Actually I keep complaining about operational worldbuilding, so here are some recommendations for it:
Ask yourself "what is this organization accomplishing" and "would this organization, as written, accomplish that thing?"
For example, magic academies/schools/universities for adults: what are they training their students for? Is it more like a vocational school or a university? Are students being trained for specific jobs? Is it a training for government? Is it primarily a place to foist the idle rich off to to get them out of the way?
For a military training, is the goal primarily training or a weeding out process? Is it basic training or specialized training? If someone fails out of the training, do they end up in the regular forces or do they fail out of the military entirely?
Ask yourself "how did this practice come to be?"
For example, a trial or competition system: why was this system established? Do the requirements for the trial/competition match what the end result is (e.g., fighting competition to win a fighting position)? If not (e.g., scavenger heart to become the consort), why is that the competition that is used? Do the potential outcomes of the trial (e.g., death) merit the rewards for it?
Ask yourself "if this system is horrible, why do people put up with it?"
For example, a school or organization where people are allowed to attack and/or kill each other: why is it allowed to continue? Why do people send their children or voluntarily join it? If it is mandatory, do people fight against it, and if not, why not?
Just as a side note, this isn't saying you have to have organizations that perfectly answer these criteria. Think about how things are in the real world - very rarely do things make logical sense, and when that happens, there are people who bring attention to it.
Maybe there's a protest group complaining about how magic school doesn't prepare them for society? Maybe there's people looking to cheat the trials? Maybe murder school is training its students to kill protesters who want to shut it down?
Look hard enough, and you can find a story just about anywhere!
Just to clarify, these are questions, not criteria. Specifically, these are questions that you (the author) should be asking yourself when you are writing.
You don't need to write a good organization, or even a functional one, but it really does help to know the answer to things like "what is the purpose of this organization?" and "does this organization accomplish that purpose?"
The answer to the latter question can be no. But you (the author) should make it no on purpose.
If an organization is stupid or pointless or ineffective or counterproductive, or a practice is awful or useless or cruel or being subverted, you (the author) should know that it is, and why.
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PLEASE do yourself a favour and check out this wikipedia-styled template for google drive, made by @ Rukidut on twitter
I decided to try to sort my ideas and whats canon regarding my ocs with this and ITS PERFECT. IT ALL FEELS SO CONRETE. and i sure as hell AM Going to continue to use this with every single OC I have until google drives is set ablaze- Just!!!!!!!!
Also; link directly to the doc, just copy the file and you have your own lil template!!!!
name:
meaning of name:
nicknames/titles:
age:
gender:
location:
birthday:
strengths + example where it's shown:
weaknesses + example where it's shown:
how it affects others:
emotional depth
attachment style + how it manifests in the story:
physical fear:
emotional/abstract fear:
happy memory:
sad memory:
object of significance:
philosophical outlook/belief:
what characters are ignorant about themselves:
how confident are they:
goal:
long-term dreams:
what they're embarrassed/ashamed to tell others about:
regrets:
source of pride:
source of misery:
what they admire above all else:
do they believe in fate:
personality
mbti:
enneagram:
big five:
character archetype:
star sign:
who they pretend to be on the outside:
who they actually are/how they feel towards the mask:
mental health conditions:
how it manifests for them:
iq:
eq:
humour:
reputation:
habits
bad habits:
mannerisms when stressed:
mannerisms when content:
mannerisms when scared:
mannerisms normally:
verbal mannerisms/distinctive speaking style:
how do they move across a room:
what do they say and what remains unsaid:
how they express love:
hobbies:
appearance
defining features:
eye shape + colour:
hair texture + colour:
skin texture + tone:
vibe:
height:
build:
clothing:
any bodily disfigurement (scars, etc.):
overall attractiveness:
their opinion on their appearance:
appeals to:
relationships
who they trust most:
what they wish they could do for them:
what's holding them back:
who they hate most:
what they wish they could do to them:
what's holding them back:
relationship with the protagonist:
relationship with the antagonist:
siblings:
relationship with them:
parents/step-parents:
relationship with them:
previous broken relationships:
why did it break:
what others expect of them:
who believes in them:
their mentor character/who they look up to:
political/religious/other affiliations:
what makes them different from every other character:
non-human relationships + why:
romantic "type" + why:
relationship dynamics:
backstory/background
primary emotion towards their past:
primary feelings while in their past:
where did they grow up:
defining incidents:
earliest childhood memory:
saddest memory:
happiest memory:
major accomplishments:
their opinion on it:
notable people in their backstory:
effect on them today:
trauma:
what have they already lost:
financial circumstance:
progression
why are they important (eg. why're they the only one able to do something?):
what do they learn about themselves throughout the story:
what do they learn about the world:
how do they feel towards their newfound knowledge:
character arc (positive, negative, neutral):
how relationships change because of their actions:
what mistakes do they make:
what scene is their character highlighted:
do they get what they want:
why or why not:
