wyvern.

20 // Film Student // somewhat a writer // my wips // i make music too

[sarah-maclean-completist]

🧵

[theliteraryarchitect]

A bit of incredibly straightforward writing advice I wish someone had given me years ago:

Suspense = unanswered questions in the reader’s mind

If you want to create suspense in your story, raise a question and delay the answer. You can do this on the story-level by raising what’s called a “story question” (Will Jack find the murderer?), but you can also do it on the scene or sentence level. And the questions don’t have to be big, either. Witness the tantalizing glory of simply withholding some basic information in the first line of a scene:

After twenty years of truffle-hunting, I thought I knew everything. But what I found in the forest that day deeply disturbed me. I’d never seen anything like it. 

At this point, the reader’s like, HOLY SHIT WHAT IS IT?? You’ve dangled a question, they want the answer, and they’ll probably feel anxious until they get it. That’s suspense. Want to keep it going? Delay gratification.

Around noon I noticed something shiny sticking up from the mossy leaves around an old oak tree a few miles from the lake. Instinctively, I patted my holster: My pocket knife hadn’t fallen out, and my satchel of coins was also accounted for. I bent down, squinting. The jagged shard of metal glinted blue, then red. It seemed to be vibrating, too, as if it had an electrical charge.

WHAT IS IT HOLY FUCKING CRAP WHAT IS IT????

There’s a bit of an art to this, of course. You’ll eventually want to answer this question, then raise another. Generally, smaller questions (what’s that shiny thing in the leaves?) deserve quicker answers than bigger ones (will Keith and Jeremy fall in love?). You’ll need to experiment with proportion; feel out how many unanswered questions is too many (readers can only hold so many questions in their minds at a time), how to toggle between plot lines, when something is deserving of suspense and when it is not, etc. But the overall principle is really basic and adaptable.

Hope this helps.

[gettingitwrite]

Me: Browsing baby name websites to name my characters

Targeted advertising: Trying to get PREGNANT?

Me:

[bibwu-movedlol-deactivated20220]

Writing Websites

1. a website with a list of superpowers and what they are

2. a website that generates random au ideas

3. a website that generates names, basic info and futures in a bunch of languages

4. a website that checks your grammar

5. website that lists types of execution in the states

6. a website with info on death certificates

7. a website with info on the four manners of death

8. a website with info on the black plague

9. website with information on depression

10. a website with info on the four types of suicide

11. website that lists famous quotes

12. website with different kinds of quotes

13. a website with info on food in every country

14. a website with a list of different colors

15. website with a list of medieval jobs

16. website with a list of fabrics

17. website with a list of flowers and pictures

18. website with a list of flowers and no pictures

19. website with a list of poisonous plants

20. website with a list of poisonous and non-poisonous plants

21. website with a list of things not to feed your animals

22. website with a list of poisons that can be used to kill people

23. website with info on the international date line

24. website with a list of food allergies

25. website with a list of climates

26. website with info on allergic reactions

27. website with info on fahrenheit and celsius 

28. website with info on color blindness

29. website with a list of medical equipment

30. website with a list of bugs

31. website with an alphabetic list of bugs and their scientific name

32. website with a list of eye colors

33. website (wikipedia sorry) with list of drinks

34. website with a list of religions

35. website with a list of different types of doctors and what they do

36. website (wikipedia again sorry) with a list of hair colors

37. website that generates fantasy names

38. website with a list of body language

39. website with a list of disabilities

40. website with an alphabetic list of disabilities

[pixiecodesnowbaz]

REBLOG TO SAVE A WRITER

[insanity-rules-me]

SAVE ME

[frayedcobweb]

Reblogging to save myself over and over again lol. This is fantastic <3

[callitgoodwriting-deactivated20]

So I want to write a fantasy novel but I find I have trouble with world building and constructing magic systems. Also I want my world to be in a more urban setting sort of similar to our world but I've heard it said that fantasy is weird outside of a medieval setting. Any advice ?

First off, I don’t think it’s weird to include magic outside of a medieval setting. I’m not an expert by any means, but I actually think that particular subgenre of urban fantasy is a hot ticket item right now for publishers. There’s a market for it.

