The Azerty Case Files

Tried some Soul Eater cookies... They taste amazing! Especially with honey! ❤️🍯

NaNoPlaMo - National Novel Planning Month

I’ve been wanting to post about novel prep in anticipation of November’s NaNoWriMo and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to do it. We have an anon with a vague idea that they’re looking to build off of. How perfect!

*If you’ve never heard of NaNoWriMo, read up on it!

The Building Block Method

I’m going to preface the rest of this post by saying that I drew a lot of inspiration from The Snowflake Method. Sarah did a post a while back where she gave us a brief overview of this process. It was originally developed by Randy Ingermanson, and I have to say that this man is my hero. If this method sounds too intense for you, I’m going to simplify it using the building block metaphor. 

Building blocks are a great way of thinking about story planning because each plot element you plan needs support in order to have impact. Starting with a good foundation allows you to build up an impressive structure. And of course, when you’re frustrated, it’s easy enough to tear it down and start again.

Choose Your Blocks

Our anon has a couple story details to start with, but we’re going to backtrack as if we have nothing. To get started off on the right foot, construct your first five blocks. 

Protagonist

Antagonist

Conflict

Setting

Genre

Make sure you have an idea for each block before you start delving deeper into others. Our anon already has 3 blocks figured out.

Protagonist = the girl that is kidnapped OR the kidnapper

Antagonist = the girl who is kidnapped OR the kidnapper

Conflict = the kidnapping

See, I left the protagonist and antagonist open because it’s all a matter of perspective. Does the kidnapper have to be the antagonist? Not necessarily. The important thing is that the writer knows which is which. This leaves us with the setting and the genre. 

Setting = where and when does this story take place, for example: 2018; New York City

Genre = fantasy, science fiction, romance, literary, mystery, ect.

Don’t overthink your genre at this point. You don’t need to define it in specific terms just yet, but it’s a good idea to at least know if your story will be grounded in reality or not. 

Build Each Block

A block has 6 sides, yes? Each of the blocks we defined will need 6 sides to complete it. Start wherever you want with this process. For each side, make sure that each description is no longer than one sentence. Notice that the sides for protagonist and antagonist are the same, because well, they’re both characters. 

Protagonist/Antagonist

Name

Age

Gender

Ethnicity

Sexual Preference

Top priority

*For top priority, think of vague ideas: creative expression, professional advancement, family relationships, financial stability, self acceptance. 

Conflict

Who/what sets conflict in motion?

What will happen if the conflict is not acted upon?

What will be gained?

What will be lost?

Who are the players?

Who will survive?

I’m going to break this down by using the anon’s story as an example. Remember our conflict is the kidnapping. Who/what sets the conflict in motion? The kidnapper. If we know more at this stage, we can provide more as long as we keep it under a sentence. For example, an organization looking to exploit the protagonist’s superpowers may be behind the kidnapping, and therefore, sets the conflict in motion. 

What will happen if this conflict is not acted upon? The girl has been kidnapped, so what will happen if she is not un-kidnapped (i.e., saved)? This will help you define the stakes of your story. If the organization is looking to exploit her powers, the answer to this question could be whatever they look to do with those powers (the world is destroyed) or it could be a personal consequence (the girl is killed, the girl is corrupted). 

What will be gained? Now we’re looking at how the story will actually play out. Think in terms of your protagonist. If the kidnapped girl is our main character, what will she gain from begin kidnapped? This is a tough question to answer, but more often than not, the responses here will have to do with how that person changes as a result of the story’s conflict. If you’ve already completed your protagonist block, it may be as simple as pulling from the top priority side. Perhaps her top priority is self acceptance, and she gains it by going through this ordeal. Or maybe it’s family relationships, and this situation enables her to establish a better bond with a family member.

*What is gained does not have to be the character’s top priority, but it’s a good place to start if you’re stuck on this one. 

What will be lost? Again, we’re talking about what will actually happen in the story. What does our kidnapped girl lose from being kidnapped? She may suffer physical or psychological traumas that change her life. She may literally lose a friend, whether that is because the friend dies in trying to rescue her or because the friend betrays her. Maybe she loses her home because she can’t return there, even after she’s freed from her prison. 

Who are the players? Think basic. We’ve obviously got our kidnapper and our kidnap-ee, but who else is involved? Start with the protagonist’s and antagonist’s allies. For example, who assists the protagonist in obtaining her freedom, or who ultimately rescues her? Who assists the antagonist in carrying out their goal (the henchmen)? Again, you don’t need specifics. Brainstorm ideas for additional characters at this stage. 

Who will survive? Decide upfront if there will be deaths, whether on the good side or the bad side. Planning a character death can help you construct your ending and build to it, so the death feels more integrated into the story and less a matter of shock value. This is especially good for horror stories or murder mysteries where there will likely be a lot of death. 

Setting

Real or fictional? 

Accurate or inaccurate?

