Let’s Write

A blog for writing advice and discussion. Feel free to send me questions, ideas, or just your word count! Personal Blog: @thesevenumbrellas

[antiqueanimals]

"Dinosaurs" that Swam and Flew. Written by David C. Knight. Illustrated by Lee Ames. 1989.

Internet Archive

[acheronprince]

Me while editing: *adds a sentence*

*finds nearly identical sentence in the next paragraph*

[thewritingumbrellas]

Writing advice from my uni teachers:

If your dialog feels flat, rewrite the scene pretending the characters cannot at any cost say exactly what they mean. No one says “I’m mad” but they can say it in 100 other ways.

Wrote a chapter but you dislike it? Rewrite it again from memory. That way you’re only remembering the main parts and can fill in extra details. My teacher who was a playwright literally writes every single script twice because of this.

Don’t overuse metaphors, or they lose their potency. Limit yourself.

Before you write your novel, write a page of anything from your characters POV so you can get their voice right. Do this for every main character introduced.

[elapach24]

I've never could rewrite a chapter nor even a scene. It's like: there it is, you made it but you can't change it, now live with it :(((((((

[thewritingumbrellas]

Never allowing yourself to explore what your own ideas can do because you’re only allowed to write once sounds like hell

[stinastar]

Resources for Writers

If you’re coming to this list from a reblog, please click through to the original post as it may be updated with more content!

Please note I haven’t read everything on this list, so I can’t speak to all it contains/ accuracy, ya dig?

Writing a Blind or Visually Impaired Character by @mimzy-writing-online​

Resources For Writing Deaf, Mute, or Blind Characters by @thecaffeinebookwarrior​

Writing Sign Language F.A.Q by @concerningwolves​

Words for Skin Tone | How to Describe Skin Color by @writingwithcolor​

Words to Describe Hair by @writingwithcolor​

So You Want Your OC to be Jewish by @bailey-writes​

-

Body Language Cheat Sheet for Writers from @theinformationdump​

Cheat Sheet for Writing Emotion by @thewriterswitch​

How to Write a Realistic Argument by @she-who-fights-and-writes​

How to write softness by @oriorwriter​

Writing villains / villains motivations by @the-modern-typewriter​

Personality traits/flaws by @rivalwrites​

Writing Consent - written for The Witcher fandom but the advice is actually general, by @hailhailsatan​

How to Write Characters in Realistic Polyamorous Relationships - by @simplyoriginalcharacters​

How to Write OCs With Trauma

Writing Enemies to Lovers by @pianowritesstuff​

How to write a kiss

❧ So much more is under the cut!

Keep reading

[thewritingumbrellas]

Any tips for writing dialogue and incorporating it into what you’re writing. I’m not the most social person, so I already don’t engage in much conversation, and I worry that it’s impeding how a write dialogue. I always worry that it seems jarring or out of place, and that it just isn’t paced right between my other paragraphs.

Of course!

First of all, dialogue takes a long time to master. Your first draft should always be about adding information over style. What do your characters want to say? Making the plot clear to the reader is your first priority. If you need a character to spell something out, just do it and move on. If you're worried about juggling realism, characteristics, and information at the same time you're going to drop a ball unless you're *very* practiced at juggling or went to clown camp!

For me, I bullet note just plain dialogue. No action, no quotes, just the dialogue as cleanly as possible. Sometimes that literally looks like:

- I don't want you to do this.

- I want to though. Because of the plot thing!

- But I don't want you to because of *my* plot thing!

In your second go over, that's when you can start thinking *how would this character say this?*

My number one rule for this is to say it out loud. Act it out. Try out different inflections. Have fun with it and look crazy making faces at yourself.

Whatever your favorite book is, pay attention to how they do dialogue. I like holding a character's voice in my head when I'm trying out something new. For example, if I want an angry character similar to Katsuki from MHA, hey guess what? All those fanfic skills come into play here! How would Katsuki say this thing?

If you use that, eventually you'll find your own character's voice and you can go back and change the things that no longer match. It'll grow and mature, but having a touchstone you can rely on is so much easier. You can blend two of your favorite character voices together even, if that helps you create something totally unique.

And last of all, sometimes if you're having trouble that might mean your character has nothing to say. Sometimes they just don't have anything to talk about. You need conflict, an obstacle, something...

That's my advice! I hope at least one of these little tips helps.

And as always if this doesn't work for you then no one should feel pressured to use it.

