Hello! My name is Caleb (but I also go by my middle name Atticus) and I’m a 19 year old aspiring author!

I’m finally starting a writeblr for myself as I’ve been following the community for a while and admiring from afar. Several other authors on this platform have inspired me to buckle down and actually invest myself in some original ideas and get them polished enough to be published someday!

I am a neurodivergent, gender nonconforming man who lives in the american southwest with his boyfriend, best friend and two cats! Outside of writing, I read, collect animal bones, learn about true crime, make art and play dnd. I’m not very invested in many fandoms but I love warrior cats and good omens dearly. I write mainly post apocalyptic / dystopian fiction as well as animal fiction, and sometimes a mix of the two!

goals for this blog:

▪︎to improve my writing as a whole. To me this looks like, less = more with word counts. I have a tendency to drone on about nothing in giant paragraphs and would like to get better at trimming down unnecessary details and leaving more up to my reader’s imagination.

• actually stay motivated and finish a book or two. I frequently lose motivation and although I’ve gotten close, I haven’t actually finished a full length book, original or fanfiction. I guess I just need to accept the fact that my peak writing is in my child sized papasan chair from target.

wips:

My list of WIPs is not very well organized but as I work towards polishing the main ones I’ll make posts for them. However a general idea of the three stories I’m working on:

• Planet B [Title is a placeholder that might stick idk yet] takes place in a post apocalyptic future where half the population leaves earth and those left behind are subject to the after effects of war and climate change. There is a major divide in class and the story will hopefully go further into this. The plot follows a pair of contract killers who find a way to scam the upper class, with the reluctant help of an escort who knows his way around the wealthy. Scamming isnt as easy as it seems and things don’t necessarily go to plan. Older teen rating. Gay mlm couple with a happy ending as well as lots of lgbt characters, mentally ill characters and characters of color. The plot and worldbuilding is still in the works and this is the main story I want to invest more time and brain power into.

•Cry Wolf is about a half - vampire who is an heir to an old money family of vampires, but after years of not seeing her father, she moves and spends the summer in a new town. At a new school, she meets the school’s popular girl, and it turns out everyone has secrets of their own. Teen rating. (Psssssst lesbian romance with a happy ending)

So you’re writing a story and you want to make a Jewish character—great! I’m here to help. I always want more Jewish representation but I want good Jewish representation, so this is my attempt to make a guide to making a Jewish character. What are my credentials? I’m Jewish and have been my whole life. Obligatory disclaimer that this is by no means comprehensive, I don’t know everything, all Jews are different, and this is based on my experiences as an American Jew so I have no idea, what, if any, of this applies to non-American Jews. 

If there’s anything you want me to make a post going more into detail about or if there’s anything I didn’t mention but you want to know please ask me! I hope this is helpful :) Warning, this is long.

[id: a moodboard consisting of three square images. They show a hand holding flame, a black and white portrait of someone with their hand to their face and their other hand extended upward, and a door cast in shadow. /end id]

Name | Page Villamor

Orientation | Bisexual cis man (he/him) 

Sacrifice | [redacted] 

Traits | Controlling, vain, ambitious, patient, callous, possessive   

Casting Partner | [redacted] 

Other Info |

Biology student 

He wears so many rings on his hands because of Fashion™ that it’s impossible to tell if he has a casting partner or a spouse 

He’s Filipino American, scrawny, average height, and usually wears very bold clothing (up to and including a feather boa) 

Links |

character tag 

playlist (two words: evil music) 

Excerpt |

They’d been dilly dallying around for weeks now and they choose to show up in the middle of his biology final? His father would actually murder him if he failed that class. He certainly wouldn’t feel any remorse about it.

Ah, well. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t bribed the TA before. It would be easy enough to do it again.

wip page | masterpost | wip tag

// taglist under the cut //

THEY TOO SHALL FALL

sic semper tyrannis: passage by eli solitas

DO:

- “I love your writing!”

- “This is amazing.”

DON’T:

- “I wish I could write this well.”

So you have a nearly-finished story. By this point, you’ve gone through some drafts and gotten feedback from readers—the story is solid, and all that’s left is to put the finishing touches! While it can be a difficult and headache-inducing process, checking your final draft for errors is an important step to take.

Why does it matter?

