Windswept Writing @windswept-writing - Tumblr Blog

You know what more fantasy settings need? High Magic. Big cool spells that take 1: lots of skill, 2: lots of time, 3: lots of people or 4: all of the above, which puts it in general out of the range of the PCs ability to use. But NPCs who aren’t adventurers and are here to be a plot device can absolutely hypothetically use it and can create almost anything you want to have happen, whether good or bad and deliberately or by accident.

As a convenient plot device card, it can justify anything as long as it’s big and cool enough in scope. From giant storms the size of Fantasy France sweeping across the land raining in red, green, yellow and a fourth colour that only shows up under darkvision that massively boosts your telepathic powers unless you go mad, to creating a giant protective shield over an elven city to hide and protect it, which unfortunately failed and now it’s very hard to get into but also full of demons, to artifically extending the lifespan of the emperor indefinitely without any aging or becoming an undead monster, you’ve got an answer for it.

Beyond being a plot device, it does two things for your worldbuilding which I quite like. The party doesn’t get to be godlike, there’s always something stronger out there, and a cotire of ten High Mages can absolutely ruin your month no matter how level twenty you are. Unless the PCs go to the effort of actually learning and using it themselves of course, which is a whole ‘nother plot device It also means that the ceiling of the world gets raised, so to speak. The level of stuff that’s justifiable and the level of fantasticalness and wonder that possible and probably exists out there is suddenly a lot higher.

You can also gate things behind high magic if you want, so they exist in your world but don’t get to casually exist. Like raising the dead, summoning demons or space travel. All those might be possible in other worlds, consider the implications of 1: what’s making it so hard it needs high magic or 2: what traditional disadvantages don’t exist in this world given it’s a high magic thing. For instance, that’s what’s needed to raise someone from the dead. But there’s no body required, no time limit as long as people exist who remember them and no negative effects like exhaustion or level loss associated with it.

I don’t know how to eloquently finish this, but it’s cool and deserves more usage.

pwbi

Lowkey been feeling a hankering for running a game in an an absurdly high-magic level campaign

idareyoutowrite

I dare you to write a story beginning with the paragraph “It was a beautiful summer evening. Classic southern. There was wicker warming on the porch, the breeze rustled the trees at least once an hour, and everything tasted like sugar water faintly flavored with lemon. The cicadas were shrieking. And so was I.”

Be creative! The narrator could be shrieking from humor or anger, happiness or sadness. Try to bring the setting and the character both to life, focusing on who this character is, how they see the world, and their reaction to whatever you decide his happening. Your prompt might be comedy, tragedy, or both.

Think outside the box!

If you’re brave enough to post, don’t forget to tag I dare you to write and to indicate whether or not concrit is welcome.

writingisfancylying

How do you write creepy stories

writeanapocalae

Over describe things

Under describe things

Fingers, teeth, and eyes

Short sentences in rapid succession build tension

Single sentence paragraphs build dread

Uncanny valley=things that aren’t normal almost getting it right

Third person limited view

Limited explanations

Rot, mold, damage, age, static, flickering, especially in places it shouldn’t be

Limited sights for your mc -blindness, darkness, fog, refuse

Real consequences

Being alone -the more people there are, the less scary it is

Intimate knowledge, but only on one side

I don’t know I just write scary things but I don’t know what I’m doing.

incandescent-creativity

Rule of Thumb: your reader’s imagination will scare them more than anything you could ever write. You don’t have to offer a perfectly concrete explanation for everything at the end. In fact, doing so may detract from your story.

writingisfancylying

How do you write creepy stories

writeanapocalae

Over describe things

Under describe things

Fingers, teeth, and eyes

Short sentences in rapid succession build tension

Single sentence paragraphs build dread

Uncanny valley=things that aren’t normal almost getting it right

Third person limited view

Limited explanations

Rot, mold, damage, age, static, flickering, especially in places it shouldn’t be

Limited sights for your mc -blindness, darkness, fog, refuse

Real consequences

Being alone -the more people there are, the less scary it is

Intimate knowledge, but only on one side

I don’t know I just write scary things but I don’t know what I’m doing.

incandescent-creativity

Rule of Thumb: your reader’s imagination will scare them more than anything you could ever write. You don’t have to offer a perfectly concrete explanation for everything at the end. In fact, doing so may detract from your story.