[thewritingumbrellas]

Do you ever write with pencils? If so, what kind? I’m about to get some journals with thinner paper that my usual pens would bleed through.

I bought Derwent graphic pencils from an art store a few years ago.

I don't actually use these to write but I DO use them to plan. I use a large pad with thinner paper and create graphs and doodles and all of that for some larger stories. These are just nicer to use sometimes. I think for thinner paper you'll want softer pencils. H is hardest and B is softest. If you could grab any 9B - B graphite pencil that should work?

But I'm not an artist so if anyone wants to add their advice please do!

[sussura]

People will say “write what you know!” But I know so little

[tlaquetzqui]

“Bad books on writing tell you to ‘write what you know’, a solemn and totally false adage that is the reason there exist so many mediocre novels about English professors contemplating adultery.”

—Joe Haldeman

[pondofreflection]

What a perfectly brutal comment.

[thesevenumbrellas]

Write what you know means write your battles and emotions, things that can’t be researched. Make it personal.

Monsters Inc isn’t about the monsters. Its about a man becoming a father, because that’s what the creator was going through at the time.

No one knew about screams and doors until it was invented as a way to tell his story.

[drbennedict-writingadvice]

Writing Tip #241

Pick up the pace of your novel. Slow reads lose readers. To help pick up the pace throw roadblocks and challenges at your characters that help propel the story forward. Good stories aren’t linear lines – they have a lot of bumps along the way. You should aim to have some kind of problem or hurdle arise once every ten pages. They don’t have to be huge problems, just something to keep your reader interested.

[thewritingumbrellas]

Even More Character Tips

Give them passions. Maybe they love architecture? Music? Makeup. But also, give them a reason WHY they love it. Have it connect to something. Their past, their future, another character, something. It'll hit so much harder when it's revealed your main character loves playing the piano because it was something he learned from his deceased father.

[thewritingumbrellas]

Is is ok if I send asks to bounce ideas off of and ask questions for my own story I’ve been developing?

Sure! I can definitely give my opinion and ask questions about where you’re going with stuff.

[thewritingumbrellas]

Can I ask how many followers you have?

... why?

[sassycolortheorist101-blog]

some fucking resources for all ur writing fuckin needs

* body language masterlist

* a translator that doesn’t eat ass like google translate does

* a reverse dictionary for when ur brain freezes

* 550 words to say instead of fuckin said

* 638 character traits for when ur brain freezes again

* some more body language help

(hope this helps some ppl)

[neil-gaiman]

Dear, Mr. Gaiman

How do you make a hero that is flawed, yet likeable and makes the audience want to root for them? Plus a villain that is just as flawed but makes fans root against them?

Also, how can you get an emotional reaction from readers from killing off a character. Is it about showing the characters in the story having that reaction or is it something else?

What they do. It's all about what they do.

And audiences will always be on the side of someone with a plan even if they want the plan to fail and the person to be defeated. They still want to see the plan play out and problems I the way of the plan to be solved.

If you want to make people have an emotional reaction to the death of a character, you had better write a character you care about and be able to have that emotional reaction to their death. If you care, other people will. If you don't care, nobody else will, no matter whether or not you write "Everyone cried buckets of tears as Ernest breathed his last."

[thewritingumbrellas]

Sorry I've been MIA on here for so long! I've started a copywriting internship, and haven't had many spare hours in my day. But with any luck I'll be returning soon with a little consistency.

[inkwell-attitude]

all the tips I found for drawing a fantasy map are like :) “here’s a strategy to draw the land masses! here’s how to plot islands!” :) and that’s wonderful and I love them all but ??? how? do y'all decide where to put cities/mountains/forests/towns I have my map and my land but I’m throwing darts to decide where the Main Citadel where the Action Takes Place is

[fatal-blow]

okay so i know i said most of this in the replies but it might be easier to actually reblog and say stuff instead lmao

Cities - go near water!  freshwater lakes and rivers (rivers especially) are the best places for cities because A) source of water and B) travel and trade is much easier cus you can put your boats like right there.  Basically ever relevant city ever was built on a lake or a river.

