Bad Boys and Nerds

Killing clichés one story at a time. Welcome! Here is the haven for writers!

[unblockingwritersblock]

Character Development Checklist 2.0

Several months ago I posted the original Character Development Checklist, because why wouldn’t you need dozens of random questions about your character?

In my humble opinion, there’s no such thing as too many questions. How can we ever know too much about our characters? The reader might not see it, but everything the author knows will mold the characters and the story. How can that be a bad thing?

Which is exactly why I added dozens of questions to the original character sheet. Check out a link to the first one above, and scroll below for an updated version

Basics:

Character’s Name (first, middle, last)

Character’s Nickname(s)

Name pronunciation

Origin of name

Age

Ethnicity

Sex/Gender

Sexual orientation

Hair color

Eye color

Height

Weight

Scars

Tattoos

Birthmarks

Piercings

Right/left handed/ambidextrous

Glasses/contacts

Apparel:

Clothing preferences

Accessories

Style

Trinkets

Favorite possession

Equipment

Grooming habits

Family and Relationships:

Parents

Siblings

Grandparents

Marital Status

Significant Other

Children

Pets

Friends

Enemies

Close relatives

Non-close relatives

Ancestors

Religion:

The religion they follow (if any)

Beliefs

Superstitions

Virtues

Location:

Country of Birth

Place of Birth (State, city, etc)

First Language

Cultures

Traditions

Schooling:

Highest Education

Degrees

Home-schooled/public school/private school

Favorite subject

Favorite teacher

Least favorite subject

Least favorite teacher

Average grade

Study habits

Special education

Graduating year

Work:

Occupation

Salary

Employment history

Work space

Mode of Transportation

Total income

Boss

Hours

Experience

Co-worker relationships

Rank

Work ethic

Home:

Rent or Own

House, apartment, etc

Mode of transportation

Living space

Address

Hometown

Inner Workings Of Your Character:

Secrets

Fears

Worries

Eating Habits

Food preferences

Sleep preferences

Work preferences

Book preferences

Music preferences

Introverted/extroverted

Optimist/pessimist

Hobbies

Pet peeves

Prejudices

Proud of

Biggest vulnerability

Embarrassed by

Worst memory

Best memory

Earliest memory

Fondest memory

Skilled at

Unskilled at

Attitude

Obsessions

Stresses

Addictions

Handicaps (physical)

Handicaps (emotional/psychological)

Allergies

Medical history

IQ

Temperament

Attitude

Perception and outlook on life

Desires

Regrets

Soft spots

Habits:

Verbal quirks

Physical quirks

Gestures

Work habits

Sleeping habits

Annoying habits

Irrational habits

Eating habits

Healthy habits

Unhealthy habits

Mannerisms

Drinking habits

Vices

Objects Kept In - And Why:

Their closet

Their bedroom

Their purse/bag

Their fridge

Their car

Their desk

Their pockets

Their junk drawer

Their glove compartment

Their backpack

Their locker

Their car trunk

Their wallet

Their suitcase

Favorites:

Favorite book

Favorite movie

Favorite hobby

Favorite animal

Favorite color

Favorite season

Favorite food

Favorite drink

Favorite time of day

Favorite song

Favorite music genre

Favorite memory

Favorite band

Favorite words

Favorite subject

Favorite number

Favorite TV-show

Favorite place

Least Favorite:

Least favorite book

Least favorite movie

Least favorite hobby

Least favorite animal

Least favorite color

Least favorite season

Least favorite food

Least favorite drink

Least favorite time of day

Least favorite song

Least favorite music genre

Least favorite memory

Least favorite band

Least favorite words

Least favorite subject

Least favorite number

Least favorite TV-show

Least favorite place

Other:

Talents

Political preference

Strengths

Flaws

Prized possessions

Special/favorite memories

Time and date of birth

What they love

What they hate

Social class

Sports/clubs

Blood type

Posture

Speech impediments

Spending habits

[wattpadwriting]

Daily Spotlight - Adventure

I Am A Flyer by  KurokageJS

He is kidnapped, trained to become something he doesn't want, and forced to fight. But no matter what they say or do, he will be free. Even if it means defying the most terrifying organization on Earth. Jett is a sixteen year old boy trying to survive in a world shaken by the aftermath of the third great world war.  Other than the fact that his little town hates his guts and forces him to live by himself on the outskirts, he's nothing special.  But that was until a flyer of TROIT dropped out of the sky. And that was when everything went horribly wrong.

