previously @erinisawriter!!

ways to get away with no attribution:

-dialogue immediately follows the character’s action:

Alex looked up from his laptop. “Have you seen this article?”

-dialogue immediately precedes the character’s action

“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me this earlier!” Cassandra flung the newspaper across the room.

-dialogue is bouncing between two characters and we know who started (cut this with action or attribution every 3 or 4 quotes, though, so the reader doesn’t lose track)

“We’re working on it,” Wilder said.

“Oh, really?”

“Really. We should have definitive results this week.”

I’ve just launched a new website called Query Generator!

Query Generator is a tool for fiction writers in the early stages of drafting or reworking their query letters. The Generator helps you identify important aspects of your story and gathers them into a standard query structure. 

The main feature of the website is the Generator itself, which has a form that’s divided into five sections:

Section 1: The Protagonist

Section 2: The Plot

Section 3: Meta Data

Section 4: You!

Section 5: The Agent

The Generator looks something like this:

Every single item has both an explanations and a few examples of how you might fill out the item, which should help to guide you in filling out each section. Some of the questions are extremely simple (ex. ”Full Name”) while some might take a bit of thinking (ex. “Initial Challenges”). 

Once you’re done, your query will look something like the ones on the Example Page: 

The example page features the “blank” template and two examples of filled out forms. This will help you see how everything actually fits together, and should provide you with some further help before you start with your own query - or, if the Generator produces an incoherent mess - will help you see how it was everything was meant to come together in the end. You can really see here that there are very few words the Generator actually adds to your project. The longest string is six. The Generator is meant to help you find your own words as you draft your query. 

Finally, there’s an Advice Page: 

This page is meant to help you:

understand why the generator functions the way it does, 

provides tips for further editing your query, and

helps you look toward next steps once you finish revising your query.

Why the Generator Exists

I’ve noticed, doing some query critiques here and in workshops with friends, that many first-attempts at queries are missing some fundamental story elements: protagonist ages, word counts, inciting incidents, setting, etc. No matter how well written they were, they weren’t fulfilling all of the functions required by query letters. 

I have my writing the perfect query letter post, but as I was helping a friend rewrite her query, I realized that some elements were just so formulaic, that there had to be a way to just… make a query generating form.

So I decided to build, basically, a Query Ad-Libs. You fill out a form that asks for your story elements, giving you examples and explanations to help you along the way. Once it has the information, it puts everything together, and hands it back to you in a standard query layout.

It won’t be well-written, but it’ll be a starting point for you to take back to your Word Doc and hopefully use to make something amazing.

A Simple Website 

This website was created by me (concept, content, & design) and my boyfriend (qualified, professional computer programmer). We didn’t have a team or testers or any outside help along the way. Just a drive to combine our skills and do something with our time besides binging Netflix (and many, many cups of Starbucks.) It’s not a professional or moneymaking endeavor, either. There are no ads or fees. 

However, if you find the site useful and would like to show your appreciation, donations of cups of coffee via Ko-Fi would be greatly valued, and spent coming up with additional content, either for this site or a new one: https://ko-fi.com/letswritesomenovels. 

Also, if you come across any bugs, please let us know, so we can fix them for future visitors to the Query Generator! 

I hope you check it out, and - if you do - I hope you find it useful to your writing endeavors, whether you’re getting ready to query, dreaming of querying, or just having fun. 

https://www.querylettergenerator.com/

Amy's Birthday Sleepover, 1986

The boombox crackled as advertisements began, or maybe it was just the radio deejays starting some bogus intellectual discussion.

Mel began to sing quietly, swaying back and forth just a little. Sure, the song had just ended, but Cheryl wasn't going to complain. 

"Tell me your troubles and doubts, giving me anything inside and out, and…" She grinned, then plopped her head down again on Cheryl's shoulder. "Love's strange, so real in the dark…" She trailed off again, plucking her hand from Cheryl's waist and placing it overtop Cheryl's heart. Flexing it over her chest as she felt the familiar ba-bum. "Think of the tender things that we were working on."

As she kept going, singing that song they both connected with a little too much (it might have been that morning in the Orion that they'd kissed each other for the first time, teary-eyed), Cheryl rested her head back against the wood of the dresser.

"You're such a pretty singer," Cheryl whispered. "You should be in choir, Mel."

Mel had always wanted to, but that would have meant missing out on study dates with Cheryl. 

Mel chuckled in response. Then, they sat in the dark, the chatty white noise lulling them to a state of contentment they could've stayed in forever.

Until Amy tossed and turned in bed, sheets rustling, and groaned.

MacArthur High Senior Prom, 1987

Mel wished she could leave early, but her ride was her cousin Kyle and he didn't get off shift at the grocers for another forty-five minutes.

About ten minutes in, Amy and Tina left together. They always hung out outside the group, as they both actually enjoyed studying and sci-fi. And they lived on the same block, so it was purely convenience's sake on their parents' side.

Five minutes after that, Veronica grabbed Brian to join the dancefloor. Mel knew she wouldn't see Veronica again at all until school on Monday.

And then, Paul excused himself. He said he wanted to go check in with the guys on the team.

Most of them went solo, he'd pointed out, then flashed a smile and a wink at Cheryl.

It made Mel want to throw up. For real this time.

"Can you believe…" Cheryl leaned forward, trailing off with a giggle.

"No. No, Cher, I can't believe." Mel frowned and tossed her napkin onto the table, all crumpled and stained from the dance's snacks. She crossed her arms in front of her, the bodice of her dress starting to itch and pull and drive her absolutely nuts.

Cheryl's smile fell. Looking around, especially in Paul's direction, she stood and sat in the chair beside Mel.

"Mel, we decided…"

"Not for prom, we didn't," Mel scoffed. Cheryl put her hand on Mel's covered knee.

Mel had to fight to stay still. While her brain was hurt and angry, her heart craved the contact.

"Mel…"

"You couldn't even call me that in front of him, did you notice that? Not once have I ever, ever gone by my full name, and here you are. Melanie this, Melanie that. God, do you know how that feels?"

Cheryl's mouth opened and closed like a fish. And even in imagining Cheryl as a fish, Mel thought she was beautiful.

you cannot feasibly remember every wip that you read about, o matter how much you love it. there are too many on this site. and that’s okay!

i, for one, love repeating the same things over and over again. i love answering seemingly silly questions, because I’ve thought about that answer, and i’m thrilled to talk about it.

me: 

*goes on tumblr for hours, makes aesthetic moodboards and gifsets, picks up a book from my tbr and puts it back down 17 times, stares at a blank document for hours, can’t focus for shit*

me:

- cavetown 

- the 1975

- fall out boy

- k.k slider 

- my chem

- the front bottoms 

- rights for worms

- painful memories attached to songs u can never listen to again 

- bears in trees 

- panic! (ryan era)

hi! i’ve been lurcking for the longest time, never quite daring to make a proper writeblr, so! here goes.

hum-hum. let me introduce myself. my name is doriane, i’m a 22 yo archaeology student (yay!), a professional procrastinator and living vicariously through my sim. also, i’m french. eh. i write! fantasy, sci-fi, horror. i read everything.

i’m currently working on a story, still untitled but! alive and well. i’ll keep you updated on that. lol. wip introduction post coming up!