I Jotted Down For A Friend Of Mine Some Tips And Notes On How I Approach Drawing Hair, And Things I Keep

When I started writing fanfiction like ten years ago, dialogue was absolutely my weakest point. And I knew it. Character voice was a struggle, I used more ellipses than words probably, I just tried to lean on narration instead.

Fun to reflect and realize what a 180 I did on that. Cuz frankly dialogue is a DELIGHT and the best part of writing now. I love strong character voices. I love making characters trip over their words and talk over each other and go on tangents and lose their point and snark and snap at each other and crack wise and just, I love thinking about how dialogue sounds, and what feels most organic. 

Description and narration are all still well and good, but it’s like those are the framework and scaffolding to set characters up to just say shit. I LOVE making characters just say shit. The truest delight of fanfic.

Some questions for your OC

What secret is your character keeping and why?

What is your character's greatest regret and how has it shaped their life?

How does your character react under extreme stress?

What would make your character tell a lie?

What is your character's biggest vulnerability?

What personal philosophy or mantra does your character live by?

What is your character most proud of?

What does your character value most in their friendships?

What kind of relationship does your character have with their family?

What goals does your character have for the next five years?

What does your character do to relax?

How does your character change when they are alone?

What kind of first impression does your character usually make?

What does your character think about before falling asleep at night?

What is your character most sensitive about regarding criticism?

how to write the second draft

@writingwithacutlass on instagram

source: https://www.masterclass.com/articles/how-to-write-a-second-draft#why-do-you-need-a-second-draft

hello and welcome back to my page! this post was requested some time ago and i finally got around to making it. second drafts are arguably the hardest draft to write, since you are taking your jumbled mess of a first draft and rewriting it to be more cohesive and organized. although picking apart your novel is a painstaking process, it’s a necessary step that will improve your novel and make you a better writer in the process. here are five tips on how to write the second draft!

take a break, then return to your draft with fresh eyes

especially if this is your first novel, only start your second draft after you’ve had adequate time away from it. creating distance between you and personal work can give your mind time to reset and detach from particular ideas. certain story elements may feel necessary but don’t actually fit into the story, or your story may need something, but you’re not sure how to implement it. taking a break can help you view your writing from a previously unseen angle that can bring more refreshing ideas to the table and help you get through your second draft. take some distance from your writing to brainstorm new scenes.

understand your chaos

your first draft got your ideas down and, hopefully, created a loosely structured beginning, middle, and end. however, the first time you go through the whole thing, it will probably feel overwhelming—and it should. go into your first chapter knowing there will be big changes and improvements to be made. you’ll cut some things and add others, but don’t be afraid. if it starts to go off into a direction you’re not happy with, or if you have no idea how to continue forward from what you’ve rewritten, you can always reconfigure. that’s what second drafts are for.

break it up into separate goals

you don’t have to comb through your second draft beginning to end and address everything along the way. setting goals to address each element of your first draft, like working on emotional character arcs first, or solidifying the bare bones of your plot through each chapter can help you divide and conquer each necessary aspect of your story that needs to come together in a cohesive manner. once all these elements have been solidified individually, you can piece them together in a way that makes your second draft feel more manageable.

track your narrative

read through each plot point or chapter and see if the narrative tracks. make notes on anything that stands out to you or doesn’t feel as smooth. are events moving logically or sequentially into the next? are character goals clearly defined? does each new chapter feel connected to the last? it may be a rough version you’re going through, but these elements should be in place in order for you to analyze it accurately. your subplots should feel natural to the central story and characters you’ve created—they should just be added fodder to take up space. ensure there aren’t any redundant scenes or a repeat of information that doesn’t need to be explained again.

don’t proofread until the end

it’s tempting to go back and fix all your errors, but unless you’re in your third stage or fourth stage, this may end up being a waste of time. correcting typos and grammar should be saved for your final draft, as the entire writing process will entail rewriting, restructuring, and reorganizing until the moment you’re ready to publish.

Controlling Your Pacing

                Pacing is one of my favourite things to pay attention to when reading or writing something. The pacing of a scene is literally how ‘fast’ or ‘slow’ a scene appears to be moving. Action scenes that spring the story from one place to another tend to go faster than introspective scenes or scenes that explore character dynamics.

                All of this is created through putting space and words between elements of the scene. What I mean by that is that readers interpret a passage of time between ‘things’ (actions, dialogue, gestures, etc.) on the page, and pacing is controlling that interpretation.