writingisfancylying

How do you write creepy stories

writeanapocalae

Over describe things

Under describe things

Fingers, teeth, and eyes

Short sentences in rapid succession build tension

Single sentence paragraphs build dread

Uncanny valley=things that aren’t normal almost getting it right

Third person limited view

Limited explanations

Rot, mold, damage, age, static, flickering, especially in places it shouldn’t be

Limited sights for your mc -blindness, darkness, fog, refuse

Real consequences

Being alone -the more people there are, the less scary it is

Intimate knowledge, but only on one side

I don’t know I just write scary things but I don’t know what I’m doing.

incandescent-creativity

Rule of Thumb: your reader’s imagination will scare them more than anything you could ever write. You don’t have to offer a perfectly concrete explanation for everything at the end. In fact, doing so may detract from your story.

writingisfancylying

How do you write creepy stories

writeanapocalae

Over describe things

Under describe things

Fingers, teeth, and eyes

Short sentences in rapid succession build tension

Single sentence paragraphs build dread

Uncanny valley=things that aren’t normal almost getting it right

Third person limited view

Limited explanations

Rot, mold, damage, age, static, flickering, especially in places it shouldn’t be

Limited sights for your mc -blindness, darkness, fog, refuse

Real consequences

Being alone -the more people there are, the less scary it is

Intimate knowledge, but only on one side

I don’t know I just write scary things but I don’t know what I’m doing.

incandescent-creativity

Rule of Thumb: your reader’s imagination will scare them more than anything you could ever write. You don’t have to offer a perfectly concrete explanation for everything at the end. In fact, doing so may detract from your story.

writingisfancylying

How do you write creepy stories

writeanapocalae

Over describe things

Under describe things

Fingers, teeth, and eyes

Short sentences in rapid succession build tension

Single sentence paragraphs build dread

Uncanny valley=things that aren’t normal almost getting it right

Third person limited view

Limited explanations

Rot, mold, damage, age, static, flickering, especially in places it shouldn’t be

Limited sights for your mc -blindness, darkness, fog, refuse

Real consequences

Being alone -the more people there are, the less scary it is

Intimate knowledge, but only on one side

I don’t know I just write scary things but I don’t know what I’m doing.

incandescent-creativity

Rule of Thumb: your reader’s imagination will scare them more than anything you could ever write. You don’t have to offer a perfectly concrete explanation for everything at the end. In fact, doing so may detract from your story.

writingisfancylying

How do you write creepy stories

writeanapocalae

Over describe things

Under describe things

Fingers, teeth, and eyes

Short sentences in rapid succession build tension

Single sentence paragraphs build dread

Uncanny valley=things that aren’t normal almost getting it right

Third person limited view

Limited explanations

Rot, mold, damage, age, static, flickering, especially in places it shouldn’t be

Limited sights for your mc -blindness, darkness, fog, refuse

Real consequences

Being alone -the more people there are, the less scary it is

Intimate knowledge, but only on one side

I don’t know I just write scary things but I don’t know what I’m doing.

incandescent-creativity

Rule of Thumb: your reader’s imagination will scare them more than anything you could ever write. You don’t have to offer a perfectly concrete explanation for everything at the end. In fact, doing so may detract from your story.

savefrog

Ok so imagine your fantasy setting with your typical giant spiders.

Ok, now imagine that these spiders have largely been domesticated for their incredibly valuable silk. They help make clothes, rope, textiles, even ARMOR. They’re almost treated like carnivorous cows in the regions that can support them. They might even name these girls the classic names like “Bessie”. They’re great mothers and produce many young; useful for trade and… even food if you like The Crunch.

People in this world are hardly afraid of big spiders the same as we’re hardly afraid of big dogs. Wary of wild ones, but not scream and cry terrified. Smaller spiders…it depends. Would you be scared if you suddenly saw a tiny cow crawling on your wall? The only type of spider people collectively fear are the hunting types: the ones that don’t spin webs, and instead attack their prey with brute force and a much stronger venom.

These large domestic spiders are incredibly lazy. They’ll sit in their webs and wait for their handlers to put their food on the web. Unless you get tangled, they don’t see you as food. This makes them great guards as well. They build traps for you. The venom isn’t deadly to humans…but can still be used as a weapon or in medicine. They’re just so damn useful that millennia ago, people put aside their instinctual fear just to get those sweet benefits.

