Writing Advice

Rule #1 of the omegaverse: Every omegaverse is different. There are no rules and you can do whatever you want. (This is my biggest curse because I can't just write a story I also have to worldbuild the whole thing too UGH).

How common are each sub-gender: are there an equal number of each or is one more common? (In some versions betas are really rare but in others they're really common).

What is a beta? Are they normal people with no extra features? Are they like Omegas (or Alphas) but just less intense? Are they intersex? A combination of Alpha/Omega? Or are they a completely different third thing? (This one is really annoying me).

What biological features do each sub-gender have and do they differ based on biological sex?

What does puberty look like? Lots of omegaverse uses the concept of "presenting" as a certain sub-gender around the time of puberty.

Similarly, when do people find out their sub-gender? Do they grow up knowing or is it a surprise? Is it like gender-reveals and they can tell in the womb? (If you're extra you can get into the genetic aspect of it all but I do not recommend).

What are heat cycles/ruts like? Do ruts even exist? Do betas experience either of these things?

Are there heat/rut suppressants or other medication like birth control and scent blockers? How safe are they? How legal/easy to obtain are they? What are the social implications of taking these medications?

Do any of the sub-genders face discrimination? Is there any important history associated with this? How does this affect the daily lives of your characters?

What are the social expectations of each sub-gender, both positive and negative? What stereotypes are there? How are they harmful/helpful?

What role does biological sex (being male/female/intersex) play in this world? Is is important at all or completely set aside?

Is there discrimination against alpha/alpha or omega/omega relationships? Do regular gay/lesbian relationships face discrimination or is it okay as long as their sub-genders match up?

How does being transgender work? Can you be transgender with your sub-gender? (This is a question that has plagued me for years lol).

What are pack dynamics like? What is considered a pack? Are there traditional pack dynamics like there are for families in our universe?

Do fated mates exist? Or is being makes like marriage? How do mating bites work?

How do pheromones work? Scenting? Do betas have the same special noses and whatnot as Alphas/Omegas? Or are they not subjected to the insane smell situation?

Sex stuff (sorry): Do female alphas have retractable penises? Do male omegas have self-lubricating holes? Is there knotting? What other special genital features are there? Who can impregnate who and with what?

MPREG: Can male omegas get pregnant and have babies? If so, how? Butt? C-section? Or some other cursed way (penis)? (This has been contemplated by many over the years if you're interested).

that's all for now (might update)

Update: been ten minutes and I already have more...

(some things to try when you’re stuck thinking of a title for your book)

what is your book about? is there a person/object/event that is central to it? (ex: the hunger games, the lightning thief, magic tree house, frankenstein, the list goes on these are very common…)

is there a phrase that you’ve written, maybe dialogue, that you feel encapsulates what your story’s about? (ex: i’ll give you the sun, little women, call me by your name)

try free-writing about your book for a few minutes. describe what your story is about as if you were trying to convince someone to read it, then see if you find some interesting descriptions or combinations of words you wouldn’t have tried otherwise (i would say this encapsulates things like: star wars, six of crows, aristotle and dante discover the secrets of the universe)

i would stay away from stringing together a bunch of vague words that explain the vibe of your book but don’t really reference anything specific within the story—your reader should be interested in finding out what the title means and they should understand it by the end (ex: a court of mist and fury—if you’re going to do this, mist and fury had better be the core of the story and i’d better look at that title with new eyes once i’ve finished it)

Act I

Opening scene - Introduce your characters in their natural habitat. Show them in a situation that they are comfortable with/used to being in. (Try not to pack too many characters in all at once, two is plenty for the first scene.) Often, the opening scene/chapter ends with the inciting event or leads into it.

Inciting event - The event (or injection of information) that sets the stage for the rest of the story. This one thing makes everything that comes next possible. But the main character is not personally invested in the story yet.

Introduce antagonist - If your conflict involves a big reveal later in the story, it needs to at least be foreshadowed early on. We either need to know that something is wrong or be introduced to the character who will end up being the antagonist later on (and show that something is off about them.)

In the first Harry Potter book, we are introduced to Quirrel early in the book and he is a questionable character but we don't question it because Harry suspects Snape, so when it is revealed at the end, we are surprised but it still makes sense.

Key event - This is the event that changes things. It gives the main character a reason. They are now personally invested in the story, which leads to the next point...

First doorway of no return - If the key event is the reason, the first doorway of no return is the action that it causes. They make a decision and in doing so, allow a change to happen that they cannot undo. (In traditional fantasy, this is the moment that the character literally takes a step into a new world or reality and leave their home behind.)

In The Lord of the Rings: Frodo must leave the Shire

In Star Wars: Luke leaves Tatooine

In other types of fiction, however, it might look different.

In a relationship-driven story or romance: a character kisses their friend and in doing so cannot return to how their relationship was before, etc.

Act II

Intro to new world - Introduce the world that your characters have just entered into through the first doorway of no return.

The plan (1) - What is the current goal and what is their plan to achieve it?