This is one of those stories on wattpad you can’t believe you get to read it for free, because it’s so professionally written and gripping it’s hard to put down (which is hard to do since it’s 52 parts). This completed story is worth the read, and will keep you on the edge of your seats. - authorninja

[wattpadwriting]

Daily Spotlight - Action

Vendetta by aftertastefully

Hadley Leighton wants to play soccer, not blow her cover, and not jack-up her face while fighting. Yet, why is she coming home with black eyes and bruises? And after years of working for the government and doing it with her sisters' and best friend, a challenging mission threatens to go wrong. Events from the past are coming back up, and Hadley is not prepared for those to be dug up, let alone them involving her dead aunt. As Hadley starts to realize the truth, something starts to tear her and her best friend apart—in more ways than you can count—and it's the same people who know who she really is. Lies, games, and deceit is exactly what Hadley signed up for.

A very alluring and innovative storyline, it’s extremely exiting and I hope your as exited as I am to join this ongoing journey. - authorninja

[wattpadwriting]

Daily Spotlight - ChickLit

Underneath The City Lights by Triszjhkha

Sophia Dawson, Jefferson High’s beautiful but bullied nerd had reached her limit after a particularly bad day of bullying. After being abducted by her bullies and leaving her for dead at the bad side of town and sent to the hospital, she finds herself at the center of a beautiful chaos that was her escape to her reality. Caleb Morrison never gave a damn who and what was going on in Jefferson High, the guys were childish and the girls were whores, at least the ones who were brave enough to tell people that they were friends with him. Until the nerd caught his attention, he wants to find out what her secret to her sudden confidence is, that ends up with him finding a sit up and centre at Risqué, the beautiful chaos hidden under the city lights.

This ongoing story is truly worth the read, inspired by the hit movie Burlesque it carries a maturely beautiful way of writing. - authorninja

[soniadiazflores]

Transition Words For Your Essays

Transition Signals:

Transitions are words and phrases that connect ideas and show how they are related.

To repeat and ideas just stated:

In other words,

That is,

To repeat,

Again,

To illustrate an idea:

For example,

For instance,

In particular,

To illustrate,

In this manner,

Thus,

To announce a contrast, a change in direction:

Yet,

However,

Still,

Nevertheless,

On the other hand,

In contrast,

Instead of,

On the contrary,

Conversely,

Notwithstanding,

In spite of this,

Time:

At once,

In the interim,

At length,

Immediately,

At last,

Meanwhile,

In the meantime,

Presently,

At the same time,

Shortly,

In the end,

Temporarily,

Thereafter,

To restate an idea more precisely:

To be exact,

To be specific,

To be precise,

More specifically,

More precisely,

To mark a new idea as an addition to what has been said:

Similarly,

Also,

Too,

Besides,

Furthermore,

Further,

Moreover,

In addition,

To show cause and effect:

As a result,

For this reason,

Thereafter,

Hence,

Consequently,

Accordingly,

Conclusion:

In short,

To conclude,

In brief,

On the whole,

In summary,

To sum up,

[wordsandchocolate]

I made a slideshow about how to create a fictional character… I got most of the information from the ‘start writing fiction’ (free) course on the OpenUniversity website and found it incredibly useful so here’s a visual version for you :)

[wattpadwriting]

The Rose Water book club runs a book of the week format where all the members read and comment on the same book with the books changing every week. We accept most genres apart from erotica. There is an unlimited number of places so there's no reason not to join.....