Static or variable?

New or familiar?

How is the setting changed?

How does the setting compel change?

Real or fictional is whether you made up the location or whether you based it off of somewhere that’s real. Accurate or inaccurate expands on real locations/time periods to determine if you’re taking liberties or attempting to tell an accurate portrayal. Static or variable refers to the amount of times the setting or time period changes. If a character is on a long journey, you’ll likely have a variable setting that changes constantly. Same with time travel. New or familiar should tell you if your character is going somewhere new, of if they’re facing challenges in an environment they feel comfortable in. 

How the setting changes depends on how the conflict influences it. A barren wasteland may be made fertile again based on the outcome of the story. A violent country may become peaceful. This gets you thinking about big picture goals for your story’s universe. 

How the setting compels change is the opposite. What does the setting do to your character? Does it force them to develop new survival techniques? Does it make them examine aspects of their life they used to ignore?  

Genre

Genre is structured a bit differently. Instead of basing each side on a particular idea, list six concepts or adjectives that will describe your story. These can be more detail about the genre (urban fantasy, psychological thriller, young adult), they can be themes or tropes (coming-of-age, chosen-one, grief) or world-building details (magic, time travel, serial killers) or even types of people or species (fairies, vampires, astronomers, middle-class). 

Think of six words or phrases that you find fascinating. Imagine how you’d complete the sentence: “I’ve always wanted to write about ______.” This will help you develop a story that intrigues you and holds your interest. 

Start Building

Now comes the fun part. You have all your blocks, with 6 sides each. Now you can start making connections. Make notecards for each side (maybe different colors for each block), and then randomly draw 2 or 3 at a time. Look at the items on the notecards and see if you can connect them with new threads. 

For example, say we draw our “who are the players” side, along our protagonist’s age. This gives you an opportunity to consider the ages of the other players, and how they’ll relate to the protagonist. Remember we referred to potential players as the protagonist’s allies? Are they older than her or younger than her? Does this lead to domineering or submissive relationships? Is someone protective of someone else? Does someone look up to someone and think them indestructible? 

Each time you make connections, you’re starting the construction of a new block. These second tier blocks will be more dynamic because they pull in pieces from your five foundation blocks.

Don’t Be Afraid to Knock It Down

As you’re building, you may run into things that no longer work or that just don’t interest you anymore. It’s okay to tear down the tower and start constructing something new, whether you come up with new foundation blocks or attempt to use your existing ones in a different way.

Things may not seem crystal clear during this process, and you may run into some speed bumps along the way, but don’t let it discourage you. The whole concept behind this method is play. You’re developing a story from the ground up and that takes a lot of patience, and a considerable amount of trial and error. Cut yourself some slack and just enjoy the process. 

Resource: Writing Science Fiction

So you want to write science fiction but are weary about jumping into a new genre or are scared of the competition–no problem. Science Fiction is one of the oldest genres out there, and it is still one of the most popular with a market you’re sure to latch onto. But with so many books before you and new expectations from readers popping up each day, it’s more important than ever to tell a new story, so keeping an eye out for the clichés and tropes will be a great first step in writing your unique tale. Here are some resources I hope will help. 

Getting Started–The Basics:

9 Steps to Writing a Science Fiction Novel

Advice to Aspiring Sci-Fi Writers

The 3 Golden Rules of Writing Science Fiction

10 Laws of Good Science Fiction

How to Write Science Fiction(1) and (2)

Writing Sci-Fi and Fantasy (Tips and Resources)

1001 Sci-Fi Plot Ideas

Knowing the Cliches and How to Avoid Them:

Enough With the Dystopias

The Grand List of Overused Sci-Fi Cliches

The 10 Worst Science Fiction Cliches

The Ten Worst Cliches of Fantasy and Sci-Fi

10 Overused Sci-Fi Tropes

10 Cliches to Avoid

Your Characters and Other Helpful Resources:

10 Fantasy and Sci-Fi Novels With Protagonists Of Color

10 Writing Rules We Wish Sci-Fi Writers Would Break

Things Your Sci-Fi Story Needs

How to Create a Believable World For Your Characters

3 Things You Need to Know Before Writing a Female Protagonist

when it turned out that it was a normal piggy who grew up to be a big fat fatty piggu

EDIT: This is a photo of the world’s smallest recognized breed of pig, the kune kune. I’m sorry cartoons lied to you all.

This is the pot bellied pig, another famous “small” breed.

This is your average adult pig.

1) Wow, that’s big.

2) Now, we know where all that bacon comes from.

And here we are, cheerfully playing along, sounding reasonably competent — but everyone, when they have the attention to spare, is keeping an eye on the tuba players. They don’t come in for the first eight measures or so, and then when they do come in, what we see is:

[stifled giggling]

[reeeeeeally deep breath]

[COLOSSAL FOGHORN NOISE]

The entire band stops dead, in the cacophonous kind of way that a band stops when it hasn’t actually been cued to stop. The band director doesn’t even say anything, just looks straight back at the tubas and makes a helpless sort of why gesture.

