Elementals

“I just wish you’d give me some warning!” she huffs aloud as she paces her room, not for the first time. Not that she needs to speak aloud for me to hear her - our dialogue is internal. But when she’s in these moods, vocalizing her thoughts seems to be her preference.

“I do,” I remind her. “I-”

“Five minutes is not a warning!” she snaps at the mirror, her reflection glaring back at us. It’s not as if she can see me there, but I suppose when she needs someone in front of her to yell at, it’s a fair approximation. “Not when I’m in the middle of an exam!”

“I don’t know what you want me to do,” I answer. I try to keep my tone even, but it’s difficult. How many times do we have to go through this? “As soon as I know we’re needed to guide a storm, I tell you. I can’t do more.”

“You could leave me alone!” she argues, flopping on her bed, folding her arms over her face. “I’m going to fail. And I have no friends since I keep just disappearing and they think I’m flaking out on them just because you have to go and make it rain somewhere.”

“You agreed to this.”

“I didn’t know what I was agreeing to.”

For a moment, I feel a twinge of sympathy. She sounds as tired as I feel. And she’s right, of course. It wasn’t fair to do this to her. It’s never been fair to do this to anyone, but this one is so young…

“You ruined my life,” she whispers, and the sympathy is gone.

I didn’t ask for this either. But no host has ever thought of that. None has asked what I do when I’m not trapped in their tiny human bodies. Or whether I have friends or family. If they did, I could tell them about the freedom of spreading myself out, so that I’m everywhere in the ocean at once if I want to be. About all my siblings, how we all blend and flow together, how we never feel alone.

Alone. That’s all I feel when it’s my turn to enter a host, and this girl is the worst of all. At least the others I’ve had were resigned to what happened, instead of attacking me at every turn as if I wanted this.

I didn’t. None of us do. But this is the arrangement that’s been made, and the Water won’t listen to our pleas to change it, and won’t even let us talk about these things to our hosts unless they prompt it.

There’s more we could offer them. If they truly accepted us, and saw us as partners instead of invaders. Which I’m sure many would, if they could see things from our perspective. As it is, however, the Water considers this a test of their character. If they’re kind enough to learn more about us without our prompting, then they deserve the reward.

But few are the humans who think of this on their own. As such, being assigned to a host is akin to a prison sentence, confined to a body and only free when it’s time to paint the storm across the sky, returning to one’s cell as soon as it’s complete.

I didn’t ruin your life, Noeul.

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I’m looking for friends to talk about WIPs with and bounce ideas back and forth with. I’d love to hear about your OCs and stories!

Hey everyone! I’m new to the Writeblr community (I mean, I’ve kind of been here, but not really - mostly just been reblogging while I find my footing) and figured it was about time to start introducing myself now that I’ve got a little bit more of an idea for my WIPs and where I want to go with all of this!

My name is Yuyu, but you can also call me Chey or Cheyenne if you’d prefer. I just turned 25 this past Sunday and feel like I might be an old one in this community given that most of the Writeblrs I follow are like in their late teens or very early twenties. Regardless, it’s never too late to start writing and I plan to get more seriously into it now that I’ve found my place here! Everyone’s so welcoming and nice and I’m overflowing with positivity whenever I look at the community! 

Another fun fact about me is that I’m absolute shit at tags and I’m a horribly unorganized mess right now, but plan on working on adding better tags and organizing my Writeblr to better cater to everyone who’s interested. c: 

I have three current WIPs, all with the bare bones attached and no serious plot lines developed yet. Here are some quick descriptions with the general genre/s in parenthesis:

Woods of Wolves (working title): A budding treason. A restless tribe. A precarious truce. And one princess’s rebellious streak. Separate, they have no threat. Together, they can destroy the kingdom. (Fantasy, Drama, Romance)

Untitled: A wolf finds a pup stranded in the forest, severely injured and with no mother. The nearby magic worker can help, but only upon turning the pup into a boy, with no recollection of who or what he is. (Fantasy, Drama, Comedy)

Untitled 2: A scientist travels to Mars to determine if life on the planet is possible. What they discover is promising. What they bring back is life-threatening. (Sci-Fi, Drama, Zombies)

Alright before we get into this let me just say that there is a reason why “realistic” is in quotations here. We all know that magic in fiction doesn’t adhere to the laws of our universe and that’s fine. But it SHOULD adhere to the laws of YOUR universe. Also this is just one girl’s advice and you by no means have to follow it. I’m just here to help! 

Now, the easiest way build out a magic system is to ask yourself a series of questions. These are those questions! Let’s get started.