for rivers in general - because gravity, rivers run from mountains (forming from melting snow and ice (this is why they get fat in spring–more stuff melting)) to lakes/ocean where they can empty out (and even lakes will have rivers leading out that eventually get to the ocean), which can help when mapping out where those start and end.  rivers are also much thinner and faster in steeper elevations and very slow and wide when the land is flat

mountains - i like to think of what the tectonic plates look like because that’s what makes mountains!  mountains are also never standalone they’re always in mountain ranges (archipelagos are really just underwater mountain ranges babey).  a cool trick I like to do is occasionally separate mountain ranges across continents, because over time the tectonic plates shifted and literally split the range in half.  These mountains are really old tho so they’ve eroded and therefore it makes them smaller and rounder (like the appalachians) as opposed to relatively young mountain ranges like the rocky mountains which have taller and sharper peaks

Another mountain trick: if your mountains run along the ocean, the ocean side of the mountains will get a LOT of rain while the other side will be very dry–almost desert-like, in fact.  think of temperate rainforests in British Columbia vs the drier conditions in the canadian prairies

forests - depends on how warm the area might be.  coniferous forests are found further north (before you hit the tree line, and then it’s only tundra onwards) but as you head south you get leafier trees, and the leaves tend to get larger too

If you think about general elevation too, you’ll have places that might be swampy (wet + lower).  if your world has an ice age like we did, then glaciers may have carved the land, leaving piles of soil in the south that was left when the ice receded and places where the bedrock has been bared north of that (like the Canadian Shield in Canada–the reason we see that is because of the glaciers)

You might also have a land that’s dotted in a shitton of freshwater lakes as well because the meltwater filled the holes that the glaciers scraped out (this is why canada has so many goddamn lakes)

and if the ice age was more recent than it was in our world, then you might not even have the forest re-growth and it could be a lot of open plains

tl;dr i like to think of major climate events that might have also shaped the land on top of some basic rules

[possiblypedanticrpgideas]

The Artifexian has an entire series on building your world from literally the stars down and then the ground up.

Worldbuilding Videos - YouTube

All my worldbuilding videos

Though, for fantasy, you can make the world operate on entirely different principles:

With that done, the actual topic of city placement can be covered by videos like this:

Or

Once you have your places, if you want help naming them in realistic ways, this video can help:

This one is on architecture, which is definitely a subset of cities:

But for a more relevant practical guide on making settlements realistic:

Here’s a quick guide for making demographics:

[inkwell-attitude]

holy shit?

[thecaffeinebookwarrior-deactiva]

Resources For Writing Deaf, Mute, or Blind Characters

Despite the fact that I am not deaf, mute, or blind myself, one of the most common questions I receive is how to portray characters with these disabilities in fiction.

As such, I’ve compiled the resources I’ve accumulated (from real life deaf, mute, or blind people) into a handy masterlist.

Deaf Characters:

Deaf characters masterpost

Deaf dialogue thread

Dialogue with signing characters (also applies to mute characters.)

A deaf author’s advice on deaf characters

Dialogue between deaf characters

Mute Characters

Life as a Mute

My Silent Summer:  Life as a Mute

What It’s Like Being Mute

21 People Reveal What It’s Really Like To Be Mute

I am a 20 year old Mute, ask me anything at all!

Blind Characters:

The 33 Worst Mistakes Writers Make About Blind Characters.

@referenceforwriters masterpost of resources for writing/playing blind characters.

The youtube channel of the wonderful Tommy Edison, a man blind from birth with great insight into the depiction of blind people and their lives.

An Absolute Write thread on the depiction of blind characters, with lots of different viewpoints and some great tips.

And finally, this short, handy masterpost of resources for writing blind characters.

Characters Who Are Blind in One Eye

4 Ways Life Looks Shockingly Different With One Eye

Learning to Live With One Eye

Adapting to the Loss of an Eye

Adapting to Eye Loss and Monocular Vision

Monocular Depth Perception

Deaf-Blind Characters

What Is It Like To Be Deafblind?

Going Deaf and Blind in a City of Noise and Lights

Deaf and Blind by 30

Sarita is Blind, Deaf, and Employed (video)

Born Deaf and Blind, This Eritrean American Graduated Harvard Law School (video)

A Day of a Deaf Blind Person

Lesser Known Things About Being Deafblind

How the Deaf-Blind Communicate

Early Interactions With Children Who Are Deaf-Blind

Raising a DeafBlind Baby

If you have any more resources to add, let me know!  I’ll be adding to this post as I find more resources.

I hope this helps, and happy writing!  <3

[thecaffeinebookwarrior-deactiva]

Updated with more resources, specifically for characters who are blind in one eye.

[leave-her-a-tome]

Writing hack: actually use your fancy notebooks

[seek--rest]

Unrealistic. Blocked.