Reminder of antagonistic force - Sometimes referred to as the first pinch point. Put your characters in danger, show that there is a threat. Even if not everything is revealed about the antagonist yet, the readers need to know that there are stakes.

Midpoint - Big juicy plot twist that changes everything. (Sometimes called the Mirror Moment because it often causes the main character to reflect on themself.) Change our perspective on the story.

The plan (2) - Reaction to the midpoint. What is the new plan now that they have had their revelation? Sometimes the midpoint changes the goal, if they have a new goal now, what is it?

Second reminder of antagonistic force - (Second pinch point) Up the stakes, the villain is still around, there is still something wrong and now they have to fix it faster. (They still don't have everything they need to win.)

Second doorway of no return - The event that pushes the characters into the final act. The step forward that ensures they will see the story to the end. Show their resolve.

Act III

The Plan (3) - The final plan. How do they intend to finish the story. (The plan is more for you, you don't need to list it in your story or anything, you just need to make the character have intentions)

Also, a rule I like to use whenever characters are plotting something (at any point in the story): if the plan is going to succeed, you shouldn't explain it. If it's going to go exactly the way they want it will feel repetitive to the reader.

Final battle - Storm the castle. The climax. Confront the antagonist. From this point on everything is going to happen fast.

Black moment - The 'all is lost' moment. It seems like there is no way for the story to be resolved.

Moment of hope - Something or someone provides the final push, either coming to the rescue or providing the character with the last piece of information that they need conclude the story.

In Star Wars: Han Solo appears at the moment that it seems that they will fail.

Resolution - Tie everything together. Make sure all your conflicts and subplots are resolved and that the ending is satisfying (and sends the message you want.)

If you intend to write a sequel you can introduce a new conflict at the very end (and you can leave subplots partially unresolved to carry on into the next story, just make sure it doesn't feel too unsatisfying)

If it takes place in a school setting, usually the end of the school year is a good cut off.

In a more traditional sense, giving your characters a specific amount of time to complete an important task.

If it’s their parents think about a name they would choose not the character themself

They could be named after a grandparent, family friend, or some other loved one (possibly who has passed away)

Biblical names (this doesn’t just mean John and Mary. Do some research as you can find some pretty interesting ones)

Are they top five baby name parents? Did they google popular baby names and just go down the list? Yeah? You go do that too. (It may be basic but if they have basic parents it’ll be in character)

If they named themself or were named by someone of a similar age like a sibling or friend you can be a little more wacky with it. Just make sure it is within reason.

This is where you’ll find the 2012 tumblr oc names although I encourage you to branch out

Some of my favorite funky names are based on random objects (example: Duck)

Other things I can think of:

They might be named after (or by) Gods, goddesses, and other mythical beings. Especially if they actually exist in your world.

Side note: nicknames are fine but I don’t wanna see any of this: “My name is Valentina but everyone calls me Val, *proceeds to infodump her entire character description* (You know the one)

Basically: give your character a name that I can believe their parents gave them OR show me why they have the name that they do without making it a big deal. I need to be able to believe it, that is all

1.) Does your story take place in the multiverse?

Is there one timeline or multiple?

Are all the timelines parallel to each other but not connected or do they branch out off each other at every deciding moment?

A common story I see a lot follows a character who has to go back in time to change an event that happens in the future. Each time they go back in time they make different choices and a new timeline is created which they will ultimately abandon when they fail again and again until they get it right.

2.) What can't they do

There will always be constraints to any magic system. (Ex. Magic can't bring back the dead, etc.) The same is true of time travel, there have to be things that aren't possible.

Maybe they can only travel back in time and therefore might not want to go too far.

3.) Is there a Present Moment?

Is your timeline infinite or still writing itself?

If there is a present moment, then that should be where at least your main character is from, considering that history has already been written and therefore will not change without an outside cause. (But feel free to try something new, there are a lot of rules but there's still space for creativity.)

Your main character could be living in the past and a time traveler comes from the 'present moment' and changes everything.

It's also likely that this setting would turn out something like Back to the Future with small changes to the past majorly affecting the 'present'.

4.) Is the timeline self-correcting?

In a self-correcting timeline, certain things are meant to happen. Like your parent's meeting, so even if you were to go back in time and stop them from meeting at one point they will just find each other again somewhere else.

5.) Does time travel through your characters or do your characters travel through time?

When your characters go back to a time when they were alive, are they able to communicate with their past self or do they appear in their past self's body?

The first happens in stories like Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban where they are merely visiting a point in time to do or change something.

The second fits better with my first example: a character has to go back in time to change an event that happens in the future. In this story, the character usually doesn't go back very far (they can, this happens in Erased) and they do not intend on going back, rather they wish to live out that period of their life again in order to change it in a more personal way.

6.) How do they time travel?

What gives them this ability or power?

Is it a machine or device?

If so is it something they ride in or something they wear?

Or is it a power held by someone?

Is it a main character's power or that of a magical Being?