[wattpadwriting]

I totally totally totally recommend that people check out the podcast Writing Excuses. It's free. They have their own website, even, where you can find all the old episodes. It's totally awesome and everyone is hilarious and they talk about an entire barrage of topics. Goooo listen to it!

[wattpaduk]

The Lady Killer

The Lady Killer is a Twilight fan fiction written by Wattpad Writer @Endear-. The book is easy to read and well read. However I noticed it slipped from past tense to present and back to past. The sentences could have flown better if the writer removed the words that, was, and were. After reading this story, I found myself quite confused as to whether Edward Cullen is a Vampire or not. I have not read the whole book so I do not know how it ends. But from what I have read, it seems to be a teen fiction romance fan fiction. I did not find the cover particularly eyecatching, in fact I thought it was rather plain. Endear is a decent writer, with editing and a new cover the book has the possibility to be a great fan fiction.

[wattpadwriting]

Review by J_A_Brown

[theyuniversity]

What’s up with punctuation marks?

Here are our posts on some of the more difficult punctuations:

Comma

Semicolon

Colon

Em dash, en dash, hyphen

Ellipsis

Brackets 

Parentheses

Here are our favorite posts from other sites:

Apostrophe (from @oatmeal)

Question mark (from GrammarBook)

Asterisk (from Grammar Girl)

We hope this helps. Good luck on your writing! 👍

Website | Twitter |  Instagram | Medium

Infographic source: The Visual Communication Guy

[scientificphilosopher]

Common Misused Words and Phrases

• Adverse means detrimental and does not mean averse or disinclined.

Correct: “There were adverse effects.” / “I’m not averse to doing that.”

• Begs the question means assumes what it should be proving and does not mean raises the question.

Correct: “When I asked the dealer why I should pay more for the German car, he said I would be getting ‘German quality,’ but that just begs the question.”

• Bemused means bewildered and does not mean amused.

Correct: “The unnecessarily complex plot left me bemused.” / “The silly comedy amused me.”

• Disinterested means unbiased and does not mean uninterested.

Correct: “The dispute should be resolved by a disinterested judge.” / “Why are you so uninterested in my story?”

• Enormity means extreme evil and does not mean enormousness. [Note: It is acceptable to use it to mean a deplorable enormousness.]

Correct: The enormity of the terrorist bombing brought bystanders to tears. / The enormousness of the homework assignment required several hours of work.

• Fortuitous means coincidental or unplanned and does not mean fortunate.

Correct: Running into my old friend was fortuitous. / It was fortunate that I had a good amount of savings after losing my job.

• Homogeneous is pronounced as homo-genius and “homogenous” is not a word but a corruption of homogenized.

Correct: The population was not homogeneous; it was a melting pot.

• Ironic means uncannily incongruent and does not mean inconvenient or unfortunate.

Correct: “It was ironic that I forgot my textbook on human memory.” / It was unfortunate that I forgot my textbook the night before the quiz.

• Luxuriant means abundant or florid and does not mean luxurious.

Correct: The poet has a luxuriant imagination. / The car’s fine leather seats were luxurious.

• New Age means spiritualistic, holistic and does not mean modern, futuristic.

Correct: He is a fan of New Age mindfulness techniques. / That TV screen is made from a high-end modern glass.

• Noisome means smelly and does not mean noisy.

Correct: I covered my nose when I walked past the noisome dump. / I covered my ears when I heard the noisy motorcycle speed by.

• Parameter means a variable and does not mean a boundary condition, a limit.

Correct: The forecast is based on parameters like inflation and interest rates. / We need to work within budgetary limits.

• Simplistic means naively or overly simple and does not mean simple or pleasingly simple.

Correct: His simplistic answer suggested he wasn’t familiar with the material. / She liked the chair’s simple look.

