥ ea deverell website

reedsy: again, i've pulled a lot of stuff from them to put in this post, but there's much more. it's similar to the ea deverell one.

➥ reedsy website

canva: this is more for making aesthetics and covers. (this thing is really helpful —and free!) although if you use this, i'd suggest pulling pictures off a website like unsplash; that way the pictures are free to use.

➥ canva website

i hope you found this helpful!! :) happy writing!!

[thesapphicwriterblr]

I get so happy when I read a manuscript and suggest changes or new scenes to introduce characters and relationships and peope listen to me and do it!! I’m writing this because someone got back to me asking to read this new scene and its 200% better and so amazing I just got so excited hahahaha

[thesapphicwriterblr]

Ive had so much work beta reading and editing manuscripts but something I have to say: why do people search for beta readers when they haven’t looked through their own manuscript? Like why are there quotes and questions marks missing...

[thesapphicwriterblr]

Hi!

As you may know I’ve been beta reading for a while and I wanted to know: would anyone be interested in having a beta reader that not only delivers feedback but with whom you can chat on a online meeting about the book and help you figure everything out? I want to start offering this but I’m not sure. I want different opinions even if you don’t need a beta reader. Like who would be the ideal beta reader for you and how would the feedback be?

[thesapphicwriterblr]

Opened for NaNoWriMo beta reading

So as many of you know I started beta reading a few weeks ago and I thought that the best thing I could do with NaNoWriMo starting in a few days is not only beta read but also being available for yoy to text or message me about your story, since I think some people have too much anxiety to join writing groups and preffer one-to-one conversations. This works both for fanfiction and original work.

What I thought is I could "book" people in advance so I know how much work I will have and you can just message me with no pressure! If you are interested now I will just send you a reminder the 1st Dec and if you don’t want me to beta read then it’s totally okay.

Im case you finally do, not only I will provide you with detailed feedback but I will be your developmental editor, meaning that while I will provide you with an extensive critique I will also give you different pathways in order to improve.

You will get:

Impresions on the first chapter and hook of first line.

Initial reader reactions.

Feedback on character arc, choesivness of plot, worldbuilding, pacing and tone.

I will also correct general grammar and spelling errors.

I won’t deliver in-depth grammar and spelling correction and I am not available for rewriting.

In terms of software we will work to use one that fits us both. If you have a questionnaire, I will work with it instead of a full critique.

This is how my PDFs usually look like:

The thing is I usually charge 10-15 dollars for 50k words (it’s a special fee if you come from Tumblr) since I REALLY REALLY need money. You always have the option when I deliver my feedback to cancel the order and have your money back if you are not satisfied and you have up to 3 reviews. Of course if you want to pay the total fee it’s very welcomed :D You can see them here.

Some reviews:

If you are not sure if your work fits me or want feedback on things I did not mention do not hesitate to message me! I like to talk before you order to see if we have the same goals and to understand the writer, and I will gladly answer any questions you have! Or if you can reblog for anyone to see this please

Of course I want to thank @dahladahlabills @kenny-valentine @ahotpeaceofshit for being my first clients and trusting me with their work! I am so happy you can’t imagine

[thesapphicwriterblr]

Hi! Just wanted to remember you of this! I have 2 orders right now but at the end of the month I’ll be free again :)

[aiyanayanas]

[candiikismet]

Finally someone tackles gift giving. It’s my core love language and people don’t get it. At all.

[unfortunatelyimaginary]

Idk if gift giving is my love language to receive, but it is the one I most easily give. It's just little trinkets or shiny things that hold the message "I saw this and thought of you". The value/price is meaningless, but the time invested into the object has a lot of value.

[bookishdiplodocus]

Reblog the writers’ fortune cookie for luck!

[redeadepression]

Guys I reblogged this and then wrote an 8000 word story I didn’t even have a solid plan for. Reblog this shit.

[tolstoyevskywrites-deactivated2]

Important ideas to consider when creating characters who are black and indigenous people of color. (x)

[fixyourwritinghabits]

There is a lot of discourse in the notes here that seems to boil down to ‘but I liked that character,’ and it’s important to realize this is not post criticizing these characters, it’s a post heightening how BIPOC often fall into these stereotypes, how important it is to keep an eye out for them, and especially how important it is to get BIPOC feedback on your work. We all absorb these things unconsciously, and it takes work to pry them loose.

[theliteraryarchitect-deactivate]

From my private meme collection. Since I also work as an editor I often have to remind myself there aren’t actually any rules in writing. I’m happiest when I let myself follow my obsessions, my interests, my fancies and caprices–even if that means it doesn’t “make sense,” or the results are weird, or I never finish it, or no one ever wants to read it or publish it, or it’s 5 words long, or it’s written on toilet paper, or whatever. Sharing for whoever needs to hear this today <3

[theinformationdump]

Body Language Cheat Sheet for Writers

As described by Selnick’s article:

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

[lunarmoment]

Because I realize all my characters do is look at each other and have their eyebrows shoot up. Sometimes they even lower their eyebrows too!

[whitepeopletwitter]

[rootbeergoddess]

This.

There are so many rich people who get to try a new hobby every day while the rest of us are struggling 

[cringesedimentdeposits]

[nanowrimo]

The Most Basic Roadmap Through Your Novel with Ninja Writers

Every year, we’re lucky to have great sponsors for our nonprofit events. Ninja Writers, a 2020 NaNo sponsor, is a writing community that helps you build a bridge between your imagination and your novel. Today, Ninja Writers creator Shaunta Grimes shares a helpful story structure to keep you on track with your writing:

Imagine it’s the beginning of November and you’re starting an epic month-long road trip. You’re headed from California to New York City! You’ve got your car packed, your playlist loaded, the good snacks in the front seat. You’re ready to go.

So, you pull out of your driveway and you start driving. You even manage to get going eastward, but you end up in Florida a month from now after winding all over the place between Canada and Mexico.

Ah, right. You forgot your roadmap. 

Starting NaNoWriMo with the spark of a story idea is like an epic road trip we take every November. The good news is, we don’t have to head off without a roadmap. There are five key plot points that every story has. (Yes. Even yours!) If you figure yours out for your story, you’ll have some guideposts to keep you headed in the right direction all month long (or to get back on track if you’ve gotten lost).

Keep reading

[itsforexposure]

And you get what you fuckin' deserve.

[heywriters]

Hi. So I have a question. I'm going to write about a city I've never been to, New York, do you have any tips on how to do this?

Hello, dear. I get asked this often and 4/5 times it’s about New York City, so you’re getting a resource list so I can just direct people to your ask from now on!

Writing Real-Life Locations 

7 Tips for Writing About Places You’ve Never Been

How to Write Creative Nonfiction: Writing about Place

How To Write About Place In Creative Nonfiction 

Misplaced: why do novelists disguise real locations?

Basics of Describing Settings

How to Describe the Setting in a Story

Discover The Basic Elements of Setting In a Story

How to Write Descriptions and Create a Sense of Place 

How to practice location descriptions

Fictional vs. Real Settings: Which Are Best?

Writing About New York [City]

List of NYC writing links & tips

Humans of New York (for local character/lifestyle examples)

Have fun researching!

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