                For example,

“Georgia sat on the couch, “wow it sure is hot in here,” she said. “It sure is,” Henry agreed, sitting next to her.”

                This sentence is just about the actions with some breaking dialogue, but it goes pretty quickly through what’s happening.

                Whereas, if we were to intentionally pace this scene, it may look like this:

“Georgia swiped at her brow, wandering over to sink into the couch. “It sure is hot in here,” she said, peering up at Henry through the wisps of her bangs. He nodded weakly, his entire body sagging from the heat. Crossing the room to collapse next to her, he added dryly, “it sure is.”

                It’s not perfect, but you can get a sense of the time between things happening. The added detail between the two characters talking conveys maybe a minute between sentences, which might be accurate for two people dogged down by a heat wave.

                To speed things up, we want less space between elements:

“Adam slammed open the door with his shoulder, letting it bounce off the concrete wall behind him. “Everyone out!” He shouted. A crack in the roof snapped above them.”

                The added (or subtracted) elements of a scene that control your pacing is the sights/sounds/feelings/smells/maybe tastes of a place. When we’re anxiously rushing to get out of the house we may not acknowledge that the kitchen smells like the bread our roommate baked that morning, or that there are smudges on the window from when the dog climbed up on the couch. However, when we have a second to contemplate, we’re going to notice these things, and it would be appropriate to write them in.

                Another important element to controlling pacing is your character’s thoughts or acknowledgement of feelings.

                For example:

“Adam slammed open the door with his shoulder, it bounced off the concrete wall behind him. He winced, his mother’s high voice ringing in his head, chiding him for damaging the walls even though he knew the building was coming down on top of them. How long would he live with her constantly in his mind? He tried to wave away the memory. “Everyone out!” He shouted.”

                That slows down the scene quite a bit, yeah? And maybe that’s what you wanted in that moment. Play around with the details and pacing in your scenes, you might be surprised how much can change.

                Good luck!

do you have any advice for younger / newere writers? you write so much and you're very skilled! i'm inspired by you

Aww thanks! Maybe I write a bit too much ahaha.

Well, idrk what you’re searching advice for so I will give general tips.

Before writing:

Do your research. Not only about the subject, but if there’s people out there who have also thought about the idea and have a tag for it.

Set a goal. I suck at this myself, but having a not-rigid word count goal (with timer if it makes you feel more motivated) really get your gears going. There’s a few pages that make it more entertaining too!

Warm up Drabbles. Nothing better than writing something adjacent to what you really want to write just to warm up and get a bit more creative so you hit the zone quicker.

This is optional but if you have time, make a page for your characters and setting. Like a reference page so you don’t go write someone is 160 cm when you have already said they’re 178.

While writing:

Limit your editing. It’s tempting to correct in the moment, (more if you’re unsure about grammar) but sometimes while fixing something you lose your pace and in the worst cases, forget where you were going. Editing can come later.

If you’re gonna have CW at the top, highlight the key words so it’s easier to go through it later.

After writing:

Don’t delete your scrapped ideas. You don’t know when you might wanna use that idea, so even if it’s never used having an scrap document for them is great.

If you didn’t like the end product altogether, it’s fine to put it aside for a while and come back to it later to see if it really should be abandoned in the scrap document or tossed away. Sometimes a little bit of time makes the errors look less severe and fixable and the good things to pop out more. Let it brew!

Pass your text through a beta reader and a program that allows you to correct your grammar and spot typos.

To gain attention:

Quick note here, don’t get discouraged if you don’t receive millions of likes in your first chapter. Sometimes it takes two projects or more to get traction. Keep going regardless of numbers! They don’t dictate how good you are!

Interact with others. Slide into inboxes, participate in ask and tag games, reblog other people’s fics, make collabs. most people are cool with being tagged in games even if you’re not mutuales with them so don’t be shy! Although, Don’t just talk to people to use their following.

Take part in writing/drawing challenges. July has the @whumpmasinjuly event with a prompt list, as there is events like the month of writers, nanowrimo, whumptober, etc.

Keep writing and explore other ideas besides your comfort zone. This started as a whump writing blog, but evolved into positivity, some art and writing (even occasional thoughts and poetry) The variety lends itself to grow your range of public and to expand your creative library.

Promote yourself. Shamelessly self reblog your favorite fics, or just reblog it for the timezone difference. You’re proud of what you wrote and I’m proud of you for writing it, but sometimes tumblr sucks and I won’t see it immediately. So don’t be afraid of reblogging your own things!

Make your own events and ask games. DTIYS, requests, giveaways when you hit a follower milestone. If you have the time for it and have fun doing it, go for it!