• Tortuous means twisting and does not mean torturous.

Correct: The road through the forest was tortuous. / Watching their terrible acting for two hours was a torturous experience.

See the full list of 58 Commonly Misused Words and Phrases brought to you by Harvard Linguist Steven Pinker

[wattpaduk]

Wattpad Writer Interviews (@MariaDiallo1234)

@MariaDiallo1234 How long have you been writing? I’ve been writing since I was a child, about 8 or 9, but I only started on Wattpad last year. Out of all the books you’ve written which one would you consider your best work?I think that, out of all the books I’ve written, The Little Girl from the Hills is the best, though The Baby Project is not bad as well. Which character has been your favourite to write about?My favorite characters to write about are the ones from another story, “Being Yourself”: a set of quintuplet girls whose names are Bradleigh, Breeanna, Britteney, Brooklyne and Brynleigh. How many books have you written?I’ve written 70 books, but only three are completed and some have no published chapters yet. When did you start writing and why?I started writing because I like it and makes me feel well. As I said before, I started here on Wattpad when I was 16, 17 to be, last year. Now I am 18. What is your opinion on fan fiction?I think fan fiction is good as soon as it is well developed, otherwise it isn’t worth being read. What are your long term writing ambitions?I hope to finish some other books by the end of school year, or at least by the end of 2016. Tell me a bit about the story your working on at the moment?I am working on multiple stories, as, as of now, I have new ideas to work with. One of them involves a girl who wants to win a national dance competition despite being part of a crew where no one has any experience whatsoever. What is your favorite genre to write?My favorite genre is Teen Fiction Would you class yourself as more of a reader or writer?I think I am more a writer than a reader, even though not many people appreciate my works. Interview by J_A_Brown

[shakespearesucks-deactivated202]

Writing a Character with Anxiety

Because I’ve seen it painfully botched a few times, here are just a few tips for writing a character who has anxiety

1. Do research: Honestly. It takes two seconds. Anxiety is caused by a variety of things and you need to figure out which of those is affecting your character and why/how

2. If your character doesn’t know they have anxiety, they will think they’re dying. I’m not kidding. If you don’t believe me, watch Iron Man 2. Tony Stark, arrogant extraordinaire, had a panic attack and thought he was having a heart attack, because that’s exactly what it feels like. There are more symptoms than just stuttering “cutely” (which, believe me, it’s never cute) or hyperventilating, which ties back to 1. Do your research

3. Anxiety doesn’t magically go away. Even if your character is able to deal with it better, don’t mention it at the beginning and have it magically cured. The effects are always there. Even I have a pretty great handle on things but when I think about confrontation I can turn cold, my hands start shaking, etc. even though I can now somewhat deal with crowds without too big of a problem

4. Don’t have another character magically cure their anxiety for them. No one can get rid of your character’s anxiety, especially if it’s not them. A love interest will not immediately banish your character’s anxiety just because they prove that they love them. It’s not about true emotions, and it’s not rational. Nothing about anxiety is rational. No matter how many times the love interest says I love you, it will take a very, very long time for the character to actually believe it.

5. Try to talk to someone who has anxiety before writing. This ties back to #1. If you know someone who has anxiety, talk to them. They’ll probably be willing to tell you about it. Honestly, it’s kind of a relief for some people to talk about it. Or give them some of the material you’ve already written and ask them to give you tips. They will for sure tell you whether your character’s reactions are accurate.

6. Anxiety is not cute. Don’t try to make it that way. There’s a difference between shy characters and characters with anxiety. Shy is just reserved, quiet, introverted, perhaps chooses not to engage in social situations. Anxiety is being to scared to engage in social situations. It’s sweating profusely, feeling like the walls are closing in, hands shaking and cold, gaping for air and feeling as though it’s impossible to fill your lungs… etc. Not cute.

That’s about all I have for now. The biggest part is doing your research. If you have any questions, you can message me! Also feel free to add anything you think is important that I missed.