The first thing to think of when creating a system for your world’s magic is, obviously, what is it? Is it elemental manipulation, telekinesis, super-healing, a little bit of everything? It’s your world. It’s your decision. 

And once you have the general idea of what it is, you can ask yourself where that magic comes from. Is it granted by a divine being? Is it attached to certain objects? Are people born with it? Has it always existed or is it new? Knowing the answers to these questions will help to flesh out not only the magic system but the lore of your world as a whole. Once you’ve answered these questions you can move on to… 

Exactly who/what possesses magic and how are they treated? Is it something people are envious of? Do they seek to gain it themselves? Or are people afraid of it? Do they look down on magic users? Can anyone learn magic? And what does it take for someone with magic to perform it? This is a big question because it leads into the trickier bits of putting magic in a world. Do magic users wave wands, chant spells, brew potions? Do they need a spell book? Is it physically or mentally exhausting to use magic?

Knowing how magic is performed and what a magic user is capable of will give you an idea of exactly what the limits of your magic should be. And wow there needs to be limits. One of the biggest mistakes a lot of writers seem to make with magic is making it too powerful. I call this the “Nobody’s Dead” problem because everyone seems to want to be able to resurrect their heroes with magic but, guys… if one character can be resurrected then there’s no stakes for any other death in the story (unless that’s the POINT of your story which case… tag me because I wanna read that). Same goes for rampant time manipulation magic or characters who are literally untouchable because of some kind of magic shield. 

To combat this, if you MUST have some sort of crazy plot-altering magical moment, I suggest making it a one-time thing. Maybe there’s a single Amulet of Life created by the Gods that, once used, shatters - never to be used again. Or perhaps your magic is magic of equal exchange - a life for a life, something for something else. You can very easily break the rules of your universe when you start dabbling in crazy powerful magic so be sure to dampen it.   

NEXT, you need to consider the ramifications of magic in your world. For example, if characters are able to conjure gold pieces out of thin air then your world probably isn’t using gold pieces in their economy. If flight is a common magical ability then the roads in and out of cities might be neglected and or barely existent at all. Consider how magic would affect the past, present, and future of your world. Is it woven into religion? Are the rulers of your land expected to be fluent magic users? What happens if magic suddenly stopped existing? What would that look like?

And lastly, remember that this is magic and it doesn’t need to be explained down to the smallest detail. I know I just wrote a post telling you to develop everything down to the smallest detail but hear me out: YOU knowing everything about your magic system is not the same as your READERS or even your CHARACTERS knowing everything about your magic system. It’s okay for things to be a little cryptic and mysterious as long as it’s believable within the confines of the world you’ve created around it. 

Hi! so, my dash is pretty dead rn and I want to follow more writeblrs and booklrs/ litlrs.

So if your blog includes posts about:

your writing process/ writing updates

snippets, moodboards, edits, etc.

Writing advice

Writblr memes

Book reviews/ recs

Book-related fandoms (eg: TRC, TSOA, AFTG)

Anything else along these lines

Then like, reblog or reply to this post and I’ll check your blog out :)

After I told her all about my abandoned projects and often losing interest in the middle of writing, she told me that there are two types of creative people: those motivated by the outcome and those motivated by the process.

Those motivated by the outcome will more often than not finish their work because the idea of having a finished manuscript/drawing/artwork is what drives them in the first place. Seeing their work completed excites them more than the process of creating it.

Now if you’re like me, you’re one of those people motivated by the process. It’s the process of writing that creates fulfilment, and it’s very often the case that the mind simply feels fulfilled after you write a couple of chapters. Or, you may choose to write your favourite scenes first, and leave the transition bits and the less interesting chapters for later — only you never actually write those because your brain has already gotten what it wanted, and you entirely lose your interest in the project.

Being the second type of writer, life often sucks. But there is always a way to improve things and my therapist said that to keep yourself on track you basically have to do two things:

1. Try to focus your mind on the goal, which is the finished manuscript/artwork. And don’t be afraid to be bold. Imagine yourself getting the first copies of your printed book in mail. Imagine seeing the cover for the first time. Hell, imagine winning an award, getting thousands of tweets and messages from your fans, imagine seeing your name appear in the end credits of the movie adaptation. Anything to focus on the goal, and anything to get excited about it.

2. Do your best to get excited about the less interesting parts of getting the work done. Create moodboards, doodles, playlists, talk to fellow writers. The excitement that comes out of these activities and interactions will sustain you throughout writing the less “exciting” scenes. And always keep in mind that some of these bits that you find boring might be exactly what resonates with your reader. One of my favourite scenes that I’ve read in a book has a gang member standing by a window, looking out to the city and thinking. Nothing more than that, and yet it was one of my favourite moments in the novel.