It can be easy to look at a final draft and say, “good enough,” when self-publishing. After all, a few typos don’t matter as long as the writing is good, right? However, grammar, spelling, and formatting errors are distracting and they can result in readers deducting stars in their reviews—or worse, setting the book down!

Where to begin

First things first, you’ll want to choose formatting standards and stick to them. These can be your own standards, or you can default to a format such as the Chicago Manual of Style (which you can look up rules for.)

You’ll want to look up/set rules such as how you format thoughts and text messages and whether you write “am/pm” or “a.m./p.m.” You can write these guidelines in a document for easy reference. Once you have your formatting standards, the find and replace tool in whatever program you’re using (I use Google Docs) is great for getting everything consistent!

Next, you can use programs and tools to catch spelling and grammar errors. Keep in mind that these programs are fallible and they will sometimes make faulty suggestions or miss errors entirely. When in doubt, look it up to find the correct spelling/grammar rules.

Grammarly: This is a browser extension/app that highlights grammar/spelling errors and offers suggestions. You don’t have to pay for the fancy version. I use the free version and it’s immensely helpful! I can’t recommend it enough.

Google Docs: You can review suggestions one by one if you go to Tools -> Spelling and Grammar -> Spelling and grammar check.

Microsoft Word: You can review suggestions one by one if you go to Review -> Spelling & Grammar.

Text to speech programs: Hearing your story read out loud can help you catch errors that you may have missed while reading. There are free apps and websites such as TTSReader.com where you can copy and paste your text or upload a document to have it read back to you!

Once you’ve gone through your draft using tools, you can enlist the help of beta readers for spelling/grammar checking. You can hire a professional editor if you’re willing and able to spend that kind of money, but you can also ask a friend, a family member, or a fellow writer for free. Keep in mind that beta reading is hard work, and it’s always nice to return the favor for other writers!

Beta readers are going to have differences of opinions, and that’s okay. Sometimes a beta will comment on something that’s more about their personal preference rather than a hard rule (for example, the am/pm vs. a.m./p.m formatting). Their suggestions are just that: suggestions. Remember to take feedback with grace and get a second/third opinion when necessary!

Finally, after you’ve gone through your betas’ suggestions and decided what changes to make, you can give your draft one last read through. Reading it out loud is a great way to catch errors. But remember to take breaks; it’s easy to miss things when your eyes are tired!

This advice is based on the steps I took while self-publishing my debut novel Blame Atlas Save Atlas. If you have a different process, that’s perfectly fine, but I figured I’d share what worked for me! I hope this helps.

As the tide turns, Keira, Wes and their friends face their greatest challenge yet… Escaping the city of New Fauske, Keira, Wes and Cass find themselves fugitives in a hostile land, desperate to make their way home. Cass, now a princess of her people, must travel with Keira to India to gain the trust of a mysterious order of mind-readers; but the mind-readers have layers of secrets and lies the two must first unearth, calling into question everything they once thought they knew. Meanwhile, Wes and the infidels embark on a risky mission to discover the mysteries of Old Magic. But when Basil and Freya wind up in the clutches of a team of sadistic scientists, Wes must find a way to rescue them before it’s too late. The way forward is filled with uncertainties and more dangerous than ever. Death and loss loom large on the horizon, and soon all will be forced to decide who and what they truly want to fight for.

I’m super, super excited to share my second novel with all of you, now available as an Ebook on Amazon for just 99 cents! I really just want everyone who wants to read my work to have the chance to, though, so I’m also willing to offer free copies in exchange for reviews to anyone who can’t afford the cost/doesn’t have a Kindle–shoot me a message if you’re interested! 

Also, I’ve decided to go ahead and make Book 1, The Sentry, permanently free as an Ebook (with new cover art, too)! You can now buy it pretty much anywhere Ebooks are sold–Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Smashwords–and I even put it up on Wattpad, because why not?

If you’re interested in young adult or fantasy literature, I’d love it if you gave my books a look; they feature a richly-constructed fantasy world, ancient feuds, snarky protagonists, cool powers, and much more! 