Secondly, I have three recommendations for you to research constructing magic systems and fantasy worldbuilding.

One rec is my posts on worldbuilding and questions to explore.

Part 1

Part 2

Flora and Fauna In-Depth

Religion In-Depth

7 Tips

Two is the Wikipedia pages concerning fantasy and urban settings. Wikipedia has a great resource for inspiration, examples, and further research ideas.

Urban fantasy

Magic realism

Contemporary fantasy

List of urban fantasy novels

Magic system

Magic in fiction

Supernatural fiction

Three is Jenna Moreci’s videos. She’s actually written and published fantasy novels! Here are a few that could get you started.

Writing Super Powers and Magical Abilities

Worldbuilding Basics

Common Worldbuilding Mistakes

[wordsnstuff]

Useful Writing Resources

This is an extensive list of resources for every problem you could come across while writing/planning/editing your novel. Use it well;)

{ *** } Indicate a Highly Reccommended Resource

Planning/outlining Your Work

How To Outline ***

Zigzag Method : Creating Plots

How to Plot a Romance Novel 

Seven Great Sources of Conflict for Romances 

Let’s talk about brainstorming

Writing Something With Meaning ***

Past Or Present Tense? : How To Decide

Writing Your Work

How To Write A Fabulous Chapter #1 ***

How to Build a Romance Thread in Your Story 

The Big Book Of Writing Sex ***

6 Ways to Get Your Readers Shipping Like Crazy 

Romance Writing Tips ***

20 Tips for Writing Lovable Romance Novel Heroes

7 Ways To Speed Up Your Writing *** 

80+ Barriers to Love: A List of Ideas to Keep Romantic Tension High 

9 Romance Writing Mistakes to Avoid 

Removing the Creeps From Romance

19 Ways to Write Better Dialogue ***

50 Things Your Characters Can Do WHILE They Talk ***

How To Write Action And Fight Scenes

10 Steps To Write Arguments

9 Ways To Write Body Language

Writing Good Kissing Scenes

Writing Murders

Create And Control Tone ***

Tips for Writing Ghost Stories

Incorporating Flashbacks

12 Tips To Avoid Overwriting ***

Characters

Behind the Name

Top Baby Names

Looking for a name that means a certain thing? ***

7 Rules of Picking Names

Most Common Surnames ***

Minor Character Development

Writing Antagonists, Antiheroes and Villains

Characters With Enhanced Senses

5 Tips to Help You Introduce Characters

How Do You Describe a Character?