what happens to them after the story ends:
Some of my favorite words and phrases to describe a character in pain
coiling (up in a ball, in on themselves, against something, etc)
panting (thereâs a slew of adjectives you can put after this, my favorites are shakily, weakly, etc)
keeling over (synonyms are words like collapsing, which is equally as good but overused in media)
trembling/shivering (additional adjectives could be violently, uncontrollably, etc)
sobbing (weeping is a synonym but iâve never liked that word. also love using sob by itself, as a noun, like âhe let out a quiet sobâ)
whimpering (love hitting the wips with this word when a character is weak, especially when the pain is subsiding. also love using it for nightmares/attacks and things like that)
clinging (to someone or something, maybe even to themselves or their own clothes)
writhing/thrashing (maybe someoneâs holding them down, or maybe theyâre in bed alone)
crying (not actual tears. cry as in a shrill, sudden shout)
dazed (usually after the pain has subsided, or when adrenaline is still flowing)
wincing (probably overused but i love this word. synonym could be grimacing)
doubling-over (kinda close to keeling over but they donât actually hit the ground, just kinda fold in on themselves)
heaving (i like to use it for describing the way someoneâs breathing, ex. âheaving breathsâ but can also be used for the nasty stuff like dry heaving or vomiting)
gasping/sucking/drawing in a breath (or any other words and phrases that mean a sharp intake of breath, that shite is gold)
murmuring/muttering/whispering (or other quiet forms of speaking after enduring intense pain)
hiccuping/spluttering/sniffling (words that generally imply crying without saying crying. the word crying is used so much it kinda loses its appeal, thatâs why i like to mix other words like these in)
stuttering (or other general terms that show an impaired ability to speak â when someoneâs in intense pain, it gets hard to talk)
staggering/stumbling (there is a difference between pain that makes you not want to stand, and pain that makes it impossible to stand. explore that!)
recoiling/shrinking away (from either the threat or someone trying to help)
pleading/begging (again, to the threat, someone trying to help, or just begging the pain to stop)
Feel free to add your favorites or most used in the comments/reblogs!
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I write almost the entire story as a summary (at least first 5-10 chapters) before I even THINK about beginning to actually write. Then, if I have time, will breakdown the chapter into a checklist like:
Chapter One:
X meets Y
They literally hate each other.
Bad vibes SMH.
And then just keep expanding with ideas like that so when I write I'm not lost nor do I feel that I don't know what to do.
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Book Rant Review and Deep Dive into first few chapters
Art in America by Ron McLarty
May contain spoilers! -----
I bought this book at the annual book fair my city has. I was most intrigued by the sinopsis since it felt real (the lack of "famous" people and magazine quotes were also a plus), the cover was not that bad and the price was fair. I had little expectations but it had been a long while since I bought a physical book (ebooks are way cheaper, sorry!), so naturally I was excited about it.
But, oh boy, was I let down.
The Prologue should not have been called Prologue but I let it slide, since it wasn't a crime and either way, it gave important information about the protagonist in a show-not-tell (-ish) way.
The writing style was not up my alley, but it gave the character life in a way were you could feel more deeply everything that went on.
Steven was the only character which did not confuse me in his introduction, aside from Beverly who was clearly his (ex) girlfriend. Roarke was harder to understand, but I got who she was just before the third chapter.
Everything up to the seventh chapter was good. Although a bit hard to understand (context, setting, and some times unnecessary cursing that made me cringe).
The 8th chapter introduces us to different characters in different settings. In this first change of POV we are given the heads-up that it had to do with Steven's next job. It's the author giving us a flashback about what Steven was suppossed to discover. Although it interrupted the flow of the main story, it was more or less interesting and gave us some information about what would become relevant later on.
However, once we reach chapter 9 we are once again thrown into "the present" and Steven regains the reins of the narrative. I, personally, hated the addition of the brother who "loves" his sister despite her being a "lesbo" as he himself refers to in this chapter. The blatant homophobia was relevant and historically accurate since the main plot was set during the late 1990s, though it still made me uncomfortable. I have to admit that if that was the author's purpose (and I believe it was) he achieved it, since here it was made clear that Roarke was also a lesbian (if you had missed the hints before).
After this actually good dinner scene of homophobia, sibling love and expectations, a sudden coming out and tortellini, we are thrown back to the world of Mountain Man (Chapter 8 continuation). During this chapter we are lost inside the new venture this character thought of and there is little to no development of an actual story line. This 10th chapter was used as an introduction. In my reduced understanding of the book so far, I could no grasp what the author tried to communicate about Mountain Man with the final sentence of this chapter: "Then he thought, Fuck, we're all gonna die."
Chapter 11 goes by without relevance as a whole, and I rescue just the last paragraph, where Steven decides to go for the job he was offered. This is a crucial point in the book since, from my perspective, everything truly starts from here.
Chapter 12 was once again narrated by Mountain Man, here during his adventure we can dive a little better on his understanding of the world and his personality.