This is my personal opinion, but having visuals for your story such as mood boards, picrews, illustrations, etc. Makes me more interested in a story. It’s also an easy way to present your characters to your readers.

Have fun. It’s noticeable when an author is having fun writing it and when it feels like a chore. I’m not telling you to absolutely love it, just to trust in yourself and what you’re doing a bit. If it doesn’t feel right, revision it. If you can’t find it, hand it to someone and ask for their opinion. Not having fun doing what you love hurts like a bitch, and it just rubs salt in the wound when it flops or you can’t stand reading through it. So, explore ideas, maybe go back to your comfort to come back to the new a bit less scared. Or maybe find new inspirations so you can go rush and add new stuff and weed out what doesn’t seem right.

Overall that’s it I think. @ashintheairlikesnow has a great tag for new writers in her blog so I advice to check that out and ask more people. @thewritershandbook is also a good resource place!

Good luck anon! I’ll be cheering on you.

u know what, even if my writing isnt the BEST, i still made it all on my own. like there was a blank word doc and i filled it up with my own words, my own story. i took what was in my head and i made it a real thing. idk i feel like that alone is something to be proud of.

my favorite free tools for writers

hello, hello! hope you're doing well.

today i am bringing you another list with my top 3 favorite (free!) tools that I find helpful for each phase of writing a novel.

brainstorming phase

Fantasy Names Generator - not only for fantasy (you can also generate real names). this website is just... amazing! it helps you come up with names for characters, places and locations, descriptions, generate traits, outfits (yes, outfits!!), and probably something else you could ever think of.

The Story's Hack - this one is so cool! you can generate names for everything, create your own generator, and practice writing through writing exercises! plus, you can save your generated names to see later, and you earn coins for each idea generated (you can later buy themes - dark, snow, forest, etc)

RanGen - my last favorite generator on this list is RanGen! you can generate plots, appearances, archetypes, love interests, cities, worlds, items, and more.

developing the idea phase

Bryn Donovan - in this blog you can find master lists under the tag "master lists for writers". it is so helpful when you first start developing the characters and need to find the right words to describe them and to find some quirks and flaws!

Writers Write (350 character traits) - again, this is so helpful!

Story Planner - ah, the number of times I've talked about this website... please, PLEASE take a look at it, you won't regret it. this website has literally everything you need to fully develop your idea with outlines for you to fill in step by step.

writing phase

Colleen Houck (80+ barriers to love) - need more romace conflict? there you go!

Cheat Sheets for Writing Body Language - so, you know how your character's feeling, but don't know how he'd physically act? check out this list!

Describing Words - honestly, this is a lifesaver. don't you struggle to find the right word to describe something? well, with this website all you have to do is to type the object you're trying to describe and see which description fits better to you!

revising phase

Language Tool for Google Docs - i know we all have heard about google docs before, but the truth is, it's almost impossible to find free softwares to check grammar and spelling. so, google docs is useful, because it automatically revises it for us, and it's completely free. plus, you can add adds-on, such as "language tool".

Unfortunately, there's only one (free) tool that I actually enjoy for the revising phase. if you know some others, please let me know so that I can try them out and feature in this list.

exporting phase

Google Docs - i find google docs very easy to format and export to .epub, so i'd recommend using it as a free tool.

Reedsy - this is also a free tool available online. all you have to do is to write down each chapter (copy and paste) or import your word document. it will format the document to your liking and export it to pdf, epub and mobi.

that's everything for now! i hope this post was somehow helpful or inspiring!

if you want to see more master lists full of resources, check these:

WEBSITES FOR WRITERS {masterpost}

BEST accounts to follow as a writer

BEST SITES & SOFTWARES TO WRITE FICTION

DIALOGUE IDEAS TO GET RID OF THAT WRITING BLOCK (masterpost)

Useful Resources & Tips for Writers

also, if you are a notion lover just like me, check the free template I just released with everything you need to develop and write your novel!

thank you so much for reading! hope to see you around, and have a nice day <3

(Help) advice for people who have been writing for a long time and haven't seen improvements?

ok, so first of all have you REALLY not improved? most of the time when we are working on complex tasks, our ability to see what we are doing wrong grows more quickly than our skills, so there's this constant, growing awareness of what we aren't doing well. i suspect if you look back at your first stories, you will see that they are clumsier than your current work

BUT, it's frustrating. i get it. hoo boy do I get it.