How To Write Child Characters

36 Core Values For Building Character

Questions To Answer When Creating Characters ***

4 Ways to Make Readers Instantly Loathe Your Character Descriptions

5 Ways to Keep Characters Consistent

Character Archetypes

25 Ways To Fuck With Your Characters

Building Platonic Relationships Between Female Characters

9 Simple and Powerful Ways to Write Body Language 

33 Ways To Write Stronger Characters

Conveying Character Emotion 

How to Make Readers Love an Unlikable Character…  

How to Create Powerful Character Combos

How To Describe A Character’s Voice ***

Describing Clothing And Appearance ***

Career Masterpost ***

Creating Your Character’s Personality ***

Character Flaws ***

Editing

DON’T EDIT>>> REWRITE THE WHOLE THING FIRST

Ultimate Guide To Editing Each Aspect Of Your Work ***

Why You Would Read Your Novel Out Loud ***

Grammar and Punctuation ***

How To Write A Captivating First Sentence

10 Things Your Opening Chapter Should Do: A Check-List for Self-Editing ***

Saving Your Story: Finding Where It Went Wrong

How To Condense Without Losing Anything

The Stages Of Editing

Dialogue/Description Balance

3 Proofreading Tips

The Short Story Form

Chapter & Novel Lengths

Anatomy Of A Novel : Chapters and Parts ***

How To Write Chapter After Chapter Until You Have A Book ***

Where Chapter #2 Should Start

Step By Step Guide To Editing Your Draft

Writing Tool: CTRL-F (How And Why You Should Use It) ***

How To Kill A Character

25 Steps To Edit The Unmerciful Suck Out Of Your Story

5 Ways To Make Your Novel Helplessly Addictive ***

Setting

{Setting} How To Describe Setting In Your Stories ***

20 Questions To Enhance Setting

How To Bring Your Setting To Life

Miscellaneous Resources You Can Use In Between

How to Write from a Guy’s POV 

The Emotional Wounds Thesaurus

Text To Speech Reader

Compare Character Heights 

A Visual Dictionary of Tops

Writers Helping Writers

7 Tricks To Imrove Your Writing Overnight

Work Out/ Word Count : Exercise Between Writing ***

Most Important Writing Tips ***

Let’s talk about diversity in novels

Letting Go Of Your Story

Keeping A Healthy Writing Schedule And Avoiding Procrastination ***

How To Create A Good Book Cover

Write or Die

Tip of my Tongue

Character Traits Form

Online Thesaurus

Writing Sketchy/Medical/Law

Coma: Types, Causes, etc

Tips for writing blood loss

Gunshot Wound Care

Examples of Hospital Forms

Common Legal Questions

The Writer’s Forensics Blog

Brain Injury Legal Guide

Types of Surgical Operations

Types of Mental Health Problems

A Day in the Life of a Mental Hospital Patient

Global Black Market Information ***

Crime Scene Science

Examining Mob Mentality

How Street Gangs Work

Writers’ Block Help/ Productivity

Story Plot Generator

@aveeragemusings ‘ Cure To Writers’ Block ***

50 Romance Plot Ideas

Reading Like A Writer ***

Defeat Writers’ Block

Writing In A Bad Mood ***

Writers Block

When You’ve Lost Motivation To Write A Novel ***

What To Do When The Words Won’t Flow ***

9 Ways To Be A More Productive Writer

“I Cannot Write A Good Sentence Today” (How To Get Over It) ***

Real Writing Advice ***

Info You Need To Know & Words You Didn’t Think Of

A Writer’s Thesaurus ***

Words To Describe… ***

Words & Phrases To Use In Your Sex Scenes ***

Colors (An Extensive List Of Colors)

List Of Kinks & Fetishes ***

List Of Elemental Abilities

inkarnate.com : World Creator And Map Maker For Your Imaginary Setting

Body Language Phrases

List Of Legendary Creatures

How To Write Magic

Hairstyle References

Hemingway : Writing Checker

Body Types: Words To Describe Bodies and How They Move Around

Poisonous Herbs and Plants ***

The Psychology of Color

The Meaning behind Rose color

Types of Swords

Color Symbolism

How a handgun works

How to Write a Eulogy

Types of Crying

Avoiding LGBTQ Stereotypes ***

Superstitions and More

The 12 Common Archetypes

Language of Flowers

12 Realistic Woman Body Shapes

Using Feedback And Reviews

Turning Negative Reviews Into Positive Ones ***

Proofreading Marks : Easy Symbols To Make Reviewing/Feedback Easier ***

Authonomy Teen Ink Figment Fiction Press ReviewFuse

These Are Trusted Critique Sites ;)

[wordsnstuff]

Resources For Writing Sketchy Topics

Medicine

A Study In Physical Injury

Comas

Medical Facts And Tips For Your Writing Needs

Broken Bones

Burns

Unconsciousness & Head Trauma

Blood Loss

Stab Wounds

Pain & Shock

All About Mechanical Injuries (Injuries Caused By Violence)

Writing Specific Characters

Portraying a kleptomaniac.

Playing a character with cancer.

How to portray a power driven character.

Playing the manipulative character.

Portraying a character with borderline personality disorder.

Playing a character with Orthorexia Nervosa.

Writing a character who lost someone important.

Playing the bullies.

Portraying the drug dealer.

Playing a rebellious character.

How to portray a sociopath.

How to write characters with PTSD.

Playing characters with memory loss.

Playing a pyromaniac.

How to write a mute character.

How to write a character with an OCD.

How to play a stoner.

Playing a character with an eating disorder.

Portraying a character who is anti-social.

Portraying a character who is depressed.

How to portray someone with dyslexia.

How to portray a character with bipolar disorder.

Portraying a character with severe depression.

How to play a serial killer.

Writing insane characters.

Playing a character under the influence of marijuana.

Tips on writing a drug addict.

How to write a character with HPD.

Writing a character with Nymphomania.