You know what’s important?

So, I was going to send this as a message to @oabuckvu, but instead I thought I’d post this here since others may also find it helpful!

A:

Addison- child of Adam- English Adina- slender- Hebrew Alby- from Alba- Latin Ally- friend- English Ash- ash tree clearing- English Azra- pure- Israeli Asa- physician- Hebrew Arin- enlightened- Hebrew Arlo- army, hill- old English or barberry tree- Spanish Avery- elf ruler- English Alex- defender of mankind- Greek Arlen- promise, oath- Irish Ambrose- immortal- Latin Aspen- tree- English August- dignity, vulnerable- German

B:

Blaine- yellow- Scottish Blake- blonde, dark- English Bryce- swift- Celtic Brooklyn- broken land- English Bradley- clearing in a woods- English Bailey- bailiff- English Beck- brook, stream- Norse

C:

Chyler- beloved- English Cody- child of cuidightheach- English Charlie- charles- English Chris- christ- English Coby- supplanter- Latin Casey- brave- Gaelic Corin- spear bearer- Irish Cameron- crooked nose- Scottish Colby- town, dark- Norse

D:

Dakota- friend- Native American Devon- poet- Irish Delaney- descendent of the challenger- Irish Drew- manly- English Denham- habitation- English Dael- knowledge of God- Hebrew Danny- God has judged- Scottish

E:

Ellis- Jehova is God- Greek Ellery- from the elder tree island- English Evan- youth warrior- Irish Emery- brave, powerful- German Eden- delight- Hebrew Ellison- child of elder- English

F:

Farron- iron grey- Anglo Saxon Freddie- peaceful ruler- German Frankie- free one- French Fynn- river in Ghana- African Finch- bird- English Flynn- child of red hair- Irish

G:

Gene- well born- English Gale- cheerful, pleasant- English Glade- shining- English Glen- valley- Gaelic

H:

Hollis- Holly tree dweller- English Harlow- rock, army, hill- English Halley- lived near a grove- English Hadley- Heather field- English

I:

Isa- devoted to God- Teutonic Ives- archers bow- English Iggy- firey one- English

J:

Juniper- youth producing, evergreen- Latin Jesse- gift- Hebrew Jo- God is gracious- English/German/French Joey- may Jehova add- Hebrew Jordan- river flow- Macedonian Jet- black gemstone- German

K:

Kellam- at the ridges- Norse Kelsey- from the ships island- English Kendall- royal valley- English Kai- sea- Hawaii

L:

Logan- hollow- Scottish Leslie- garden of holly- Scottish Lee- dweller near the wood- English Lane- path- English Luca- bringer of light- Italy Lirit- poetic- Hebrew Lex- defender- Greek Lakota- friends- Siouan

M:

Mattie- strength in battle- German Morgan- sea defender- English Misha- God live- Russia Max- greatest- Latin Mattise- gift of god- French Monroe- from the mouth of the river Roe- Irish

N:

Newlyn- from the new spring- Celtic Noel- Christmas- French Nicky- victory- English Nat- gift of god- English Nova- chases butterfly- Native American

O:

Oakley- from the oak tree meadow- English Oak- tree- English

P:

Perry- dwells by the pear tree- English Piper- one who plays the pipe- Scandinavian Pema- lotus- Tibetan Puck- unknown meaning- Dutch Parker- park keeper- English

Q:

Quinn- fifth- Irish Quinta- fifth- Spanish

R:

Reese- firey- Welsh Rey- king- Spanish Reed- red, clearing- English Rune- secret- Norse Rue- herb, regret- English Rain- blessings- American Riley- dweller by the Rye field- English River- river- English Rowan- red- Gaelic Rory- red king- Gaelic Ronson- child of ron- English

S:

Sawyer- cuts timber- Celtic Stevie- crown- English Shiloh- owner- Hebrew Sage- wise one- French Saxon- knife- Teutonic Sammy- bright sun- Finnish Scout- to listen- French Shane- gift from God- Irish

T:

Tex- texas- American Toni- worthy of praise- Latin Theo- God given- Greek Taylor- to cut- French Tyne- a river in england- English Tyler- maker of tiles- English Terry- powerful ruler- English

U:

Umber- shade- French

W:

Wyatt- guide- English Willow- graceful- English Wynne- fair- English Wren- song bird- English

X:

Xen- religious- Japanese

Y:

Yael- mountain goat- Hebrew

Z: