writing for losers

writing tips i wish i knew when i was starting out

[crownedonstage]

Sticky Palms and Tied Laces

(A snippet of our main characters meeting as kids)

The woods still held the storm. Not the roar of it, but the hush that followed like the trees were listening for its return. Water clung to every leaf and branch, dripping rhythmically onto the earth below. The sky had started to clear, but the air was thick, rich with the smell of pine, wet moss, and distant fire smoke.

I crouched just past the trail’s edge, behind a broad, damp stump slick with moss. My fingers played with the fraying hem of my tunic as I watched the lumberyard clearing below.

I wasn’t spying. Not exactly. I told myself that, anyway. I’d only meant to take the long way back to Mama, who was still somewhere behind me in the meadow cutting tansy. But the noise had drawn me closer rough laughter, boots thudding on bark, boys yelling over each other like they were all trying to be heard at once.

They were older than me. Teenagers. Broad-shouldered, sweat-damp, shirts rolled at the sleeves and stained dark at the back. Most of them had sawdust in their hair. One had a bandana tied like a headband. Another had no shoes on at all.

I was watching the tall one.

Not the biggest, but close. He was wiry, legs long, arms streaked with golden sap. His dark hair stuck to his forehead in thick clumps, and his expression shifted between a lazy half-scowl and a grin when he tossed logs toward the pile and caught one of the others teasing him. He moved like the work didn’t bother him. Like he’d been born swinging an axe.

Then he turned.

Saw me.

Straight on. Our eyes locked across the clearing.

I ducked too fast, heart leaping into my throat. My elbow hit the edge of the stump and bark crumbled under my fingers. A second passed. Maybe two.

Then came the voice:

“Hey!” he called. “You hiding from someone, or just practicing how not to hide at all?”

I blinked and stood slowly, brushing damp earth from my hands. “Neither.”

He was already walking toward me, arms swinging loosely at his sides. He was grinning. Not mockingly. Just curious.

“You sure? You looked pretty committed to that log.”

“I was just watching,” I said.

“Mm-hmm.” He stopped a few feet away, looking me over like he was still trying to figure me out. “Watching what?”

I hesitated, then said, plainly, “You.”

His eyebrows lifted. Then he laughed short, surprised. “Well, alright then. Can’t say I’ve been watched better. I’m Callen.”

“Rowan.”

“Like the tree?”

I nodded.

“That tracks. You kinda look like one. All long and serious. Bet you talk to plants, don’t you?”

“Sometimes,” I said without blinking.

He barked another laugh. “I knew it.”

He wiped his hands on his pants, though the sap only smeared. “You from the square?”

“Just outside it. My mama’s the herb woman.”

“Ahh,” he said, snapping his fingers. “She gave my dad some tea once. Smelled like mud and burned sticks. Said it was for his knees.”

“Probably willow bark.”

“Tasted like swamp.”

“It works.”

He grinned wider. “You’re alright.”

He pulled something from his pocket a soft curl of birch bark. “Here. You can write on it if you’ve got a sharp rock. Or draw something weird. You strike me as the type.”

I took it. “Why are you giving me bark?”

“Because it’s better than giving you sap-covered handshakes. And because I might want it back one day. You know. If you turn out interesting.”

“You just met me.”

“And you were watching me from a bush. So I think we’re even.”

I bit back a smile.

“Got any siblings?” he asked.

“No. Just me.”

“Same.” He leaned against the stump, arms crossed. “Makes sense. You’ve got ‘quiet only child’ vibes.”

“Is that a bad thing?”

“Nah,” he said. “Just means we gotta make our own trouble.”

From behind us, Mama’s voice rang out across the field calling me home.

“You’re gonna get hollered at,” he said.

I turned, about to leave, then noticed my bootlace dragging. I crouched to fix it, but my fingers fumbled with the damp string.

“Hold on,” Callen said, already crouching beside me. “Let me.”

“I can do it,” I said, but my voice didn’t have much conviction.

He ignored me and brushed my hand aside gently, not unkind. His fingers worked quick, tugging the lace through the mud-caked eyelets.

“You tied this like it owed you money.”

“It stayed on, didn’t it?”

“Barely,” he muttered, looping the knot and pulling it tight. “There. Won’t go tripping over your own feet now. I got standards to uphold.”

I stared at the neat bow for a second longer than I meant to.

“Thanks,” I said softly.

He stood and brushed the dirt from his knees. “Anytime, Forest Kid.”

“You coming back tomorrow?”

“Maybe.”

“Well,” he said, stepping back toward the clearing, “If you do, I’ll teach you how to whistle with a leaf. It’s a very advanced skill. I only teach it to weird forest kids who hide behind logs.”

My smile stayed, even as I turned and walked away.

I didn’t look back.

But I felt it when he did.

And I tucked the birch bark into my pocket like something precious.

I hadn’t meant to make a friend.

But maybe...just maybe we both had.

[writingforlosers]

WOW this is so good??? I feel like this should be a book I pick up at Barnes and Noble omg

[writingforlosers]

shellbound-the first quarter quell

why YOU should read Shellbound :)

Career tribute perspective

First quarter quell

Cool arena

Complex, morally gray characters

Traumatic backstories

Girlboss x malewife

Canon-compliant (as much as I can be)

District 13!!