Writing a character with schizophrenia.

Writing a character with Dissociative Identity Disorder.

Writing a character with depression.

Writing a character who suffers from night terrors.

Writing a character with paranoid personality disorder.

How to play a victim of rape.

How to play a mentally ill/insane character.

Writing a character who self-harms.

Writing a character who is high on amphetamines.

How to play the stalker.

How to portray a character high on cocaine.

Playing a character with ADHD.

How to play a sexual assault victim.

Writing a compulsive gambler.

Playing a character who is faking a disorder.

Playing a prisoner.

Portraying an emotionally detached character.

How to play a character with social anxiety.

Portraying a character who is high.

Portraying characters who have secrets.

Portraying a recovering alcoholic.

Portraying a sex addict.

How to play someone creepy.

Portraying sexually/emotionally abused characters.

Playing a character under the influence of drugs.

Playing a character who struggles with Bulimia.

Illegal Activity

Examining Mob Mentality

How Street Gangs Work

Domestic Abuse

Torture

Assault

Murder

Terrorism

Internet Fraud

Cyberwarfare

Computer Viruses

Corporate Crime

Political Corruption

Drug Trafficking

Human Trafficking

Sex Trafficking

Illegal Immigration

Contemporary Slavery 

Black Market Prices & Profits

AK-47 prices on the black market

Bribes

Computer Hackers and Online Fraud

Contract Killing

Exotic Animals

Fake Diplomas

Fake ID Cards, Passports and Other Identity Documents

Human Smuggling Fees

Human Traffickers Prices

Kidney and Organ Trafficking Prices

Prostitution Prices

Cocaine Prices

Ecstasy Pills Prices

Heroin Prices

Marijuana Prices

Meth Prices

Earnings From Illegal Jobs

Countries In Order Of Largest To Smallest Risk

Forensics

arson

Asphyxia

Blood Analysis

Book Review

Cause & Manner of Death

Chemistry/Physics

Computers/Cell Phones/Electronics

Cool & Odd-Mostly Odd

Corpse Identification

Corpse Location

Crime and Science Radio

crime lab

Crime Scene

Cults and Religions

DNA

Document Examination

Fingerprints/Patterned Evidence

Firearms Analysis

Forensic Anthropology

Forensic Art

Forensic Dentistry

Forensic History

Forensic Psychiatry

General Forensics

Guest Blogger

High Tech Forensics

Interesting Cases

Interesting Places

Interviews

Medical History

Medical Issues

Misc

Multiple Murderers

On This Day

Poisons & Drugs

Police Procedure

Q&A

serial killers

Space Program

Stupid Criminals

Theft

Time of Death

Toxicology

Trauma

[callitgoodwriting-deactivated20]

Can I get some fresh interrogation prompts?

Absolutely! Let’s do this–

1. “You think you’re hallucinating me? After everything I’ve put you through?”

2. “You know why they’ve sent me in this time.”

3. “I’ll tell you everything you want to hear.”  “The whole truth?”  “Yes, starting with how ugly that shirt is.”

4. “I have no answers to your questions. But I know where we can find some.”

5. “You really think you of all people could torture me?”  “Well, we’re going to give it a shot, aren’t we?”

6. “I don’t want to start breaking fingers.”   “You’re already breaking hearts with those dashing locks of yours.”

7. “You know why you’re here.”   “You keep saying that. I still don’t know.”

8.  “Can I at least get my phone call?”  “You’re not under arrest.”  “Sure, but I kind of want pizza.”

9. “Look. I’ll give you a list of names. Hell, I’ll give you THE name. But I need a favor first.”

10. “You must have known you’d be apprehended eventually.”  “Bold of you to believe you’ve captured me.”

11. “You’re going to tell me… everything.”   “You’ll never get a single detail out of me. I swear it on YOUR life.”

[bookofsloth]

your writing has improved and will continue to improve for your entire lifetime. there is no skill ceiling; only infinite space and sky.

[writingsbywyvern]

THIS!

[thewritershandbook]

[scriptshrink]

A chart from thoughtcatalog.org titled “Like vs. Love + Lust & Obsess”, comparing the differences between them.

Full image transcription after the jump, since it’s quite lengthy!