In a war between fire and ice, three former enemies must join forces to save everything they love. The Nixans and Wardens are supernatural beings living hidden within our world, locked in a brutal war for supremacy. Wielding the powers of ice and fire, their ancient feud has grown to engulf six continents, eleven races of superhumans, and one very powerful goddess. Now, three reluctant teenagers, armed with nothing but a magic sword and a blistering vendetta, are about to take a stand and change their world forever. Keira Serasul is a Sentry, pledged to serve the Nixans for life. When her best friend’s future is threatened by her own father’s schemes, Keira is faced with an impossible task: to infiltrate the home of her people’s worst enemy and steal an enchanted artifact with the power to curse an entire kingdom. Her target is far away, and the journey is fraught with danger; still, Keira is determined to do everything she can to save her friend. But when her mission forces her to rely on a pair of rivals she’s been raised to despise, Keira is left wondering who her true enemies really are.

Both of these amazing covers were made by TiaBlackRaven–so huuge shoutout to her–also to @annalise-inks, my longtime beta reader, as well as everyone else on here who has read/supported my writing so far!!

I’m tagging a ton of people under the cut and apologize in advance if there’s anyone who didn’t want to be included. Reblogs are very, very much appreciated!!

I’ve actually already plotted all 75 books chapter by chapter! It’s been a pretty huge ordeal and took months and months and hundreds of thousands of words of outlining to do, but my general process is this: 

Put a day, maybe two, into consolidating every single idea you have for your WIP. Pinterest boards, big long sprawling lists of all of your concepts, playlists, moodboards, everything you’ve got. Throw it all together indiscriminately. 

Then, start digging for gold. Tear through everything you have until you find the best, most applicable concepts. Talk to people. Brainstorm with friends. Brainstorm with yourself. Consider what works and what doesn’t. 

Make another list. On this one, include every single thing you want in your WIP - your distinctive characters, any events/scenes that are important, visual motifs, dialogue, anything and everything. Order is at chronologically as you can. 

Then, start to pull it together into an outline. It’s fine if you can’t sort it all into chapters just yet - just try to string things together. Put characters in different places in the plot. Decide which of your events is going to be your midpoint, your catalyst, your climax. Start shaping the story into a narrative, not just a concept. 

(Fantasy/sci-fi authors - don’t get tempted to worldbuild just yet. Keep a list of all the places/functions/characters/elements you’ve worked in. Don’t focus too hard on all of that for now.)

Decide on the form of your story. Sic Semper Tyrannis is split into three twenty-five arc cycles, and each cycle is divided into four movements, each movement containing six arcs (the last containing seven), and each arc containing anywhere between seven and twelve ~10K chapters. This fits this story best because the scenes of Tyrannis are long, flowing and expansive - large, winding chapters, huge overarching plot shifts categorised into movements and cycles that parallel each other fit the story I’m trying to tell the best. What chapter length suits your story best? What format? What style?

From here, you can start to outline chapter-by-chapter. Be as specific or as vague as suits you - have faith in your plot and your world’s ability to stand on their own, but don’t be afraid to be specific, and don’t be afraid to make a plot that is malleable enough to stand on its own even if you have to change things around later. If you’re writing a large story, it can help to include notes in chapter outlines such as what subplots they touch on, what reveals happen in them, any foreshadowing to remember to include, etc. If you want to be a little more fun with it, feel free to add moodboards, songs or art to your chapter outlines! 

Once you have your outline, stop. 

Go back to your original pile of sifted-through gold and pick through it all again. See if any of those original fun concepts and ideas can be worked in. Scour the world around you for inspiration. Apply what extra shape you can to the clay while it’s still malleable. 

Start to look at intricacies. This is the point where you worldbuild. This is the point where you start to figure out themes, messages, aesthetics, motifs, repetition, allegory. Find new ways to integrate your main themes and messages into the plot itself. Expand your characters as broadly as you can inside the story you’re writing.

Write practice scenes. Write so many practice scenes. Write practice scenes like your life depends on it. Have fun with it! Play with concepts, even if you think they won’t make it into the final cut. Explore dynamics you can’t wait to work into your story. Flesh out the feel of your world, visually and emotionally. 

Step back and stare at your outline. Pick it apart for plotholes until it’s as solid as you can get it.  

Then, start writing and feel at liberty to completely and utterly deviate from your set outline at every turn - because the point of an outline is to give you the tools to start writing your story, not to dictate your story to you.