Does that Being have a purpose of its own and does that purpose align with the character's goals?

this first part if mostly about explicit or mature content so if that bothers you you can skip to the end - I will label it in pink!

"wet cavern" - does not sound like it should be describing a mouth (and so overused)

globes of flesh (usually in reference to a butt) - yucky

plush lips - no thank you

on that note, also: surging forward into a kiss - totally fucks with the flow of the story every time, and just makes me die inside

"mound" - bad in any context except a pile of dirt

"heat" (usually in the context of "his/her/their heat") - I think this one is pretty self explanatory

Two in one:

and on that note, please keep words for crotch bits simple - if I see one more fic that uses a different word every sentence I'm going to shrivel up and waste away. it's cringe, please stop.

some common ones that annoy me are as follows:

member

length

shaft

core

heat

hole

if you're gonna write p*rn you really should be comfortable enough to talk about the peepee parts without avoidance. you don't have to say p*nis but please avoid the ones that make people (read: me) gag.

I feel like this one goes without saying but... anything about "pain and pleasure" whether the pain turns into pleasure or both at the same time - it's terribly overused and I honestly don't know if anyone still uses it anymore outside of wattpad (but I just read it in something so I guess it's still relevant)

I just want to point out one thing that bothers me specifically - I see a lot of kissing scenes go like this: kissing passionately with mouths closed -> someone gasps, allowing the other one to sneak in some tongue and force the other person's mouth open -> full out frenching - like, correct me if I'm wrong but making out usually happens with mouths open even before tongue, if their mouths were closed it would just be a lot of mushing faces together

making things anatomically correct is important

where did the idea come from that lady cum is sweet and dude cum is bitter/salty? - I've asked friends about this and I don't think it's really a thing (it could be more bitter or taste different based on what you eat) but I think comparing it to food flavors doesn't really make sense... which brings me to another, more uncomfortable topic. abo fanfiction. for whatever reason, it's always in weird animal/abo shit where they take this stuff to the next level - slick always tastes like some specific pastry or food and the character's scents are always described like mall candle scents. to clarify: people secretion tastes and smells like people, people don't smell like specific things (woodsmoke, freshly cut grass, etc) unless they are often around those things and their genitals certainly shouldn't taste like them

I apologise, that last one was a little nasty, but now...

this next part is about general stuff and not the dirty

"the _____ boy/girl" (the blue haired girl, etc. I've even seen it using character distinguishers referencing the story like: "the explosive boy" - bakugo from bnha) - please, it doesn't hurt the story to just use their name or pronouns (and if you feel like you're saying those too much you should probably take a step back and talk about something else other than the characters)

adverbs! - not inherently evil but I would like to remind you all that GOOD adverbs are ones that contradict whatever they're describing (ie. killing me softly instead of harshly or what not) otherwise, use them sparingly

please don't describe skin colors with food words - it's disrespectful and kinda gross, especially because it is usually only used for POC characters (ex: chocolate, caramel, mocha, coffee, etc.)

"something more" - in literally any context (a promise of something more, [x] wanted something more, it felt like something more) you know what just don't say "more" in any situation like that - find another way to say it and it will be better I promise

i feel like these are all cliches that everyone makes fun of but i'm putting them in anyway:

[insert color] orbs - just say eyes, it's fine

blushing (this includes turning red, flushing, and any other way to describe it) - there are other ways to show embarrassment

when a female (or more feminine) character is described as a lot smaller and physically weaker than the male/masculine character - glorifies and fetishizes the stereotypes of feminine people being submissive and weak. basically it's gross.

I have seen a lot of people talking about the phrase: "they let out a breath they didn't even know they were holding" - and while I agree that it's overused I don't think it's unrealistic. it is a thing that can happen in a particularly stressful situation and it does a good job of letting the readers know that the pace of the story is changing and that they too can stop holding their breath at whatever wild thing is going on. definitely don't overuse it but once isn't the end of the world.

smirking - no explanation necessary

s-s-s-stuttering - when people stutter from nerves they tend to repeat whole words, not just the first letter.

This:

Every character has something that defines them physically be it in some kind of visual media where you can actually see it or in a written context to help you imagine that character. It gives you something to tell that character apart from all the others, one thing that you can always recognize them by.

Some examples:

Harry's glasses/scar, Ron's red hair, Hermione's "bushy hair"

Katniss's braid thing, Percy Jackson's sea green eyes

Any character that is 'coded' a certain color

It could be their height, a birthmark, a scar, a physical disability, something that they always wear, their hair color (or length/texture/etc.) If you want to get really specific you could describe their mannerisms or the way they carry themself (as long as it's memorable or distinguishes them from others in some other way).

In writing (usually longer works), this specific feature will often be described in the same or a similar way every time throughout.

In a book (or other writing) it's a lot easier to make something simple into a distinguishing feature, you could always mention someone's grey eyes and that might work but in visual art it has to be a lot more exaggerated (the reason animated characters are usually very abstract and colorful).