Keep reading

[kidsarentallwrite]

I fear the writeblrs who are able to find FCs for all of their OCs because 1. how 2. HOW

[pens-swords-stuff]

I know this is probably not a cry for help in how to find face claims… But as someone who literally cannot write and develop characters without a face claim, (Thus I have face claims for all of them…) here are a few resources I love to use.

FACE CLAIM DIRECTORIES

https://lazyresources.tumblr.com/fc

https://angeldustmt.tumblr.com/fcdirectory

https://rphelper.tumblr.com/fcdirectory

https://fcdatabase.tumblr.com/tags

https://astridrps.tumblr.com/afccollection

https://bunchoffaceclaims.tumblr.com/masterlist1

https://bunchoffaceclaims.tumblr.com/masterlist2

https://bunchoffaceclaims.tumblr.com/masterlist3

https://bunchoffaceclaims.tumblr.com/masterlist4

https://sonamhelps.tumblr.com/periodfc

https://herorps.tumblr.com/fcd

https://roleplaytipsandadvice.tumblr.com/directory1

https://roleplaytipsandadvice.tumblr.com/directory2

https://thehumbleroleplayer.tumblr.com/diversefcresourcedirectory

I find that watching a lot of media helps! Whether it be movie, music, TV shows, anything, if there is a face that makes you think “Huh… I think I see something, maybe”, write it down. I have a note in my phone with an ever-evolving list of potential face claims whether I use it or not.

I also have a pinterest board to gather some faces I like in one place, especially if I’m looking for a face claim that isn’t a famous celebrity.

[bookishdiplodocus]

How I turned an idea into an outline

With NaNoWriMo around the corner, I thought I might show you how I plotted my novel.

This is the story structure I used:

0% inciting incident

0%-20% introduction in the world, ends with a point of no return

20% first plot point: the hero receives his marching orders

20%-50% response to the first plot point

35% first pinch point: reminder of the nature of the antagonistic force

50% midpoint: big fat plot twist that changes the hero’s AND reader’s experience

50%-80% attack: the stakes are higher now

65% second pinch point: again reminding the reader of the antagonistic forces at hand

80% second plot point: the final injection of new information into the story to give the hero everything she needs to become the primary catalyst in the story’s conclusion (no new information past this point)

80%-100% resolution + final conflict + return home

I didn’t make this up. I think it’s by Larry Brooks, if The Internet informs me correctly. Fun Fact: once you pay attention to it, you’ll see this structure everywhere. Just take a look at any Harry Potter book, for example.

These points are the “bones” of my story. Next, I decided what “flesh” to put on them.

I simply made a list of things I like to read about:

Books about books and libraries

Magic

Quirky characters

Intelligent, fast-paced and sometimes silly

So, I combined this list and the structure points into a story that makes sense. Because I don’t want to spoil my plot / I am still to shy about my wip, I will make up a new plot for this post, so I can show you.

0%: The hero does something magical without knowing how she did it. She discards it, because everybody knows it can’t have been real.

0%-20%: We see the daily life of the hero: she is unhappy because all she wants to do is read, but she is not allowed to. She reads in the dead of night and is punished for it by her evil stepcousin. She finds a book on magic.

20% It all clicks together: she can do magic!

20%-50% The daily life for the hero changes. Instead of reading all night, she practices magic. She now loves books even more. She has little victories over her evil stepcousin, but hasn’t won yet.

35% The evil stepcousin finds out that she can do magic and takes away the magic book.

50% She discovers she can do magic without the book.

50%-80% The hero is not the only one who is bullied by the evil stepcousin. Her younger cousin is a victim as well, and he doesn’t have magic to defend himself. The stakes are raised, this is bigger than herself now. The younger cousin also wants to read, so they have several bonding moments over reading.

65% The evil stepcousin hurts the younger cousin, he’s in a coma now.

80% The hero discovers the evil stepcousin could do all these evil things because he knows magic too.

80%-100% The hero confronts the evil stepcousin, fights him off, nearly loses but wins in the end. He gives up and releases his power over the younger cousin who wakes up from the coma.

It’s not the most genius plot ever, but I literally made this up in minutes. So can you! And imagine the genius plot you can come up with if you spend more than a few minutes on it.