In unison, the tuba players defend themselves: “THERE WERE FOUR F’S.”

which is 8 fortes. We were shocked until,

Writing dialogue can be tricky, but I found that I got better as I wrote more conversations. Here are some tips and advice I learned through practice: Disclaimer: Like I’ve said before, there are no absolute rules for writing. What works for me may not work for you. Feel free to experiment.

1. Condense

If your characters are going to say something, then it should be worth saying. Your dialogue will be smoother if you read it over and cut out the filler. Remove the redundant things and condense. Sometimes it’s better to remove a line entirely and replace it with an action or a description.

2. Listen to people, talk to people

One way to learn how to write great dialogue is to listen to people in real life. Sometimes we don’t realize that some phrases and lines that are often used in fiction might not actually be realistic(if you’re going for realism). Listening to people and talking to people help you understand the way conversations work. People can get distracted while they talk, they can let their emotions/state of mind affect their words, and they mix gestures and actions and expressions into their speech.

3. Read it out loud

This helps to fix the flow. Say the words, mouth the words. Judge whether or not a certain phrase would be a mouthful or if it would sound awkward.

4. Know that dialogue reveals character

The little details about people always manifest in their words. Sometimes people slip up or their wording hints at something without them realizing it. Let your characters take over. Know that even if they’re putting on a mask in front of other people, sometimes that mask can fall. While you can reveal character through words, don’t overdo it. Remember that the conversation should blend into the context. Sometimes using words that imply are more effective, and sometimes it’s better to have something dawn on the reader by using hints.

5. Know that dialogue reveals plot

Pick your words carefully. They can help you lead or mislead your reader. Again, don’t overdo it. There are some cases where it would be better to reveal plot in other ways. Dumping information on a reader’s head might make the scene dull or boring to read.

6.Try putting emphasis on actions instead of using fancy dialogue tags

I’m not going to be one of those people who says that all dialogue tags other than said are bad, but overusing different dialogue tags can slow down your reader if they have to consult a dictionary every few lines. 

Personally, I like to replace dialogue tags with actions. It helps ground the conversation and keep the scene in motion. The subtle things like our expressions and our actions are just as important as our words, and it builds layers on the scene when you add that to your writing. It’s likely that your characters aren’t just bodiless voices speaking in a void, so pay attention to the setting and the objects around them.

7. Plan what you can

I like to plan important conversations by writing down lines that should be said. Still, remember that if you’re forcing your character to say something, then it could come off as awkward. There have been points where I’ve had to omit details that I planned because I knew that they wouldn’t fit, and sometimes that happens because you have to accept that you can’t fully control your characters.

8. Keep the setting of your world in mind

Build the world of the story through dialogue by asking yourself questions like: What expressions were popular at this time? Do the people in this world have concepts of deities and/or heaven?(we often use swears having to do with the people we venerate/religion we practice) What words are considered inappropriate? What class of society does the character belong to and what is their educational background? There are many more, but these could be a jumping off point. Know the culture and history of the world you’re writing in. Then integrate that culture and history.

9. Have fun with it

Dialogue is one of my favorite things to write, so enjoy writing it and your readers will enjoy it too.

Being mindful of these is what puts you on the path to recovery. If you’re mindful, you are able to live in that moment and try your best to remember these better options.

There was a post on tumblr where someone with ADHD posted about how much you can get done when you focus and was attacked for posting about being “nuerotypical” - when she was posting about the relief she got from being on an medication to treat her illness. 

I saw another post going around tumblr that said something along the line of “you control your thoughts, why not choose to have happy thoughts” which again was shot down as “nuerotypical” but while you don’t have control over what thoughts come into your mind, you absolutely can and should choose to have happy thoughts. In DBT we call this “positive self talk”.

I’m in DBT to help treat PTSD stemming from child abuse. The abuse and abandonment I experienced destroyed my self esteem and created a lot of anxiety over upsetting other people. DBT has taught me to recognize when my thoughts are distorting realty ‘no one likes you’ and answer back ‘plenty of people like you, you don’t need everyone to like you, especially if the relationship doesn’t make you happy’, to respond to the thought ‘I’m so worthless’ with ‘you’re really great and have accomplished something’ 

And it’s not easy to challenge your thoughts, it’s a skill that’s learned and it’s hard to force yourself to think something that doesn’t seem authentic or even seems wrong to think - it’s hard to be encouraging towards yourself when you hate yourself - but you force yourself to be aware of your thoughts and push back when you fall into unhealthy patterns 

That isn’t “so neurotypical” that’s recovery. 

Not shaming mental illness doesn’t mean shaming RECOVERY.

Pro-Recovery isn’t anti-disability. 

Do not shame healthy behaviors as “neurotypical”.