Thank you for attending my TedTalk.

verystupidrpgideas

@worldbuildingrpgideas

verydaftrpgideas

@actuallybestrpgideas

hopefullygoodrpgideas

I’m from New Zealand where fried spiders are a common dish. So I find every part of this plausible and would also like to add that giant fantasy spiders will also lead to giant ceremonial frying pans.

actuallybestrpgideas

Excuse me WHAT? Bitch I live here too and I’ve never heard of them

probablyunneccesaryrpgideas

spiders, but they look and act like dogs

agwitow

Winter Doesn't Equal Dead and Dormant

I’ve seen a few things talking about how fall and winter are the time when life-driven beings/characters would struggle because everything dies and/or goes dormant. But that’s not true!

Plants that remain active during winter:

Spruce trees (and other evergreens)

Wintergreen boxwood

Sweet box

Mock rush

Holly

Plants that bloom during the winter:

Winterberries

Snowdrops

Witchhazel

Camellia

Christmas rose

Animals that remain active during the winter:

Arctic fox

Shrews and deer mice

Caribou

Lynx

Polar bear

Snow leopard

Penguins

North American river otter

Chickadee

Animals that give birth during the winter:

Bears

Squirrels

Badgers

Instead of portraying fall and winter as the time when our nature-based characters became lethargic, depressed, and/or distant, why don’t we show them being playful and incapable of sitting still? Or constantly baking, eating, and socializing. They could be extra flirty/frisky. They could be loud and jovial. Maybe they wear bright splashes of colour (like red, green, bright orange) to ‘pop’ against the snow. Maybe they get bit by the travel bug. There are lots of different ways for nature-based characters to behave!

Just something to keep in mind ^.^

authorincrisis

writing dialogue

The dialogue in your story is crucial to several factors that ultimately define the tale, including but not limited to character development, plot advancement, and description. It is one of the three main components of writing and should most definitely be kept in mind when proceeding with your tasks. Below, I’ve written some things to keep in mind when you are allowing your characters to converse and strategies that can help with accomplishing those goals.

1) Conversations should be natural and consistent: Nothing should sound like something your character wouldn’t say. For example, if your protagonist is meant to be serious and dark, they shouldn’t be saying ‘OMG, L8S ALIG8ERS, SEE Y'ALL RIGHT AFTER I FINISH MY HOURLY STARBUCKS RUN AFTER PILATES AT THREE. LUV YA AAAHHHHH!’ every three seconds. Yes, characters are complex and have unique moments depending on the circumstance, but even with that, they must remain consistent. Another note regarding this is that if your character does not sound natural or human, something must be altered.

2) Characters should have their own voices: If they all begin to sound monotone and the same, your story likely is as well. Everyone has a different thinking/speaking process, and that should accompany them throughout the tale. (I mean, life isn’t one character, is it? Imagine how horrid it would be if we were all just one)

3) Avoid small talk: You should definitely keep in some moments that show your characters are still human but if it isn’t necessary towards understanding/advancing the plot or characters, get rid of it. No one wants to hear about Carter’s new bedsheets, regardless of what snazzy patterns they have.

4) DIalogue is important, but it isn’t the whole story: Let actions show what happens rather than your character talking it all out. Better yet, mix them (narration + dialogue) for the best effect.

5) Don’t always use names: It isn’t natural. Only do this when capturing another character’s attention or to make a point.

6) Using said is okay: We don’t always scream, fume, pout, or sob. Sometimes, we just say, and that is completely okay! (More natural too) If not, however, here’s a post that can help.

7) Stutter Realistically: “I-I d-d-don’t e-ev-ever st-stutter l-like th-this-is. Instead, this is how I - how I stutter.”

8) Remember your dialogue tags: If you cannot tell who is speaking, it’s time to plug one of them in. It doesn’t hurt to add a 'Sarah said’ from time to time so go ahead and do it! Maybe you know what you’re talking about inside of your mind, but your audience doesn’t.

9) Don’t talk too much: Sometimes, actions are stronger than words. If instinct calls for it, do it.

10) Proper punctuation: This is very important for readers, publishers, yourself, everybody. Here’s a quick guide that can help.

If you are struggling with any of these, the best way for a fix is to just read your writing out loud. From there, pick out lines and phrases, highlight them, and go off. Make changes as you recall previous interactions in your head and keep working on fitting it into the description and narration. Watch out for the things above and repeat this for as long as you need - in my experience, it usually makes for a pretty good session. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask and as always, I hope that this could help. Cheers!