Then I calculated how many scenes I need in which part of the story. My wip is a YA or 12+ book, so I want it to contain about 75,000 words in total. I want my scenes to be around 1,000 words long to keep it snappy, so I need 75 scenes.

Scene number 1 (0%) is the inciting incident, scene number 15 (20%) is the first plot point, scene number 26 (35%) is the first pinch point, scene number 37 (50%) is the midpoint, scene number 49 (65%) is the second pinch point, scene number 60 (80%) is the second plot point and scene 75 (100%) is the last scene.

Some sidenotes on the 1,000-word scenes:

That’s more of a vague rule of thumb than a strict rule. If your scene needs to be longer or shorter, make it longer or shorter of course. My wip has some 2,300-word scenes as well.

Having 1,000-word scenes does not mean I have 1,000-word chapters, that would be really short. I will divide my novel into chapters after I’m finished writing my first draft.

For NaNoWriMo, maybe you could write scenes of 1,667 words, so you do one scene per day. A 50,000-word novel has 30 scenes of 1,667 words. Inciting incident is at scene 1, first plot point at scene 6, first pinch point at scene 11, midpoint at scene 15, second pinch point at scene 20, second plot point at scene 24 and scene 30 is your last scene. That’s just an idea, you got to see what works for you.

Then I made up in one sentence what will happen in every scene. For example: “They meet the dragon and he sends them on a sidequest.” Now my outline consists of 75 one-sentence scenes. This way, I prevent the problem of the sagging middle and other pacing problems and I still get to surprise myself when writing.

From those one-sentence scenes, I flesh out every scene into a first draft, using the process I described in my post How I never have to face an empty page when I write.

And that’s my first draft! I hope everything is clear. Feel free to ask me questions if it isn’t.

I’m gonna tag a few people I admire, who I hope are interested. If you aren’t, feel free to ignore me, or message me to take you off my tag list. If you would like to be added to my writing advice tag list, let me know.

Keep reading

[writingsbywyvern]

this structure is real and very, very accurate. it’s not only on books, even screenplays use this.

[wyvernlynch]

❦  | philophobia

philophobia (n) fear of falling in love

the most beautiful smiles are those who bear the most pain

Read it here!

a bts x mamamoo fanfiction 200401

© wyvernlynch 2020 All rights reserved

[writingsbywyvern]

philophobia - idea

whether i really write about this or not, doesn’t matter.

there’s a bunch of if onlys in our lives and we never seem to get tired of it. if only this didn’t happen, if only that didn’t come, if only you’re still here.

if only you didn’t leave

if only things were different at that time i wouldn’t be panicking every time someone talks to me. if only i didn’t leave now i wouldn’t be afraid to take risks. i wouldn’t be sweating each time a man comes close, or smiled nicely with no meaning besides being nice. wouldn’t have to try to control my breathings because panic attacks come anytime anywhere.

if only i didn’t fall in love

[wyvernlynch]

i’m finally writing again. and let’s just say that this will be the next story. this is a very, very old idea that goes back to my junior high days (which is about 9? years ago) and have been sitting in the back of my brain wishing it would get written. now it will.

you can say this is a wip intro haha (kinda). it will be a fanfiction, hence why i’m writing it in this blog and not on the other one. i once believed that this story would be on tumblr, like a simple one shot or a mini novel but then i realized i just made a whole book.

this story will be on wattpad. i don’t know if i’m ever going to publish this on tumblr, maybe i will. anyways i’m going to start posting on wednesday! i hope someone is interested in reading.

(will post an official wip intro)

[biggest-gaudiest-poltergeist]

there’s a quarantine going on… no pressure but i KNOW ya’ll have WIPs

[madtumbleson]

[msavignon]

[mayday1284]

[shrimplydelicious]

“I’m finally going to write! I have a great idea!”

[edgelord-trashcan]

LAUGHS LOUDLY

[ardatli]

OK but like… first sentences don’t have to be there forever. I cannot begin to count the number of times I’ve started a story like:

And just write the ideas down until the story starts to shape itself. Then when you’re ready, go back and delete everything before the point where the story actually starts. 

Writing yourself into an idea is a time-honoured technique, and it works.