Keep writing!

[inkyandscribbles]

create-a-character

If you’re having a difficult time coming up with some characters for your projects, have a bit of fun and let fate decide who your new character will be!

Instructions:

Without looking down at the answers below (NO CHEATING!) choose 4 random numbers between 1-100. Once you have your characteristics, see if you can construct a new character based around the items you drew! (Re-draw if you get contradicting, or same-item selections like’blue eyes’ and then ‘brown eyes’.) Have fun!

NOTE: This post was put together over a long period of time, so it was difficult keeping track of which items I had already used, but I tried my best, if you find a repeating item on this list, please let me know so I can fix it! THANK YOU!

Red hair

Lazy

Mutant

Diabetes 

Blue eyes

Passionate

Black hair

Alien (from another planet)

Blind

Korean

Gray eyes

Impulsive

Blonde hair

Angel

Deaf

Filipino

Yellow eyes

Independent

Dark brown hair

Bounty hunter

Cancer

African-American

Black eyes

Superficial

Light brown hair

God/Goddess

Down syndrome

Ukrainian 

Green eyes

Imaginative 

Dark blonde hair

Centaur 

Cerebral Palsy 

Greek

Amber eyes

Vengeful

White-blonde hair

Elf

Muslim

Gold eyes

Stubborn

Strawberry-blonde hair

Spy

Cowgirl/boy

Demon

Depression 

Teal eyes

Patient

Gray hair

Demon

Private investigator 

Brazilian

ADHD

Orange eyes

Compassionate 

Chestnut-brown hair

Shape-shifter

AIDS

Bulgarian

Brown eyes

Jealous

Auburn hair

Ghost

Alzheimer’s 

Irish

Red eyes

Adaptable

Off-black hair

Giant

Arthritis

Scottish

Purple eyes

Arrogant

Silver hair

Knight

Fibromyalgia 

Chinese 

Dreadlocks

No eyes!

Serial Killer

Croatian

Strong

Anxiety

Buzzcut

Crude

Pixie

Dementia

Egyptian

Nigerian 

Shy

Mohawk

Brave

Mermaid

Adopted

Hispanic

Gullible 

Depressed

Native American

Ninja

Alcoholic

[outlooksprings]

Every story I create, creates me. I write to create myself.

Octavia E. Butler (via outlooksprings)

[agentvicente]

5 Ways to Choose an Amazing Title for Your Manuscript

The title of your book is incredibly important. Even though a title will inevitably change through the publishing process (books are rarely called the same thing during the drafting and publication stages), having a great title can make your book stand out at every step. I’ve personally requested material based just on titles alone, so I know a great title is a powerful thing. Here are five ways to choose an amazing title for your manuscript: 1. Picture the cover image in your mind. You’ve spent a lot of time writing your manuscript, and there’s probably a specific book cover image that you picture whenever you think about seeing it published (even if you know there’s a good chance it will look completely different in reality). Come up with a title that matches the image in your mind. 2. Evoke a feeling. How do you want readers to feel after reading your book? Happy? Sad? Whatever it is, set that emotion and come up with a string of words to evoke that feeling. This sets the tone for your story before the reader even turns the first page. 3. Use your character’s name(s). You’ve already spent a long time thinking about the name of your protagonist, so why not turn that name into your book’s first impression? The Adventures of X. The Sorrows of X. The Whatever of X. This system often works great for series. 4. Highlight key phrases in your manuscript. If there’s an important moment or section of dialogue in your manuscript, highlight one-, two-, or three-word sections that stand out to you. Pulling key words from your manuscript is an easy way to find something that represents the entire book. 5. Choose one word to summarize the book. Pull out a piece of paper and brainstorm single words that describe your story as a whole. Pick the best one (that hasn’t been used multiple times before—check Google) and run with it. A thesaurus will also be helpful.

[psliterary-deactivated20190419]