Bubbleknight

There’s a lot of writing advice on the internet, and a lot of writing prompts, but something I see relatively little of is an idea of how to actually practice. 

The thing about learning a skill is that it requires practice – but practicing will only get you so far if you’re just doing the same thing over and over. you might get better at doing that specific thing, but it can seem really difficult to get over a specific hurdle to accomplish some new thing you’ve never tried. I think a really common frustration is wanting to do a thing, and knowing what your end goal looks like, but not knowing actually how to accomplish it. 

So that’s where practicing specific skills can really help you to feel more comfortable with your abilities. 

Here are some skills exercises I recommend experimenting with to gain proficiency and comfort in writing things. 

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Write the Same Scene from Multiple POVs 

Write a scene in 3rd person POV. Then go back and rewrite it from scratch in 1st person. Repeat for a 3rd person omniscient. Go deeper than just swapping out pronouns. Think: How does this scene change if I’m writing through the eyes of a single character vs over their shoulder? How does this scene change if I’m narrating the events through Character B instead of Character A? 

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Write a Scene in Present Tense

Present tense bumps up the immediacy level of whatever you’re writing. I think it also helps to break you from more passive sentence constructions. Try taking a scene you’ve written and rewrite it in present tense. Combine it with the above – try switching a 3rd person past to 1st person present, or even try writing in 2nd person. 

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Try Mimicking Another Writer’s Style 

Sit down with a piece of writing from an author you enjoy, and pay attention to the writing itself. Ignore the plot and characters and story elements – look at just the nuts and bolts of vocabulary choices and sentence construction. Try to pick it apart. Is there a specific way the author tends to use commas? Certain words, or types of words, that they use more often? Longer sentences or shorter ones? Longer paragraphs or short? How is white space handled? 

Study that and make yourself a little cheat sheet if that’s helpful to you. Then try writing a short piece – just a couple paragraphs, even – in their writing style. 

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Describe an Entire Scene Without Using Visual Description 

Imagine you’re writing a blind character, if it helps, or someone who’s been blindfolded. Describe a whole scene built entirely around the way things sound, smell, taste, feel. Try to make it clear what’s happening through description alone. 

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Eliminate All Words like “Thought” or “Felt” 

Write in deep-3rd or 1st person without any filter words. Make a character’s opinions and emotions obvious through the way things are being described without explicitly saying what they’re thinking or feeling. If you struggle with this, it might be easier to start in first person – write as a diary entry or even a Tumblr post from that person’s perspective – and then try it in 3rd person after you’ve had a bit of practice. 

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Set Yourself a Specific Goal, and Write a Drabble to Achieve it 

When I wrote “Happy Ending,” my entire goal was to write something that was highly descriptive in the most viscerally gross way possible. When I wrote “Mothman,” it was an exercise in writing something sexualized without explicitly being sexual, in the most disturbing way possible. 

This is an exercise in word choice. It’s an excuse to bust out your thesaurus, not to sound fancy, but to nail a specific meaning. It’s also an exercise in choosing what details to focus on and which to exclude. 

One way to approach this exercise is to describe something common and mundane that you’ve experienced, and write it in several different ways. Let’s say, eating a sandwich. How can you make eating a sandwich sound sexy? How can you make it sound disgusting? Which details do you focus on, and which do you omit? What words do you use to evoke the meaning you’re looking for? 

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a nadia based r e a l heavy off of Harlod H. Piffard’s “Ottoman Beauty with a Butterfly”.

is the background copy pasted, scribbled over, and blurred?

A quick coloring practice tip I made for Patreon

Asra: [smiles]

Simply like or reblog this post to win a 500 word personalised Arcana ficlet. NSFW welcome.

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Thank you so much for your continued support, and hello to all my lovely new followers!

he’s hesitantly exploring the spooky hallway and he’s armed, so watch out

Not everyone will like your fic. Write it anyway. 

Not everyone will like your art. Keep drawing. 

Not everyone will like your moodboards/edits/vids. Make more. 

Pursue your craft because it makes you happy, and just know that there are people out there who adore everything you create and can’t wait for more. And there are fans that haven’t found you yet, but your content will change their life. 

Keep creating, okay? 

It’s hard to find guided practice tools for artists, so here’s what I’ve been able to find. Feel free to add your own and build this list. 

Figure Drawing Practice 

Animal Drawing Practice

Quickposes.com

Posemaniacs.com

Wysp Practices (some of this needs payment, some is free)

Hands and Feet Practice (new!)

Which character(s) is your apprentice romancing? What attracts your apprentice to them?

If your apprentice was a romanceable character in The Arcana, what would their route be like? (Feel free to be as detailed or as vague as you’d like.)

How does your apprentice take their coffee? Do they even drink coffee? If not, what do they drink instead to put pep in their step?

If your apprentice was attending a potluck, what would they take as their contribution?

What are some of your apprentice’s minor and major fears? What’s the best way to comfort them when afraid?

Does your apprentice enjoy dressing up or would they prefer to just wear what’s comfortable?

Is your apprentice happy with their physical appearance? If so, do they flaunt it? If not, what do they want to change?

What would your apprentice want as a birthday gift?

What is your apprentice’s natural stress response (fight, flight, or freeze) and how does that influence their actions when confronted with a stressful situation? Do they recover from stress quickly or does it affect them for hours afterward?

What’s the first thing someone is likely to notice about your apprentice when meeting them for the first time? Do they have any other quirks that set them apart?

How does your apprentice act when meeting new people? Are they outgoing, shy, awkward, aloof? Do they like being the center of attention?

How does you apprentice treat people in positions of authority? Does your apprentice believe they deserve respect just because of their position/status?

Your apprentice sees someone who is very obviously wealthy accidentally drop a small pouch of coins. What do they do?

What was your apprentice’s reaction to Julian’s speech on the docks in Book VII? How did they deal with it afterwards?

How does your apprentice feel about sharing a bed with Asra in the shop?

Does your apprentice enjoy the luxury of the palace and Nadia’s gifts or do they find it overwhelming?

How does your apprentice react when confronted with the creature from the abandoned wing in Asra and/or Nadia’s routes in Book VII? What’s going through their head at the time?

How does your apprentice feel about Consul Valerius?

Is there a song or songs that you associate with your apprentice?

Then suddenly the elderly lady sitting behind us was like ‘young men, either I’m going crazy or you both have never heard of supermarkets, they have shelves full of tea there! Do you need directions to one?’

To which my buddy starts to explain, because why not. ‘Well you see, we’re both trans, and… ’

The lady didn’t wait for him to finish his sentence. ‘Oh no, I don’t mind that at all! Now do you want to know how to get to a place that sells tea? I’m actually heading there right now!’