SO... the advice you asked for.

sit down and do a really cold-blooded assessment of your work. ask a couple CPs to help if you can bear it. figure out several places you have a clear weakness.

common things people struggle with include:

mechanics (grammar, punctuation, how to format dialogue, etc.)

prose (how does it read on a line level)

engaging opening pages (do people reading the start want to keep going, does it set up promises for the rest of the book to pay off, do we know, as readers, what sort of story we're getting from the first page)

characters (do the people feel real, do they behave in the way people behave, are they well rounded with flaws and strengths, do their stupid decisions seem believable given their own set of issues)

pacing (does the story feel too slow to readers? does it seem to skip over important moments)

plotting/structure (does the middle sag, do things build up in a compelling way, do plot points come out of nowhere, are there too many moving pieces)

stakes (are there stakes? what is the main character's goal? what happens if they fail?)

theme/mood/vibe (do you have a vibe? is there an overarching theme?)

emotions (are your characters/is your plot emotionally engaging to the reader)

climax (does it stick the landing)

pick ONE (and only one) identified weakness to work on for the next 3-6 months. Google resources that talk about that thing. write or revise aiming to work on that thing. (if you ask for a specific one of these, I will put together a list of resources, but it might be a bit much on an already long post to include here)

shake up your working methods to see if that knocks skills loose from your brain in the learning process. if you usually outline, try just brain dumping onto the page, focusing on that thing. If you usually pants it, try outlining.

go back to beta readers and CPs and say "how does this story work FOR THIS ONE PARTICULAR THING." It's much easier to beta read a chapter for someone if you know the thing that they want you to focus on is "prose" or "emotions" than "just anything that jumps out at you."

good luck and have fun!

Character Development : A Collection of Resources

Patreon || Ko-Fi || Masterlist || Work In Progress

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Resources

Resources For Creating Characters

Resources For Describing Characters

Resources For Writing The Mafia

Resources For Writing Royalty

Commentary on Social Issues In Writing

General Tips

Guide to Character Development

How To Fit Character Development Into Your Story

Tips on Character Consistency

Designing A Character From Scratch

Making characters for your world

Characters First, Story Second Method

Understanding Your Character

Tips on Character Motivations

31 Days of Character Development : May 2018 Writing Challenge

How To Analyze A Character

Alternative Method of Character Creation

Connecting To Your Own Characters

Interview As Your Characters

Flipping Character Traits On Their Head 

Character Driven vs. Plot Driven Stories

Traits

Tips On Writing About Mental Illness

Giving Your Protagonists Negative Traits

Giving Characters Distinct Voices in Dialogue

Giving Characters Flaws

Making Characters More Unique

Keeping Characters Realistic

Archetypes

Writing Good Villains

Creating Villains

Guide to Writing The Hero

Positive Character Development Without Romanticizing Toxic Behavior

Tips on Writing Cold & Distant Characters

Balancing Multiple Main Characters

Creating Diverse Otherworld Characters

Foreshadowing The Villain

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Masterlist | WIP Blog

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5 Ways to Make Your Writing Sessions More Productive

1. Set specific goals: Before each writing session, establish clear objectives for what you want to accomplish. This helps you stay focused and motivated throughout the session. Whether it's completing a certain number of pages, reaching a specific word count, or finishing a particular section, having a goal in mind keeps you on track.

2. Create a conducive writing environment: Find a quiet and comfortable space where you can minimize distractions. Eliminate clutter, turn off notifications on your electronic devices, and set up a writing area that inspires creativity. Some people find instrumental music or ambient sounds helpful for concentration, so experiment to find what works best for you.

3. Develop a routine: Establish a regular writing schedule and stick to it. Consistency builds momentum and makes writing sessions feel more like a habit. Whether you prefer to write early in the morning, late at night, or during specific time blocks throughout the day, find a routine that aligns with your energy levels and other commitments.

4. Use productivity techniques: Explore different productivity techniques to enhance your focus and efficiency. One popular method is the Pomodoro Technique, which involves working for a concentrated period (e.g., 25 minutes) followed by a short break (e.g., 5 minutes). Repeat this cycle several times, and then take a longer break (e.g., 15-30 minutes). Other techniques include time blocking, task prioritization, and setting deadlines.

5. Minimize self-editing during the drafting phase: When writing your first draft, try to resist the urge to constantly edit and revise. Instead, focus on getting your ideas down on paper without judgment. This allows for a more continuous flow of thoughts and prevents self-censorship. Save the editing for later drafts, as separating the drafting and editing stages can lead to increased productivity and creativity.