In the next chapter we can sense a kind of goodbye party. Nothing much, a mention of Beverly and other characters that don't do much to further the plot. More like, it resolved some of the initial plot points in order to erradicate plotholes at the end.
Chapter 14 portrays beatifully the egocentric nature of Mountain Man, as he asks Ronald DeFreeze (an adventurer on his expedition) if there was any question he could clear since he assumed Ronald was writing an article about their rafting excursion. Obviously, Ronald wasn't. He was writing poems. (This would be relevant later on for me as I hypothesize that Cowboy Bob Panosus has something to do with Ronald.)
We change back to Steven for chapter 15. As readers we can already see a pattern of back and forth between narrators, though due to the shortness of the chapters this makes it a bit hard for the reader to immerse themselves into the narrative completely.
Anyway, in this chapter we get properly introduced to Miss Wilma Kirk as a character. She takes Steven to where he was staying and breifly mentions history facts about Creedmore.
The next chapter (16), Mountain Man encounters what should be the turning point on his little adventure. They make a crucial stop before continuing the rafting route on a part of the river that is considered "private property" though the Mountain Man dismisses this.
As readers, we already figured out the pattern of back and forth between this two male protagonists, right? Yes. So, in a sense, we expect the entire book to develop in that particular manner. But it doesn't.
Chapter 17 is narrated by Ticky Lettgo. Someone aforementioned in the book, however, this doesn't make it less sudden. His narration does in fact relate completely to the story of Mountain Man, and probably to some conflict that would be later brought up by Steven as he writes a biographical piece about Creedmore.
The end of this chapter separates the previous chapters from the 18th and so forth, with a poem by Cowboy Bob Panousus.
Beyond this point my understanding of the book and its intricate characters was no better than of a middle schooler reading Shakespeare. The words were there, except, I was lost within the story and the historical context that I simply did not get it.
Beyond this point I am in no position to talk about it, and my only take is that this book alienated me from it. The constant story change without more than a few pages of development between each was tiring and made me pause to make out a clear timeline more than once.
I would not reccomend this book, however, that is just my opinion.
Thank you for reading this if you made it so far!!
this should be a tweet but I donât want to deal with people on Twitter. everyone stop having every character in your fiction talk like their goal is to get an A in therapy.Â
I love cathartic conversations too and that is why I am begging you: stop hunting them to extinction by making them constant, characterless, and corny as hell
I think this why I donât really get peoples strong disdain of the âmiscommunication tropeâ.
Like okay I get, it can be annoying to see characters going around in circles. But itâs only like that because we have the whole picture, not them.
Also, miscommunication eg; not getting things, missing stuff or saying what you are really feeling, is way more realistic to life than people using the perfect phases and words to convey feelings.
And I think it makes a more dynamic character interactions, especially when the characters realise it themselves and try to fix it.
Tired: Characters who just refuse to talk to each other for transparently ridiculous reason to Create Drama, or who Drastically Misunderstand An Innocent Action And Go Bananas over it.Â
Awesome: Characters who all have different pieces of the puzzle, but donât KNOW they do. Characters who think someone already knows what they know, so they donât mention it. Characters who donât realize that what they know is important. Characters who genuinely misinterpret the information given them by other characters. Characters who had so much information to share that they accidentally left something out. Characters who drop a vital clue at the eleventh hour, and when everyone stares at them is all â... what?... did you not know about that?â
Characters who donât communicate because they donât understand each other. Characters who are legitimately mad at each other for reasonable reasons. Characters who struggle to communicate. Characters who communicate so much that people stop listening and miss the important part.Â
Miscommunication can work if you put in the tiniest bit of effort.Â
if the stars align and i ever start writing anything other than fanfiction again, i will buy myself a mocha frappuccino and sit at a lovely coffee shop to write one lousy paragraph
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can we all agree the hardest part about writting is the start? the part where you have to sit down in front of your computer and you either stare at words that don't make any sense or you stare at a blank document that seems haunted. yeah, the part where you have to fight really hard against the quesiton "should i do something else instead?"
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Chapters: 8/8
Fandom: Haikyuu!!
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Iwaizumi Hajime/Oikawa Tooru, Hanamaki Takahiro/Matsukawa Issei
Characters: Iwaizumi Hajime, Oikawa Tooru, Matsukawa Issei, Hanamaki Takahiro, Original Male Character(s)
Additional Tags: Jealous Iwaizumi Hajime, Idiots in Love, Summer Vacation, second year seijohâs four, iwaoi - Freeform, Slow Burn, Established Hanamaki Takahiro/Matsukawa Issei, Love Triangles, Light Angst, Eventual Fluff, Completed, Boyfriends
Summary:
Summer was coming. Oikawa and Iwaizumi knew this was the last summer they could spend peacefully with their friends before having to think about college. Oikawa hatched a plan for the summer. Iwaizumi had a huge realization. Maybe this summer would bring more than just adventuresâŚ
or
A slowburn of four teenage boys who decide to make the most out of their summer.
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