Finnick's grandpa is a Career tribute

LOTS of symbolism

Doomed romance

updates every week!

Took a ton of inspo from sotr haha

A snippet of chapter one! (TW: Hunger Games-typical violence)

I slam my hands over my eyes. Images of her body- cold, red, devoid, empty- circle through my mind. I still see her grinning and tossing water at me. I still see the Academy mentors standing over a lukewarm body, shaking their heads and throwing disapproving glances at me. I still see two young faces, pink and full, staring up through glassy eyes. Death likes to follow me. Closing my eyes doesn’t help, so I look at the Peacekeepers.They have their eyes on me, not Brooke’s shell. They jog over in fits of laughter and disbelief, shaking their heads. One holds hand cuffs. I hear them say, “What are the odds?” Another, “Who doesn’t want to see if she does the same thing she did to her family?” They pick me up by my arms and clip the cuffs. I sag like a ragdoll, lost in something between mourning and indifference.  On the bright side, Brooke did escape.

Here is the fic!

archiveofourown.org

[writingforlosers]

Easy and Fun Character Exercises- Part 2!

Okay, wow, thanks for all the likes and reblogs on my first post guys!! Im so glad i was able to share some quick tips. Heres some more!

Utilize songs! This can be making playlists for already created characters, although my favorite thing to do is put a playlist on shuffle and create a character(s) based off of it. I usually use the lyrics, and if you have existing characters, this can be used for backstories! I created the two main characters of my novel purely based off of a Taylor Swift song haha. When our own ideas fall short, use other peoples stories!

Remember the little things. This sounds really vague, and it is because I have no better way of phrasing this, but it basically means remembering the things in your life that can make your own story come to life. Maybe its a trait of a friend you think would mesh well with a characters personality, or the way the man on the subway spoke, or how that baby squinted her eyes when she smiled. Little things for describing people is what I guess you could call this tip. It's so much more personalized when you talk about how your main character always puts her hand on her cheek instead of how her laugh is light or something generic like that.

Try to write little one shots of your characters in different ages. I really like writing my main characters as toddlers and then 70+. Maybe their personality drastically changes, or you learn that they gained a hobby because of someone early on in their life, etc. And even if they act similar, you could use those one shots as bases for epilogues and flashbacks!

[writingforlosers]

How To Finish A Draft (for different types of writers!)

First, I gotta get it out of the way that the only way to really finish a draft is to just WRITE IT! Don't think about how it sounds, what you're doing wrong, or editing it along the way. Spit random ideas out of your brain. and if you have new ones, squeeze them in there and figure it out when you're done.

I'm a really big go-with-the-flow person. I really hate constructing all the scenes and plot before I even start writing. If you're like me, I'd say to get an idea going. If you come up with an idea, let it sit for a day or two. If you still feel motivation to write it, get writing! The hardest part is just typing out that first sentence. Make it eye catching and random, so you feel that excitement to write it! If you dont, surprise yourself and the imaginary readers. Have someone get kidnapped, make a friend gain special abilities, etc.

For those who like to schedule and follow plans, try copying a simple plot outline from a movie/book. This can be a Disney movie, for example. If you wanted to copy The Little Mermaid, have a character that lives in a society they long to leave. They make a deal to get out but are on a deadly timer. That can apply to so many stories! I'd also suggest downloading apps that can help with planning. I have an app on my phone called Story Planner. Its easy to write things down on the go when I want to add a random thought.

Hope you guys enjoyed, I will be trying to be more active on this blog!

[writingforlosers]

Easy and Fun Character Exercises!

Alright, so i've been having a lot of fun with character exercises lately and thought i'd share some of my tips!

Write a scene from each main characters perspective, even if the story only has one perspective. This really helps to get into your characters thought process and see what their motivations are, what people they gravitate towards, and if they're an optimist/pessimist/realist, etc.

Write a dream sequence or scene where the main character's worst fear happens. I've done this with almost all wips i write because it really fleshes out your character to have fears. I usually do three fears: one future fear, (not being remembered, losing a loved one, never travelling the world) one common fear, (spiders, heights, public speaking) and then one "person" fear, like if a person did this to them they would be scared, (yelling, vulnerability, grabbing their hand)

Make your characters have connections. This can be two main characters secretly being ex-lovers, or one of the characters having a younger sister who comes in handy halfway through the story. Things like this that are infrequently brought up and then suddenly come to full effect are reall fun to read and realize!

let me know if you guys would like to hear more, and ask me any questions you'd like advice or tips about! I am in no way an expert, but I do really enjoy writing and love helping others. :)

[writingforlosers]

new writeblr intro!

heyo, i'm blue (not my real name but i'm sure thats self- explanatory), and i just started this blog to share my writing journey and hopefully help others with theirs.

this blog will probably be a bunch of badly organized tips, writing motivation, quotes from some of my favorite books, and maybe some of my own writing if I learn to take constructive criticism lol

hope you guys stay tuned for some helpful tips and tricks!