sam is fine

I am smitten, enamored, infatuated, utterly bewitched with this fic… my heart’s aflutter… you have my heart. (seriously, you own it now, put it in a jar in your office or something)

I came out to have a good time and I’m honestly feeling so attacked right now (thank you)

i wish that i could like this a million times over but there’s only one kudos per account (works on ao3) c: @fracturedboxofstars

Ohohoho! Your brain is very clever!

I really enjoyed this chapter! Especially [insert part here]! [why you liked it].

This made my day, how will I ever thank you? Look out, i’m gonna blow you some kisses!

You’re a really great writer! Are there any more ways to support you other than liking and commenting?

That [insert scene here] was amazing! So well written!

Thank you for taking time out of your life to write and share this, you are the real mvp

I loved the way you captured [characters] personality! They’re so well written! c: @ripsamcortland

it must take so much effort and time to make this amazing piece of art so i just wanted to say thank you for your sacrifice and i’m so happy you’re doing this

*keyboard smash*

how do you invoke such emotions in me? how do you use your wonderful words to put me under a spell of your own creation? witch! i love it. 

Will you marry me?

@vieras-txt

Writers deserve way more comments so i’d love for this to become a Thing™️ that people do

This is also available on wordsnstuffblog.com!

– A lot of questions I receive revolve around the introduction of story elements, such as backstory and politics, so I decided to cover character introductions because it’s a good way to ease into all of these other topics. I hope you all find this helpful. Happy writing!

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Find A Suitable Way

The way in which you introduce a character can be a really big subtextual clue as to who they are and how they will function in the story. Some really good ways to introduce them are:

show how a character performs simple actions

let their reputation speak for them in the form of other characters’ interactions about them

Use some backstory that shows the reader their relevance prior to their personality

Don’t Focus Solely On Physical Description

The truth is, when you meet a person in real life, you don’t spend 5 minutes analyzing the flecks of color in their eyes, the intricate patterns in their outfits, or the marks on their skin. Filter in physical description over time, when physical features become relevant to the narrative. First impressions majorly rely on subtext through common associations with actions, appearances, and words. It’s more important that your reader knows information about them than what they look like. The image will come together with time.

Avoid Cliche Introductions

Anne R. Allen made a short and simple list that she called the Robinson Crusoe Openings, and the following were on it:

driving alone in a car

sitting on an airplane

waking up and getting ready for the day

out on her morning jog

looking in the mirror

Simply, these put a bad taste in the reader’s mouth because every reader has seen each and every single one of those a million times before. There are more interesting ways to introduce a character to your readers, and there are ways that will suit your character way more.

Make Your Reader Care Early

Don’t jump right into the action without showing the reader multiple reasons why they should care about your character. Introductions are a good way to set up future information about their motivations, struggles, etc. which make your reader invested in what happens to that character.

Relevance = Page Time

What I mean by this is, the impact a character will have on the story and conflict resolution for that story (even in a series) should determine how much time is devoted to describing them. If they aren’t a huge part of the story now, but will come in hot in book 2, leave the meaningful introduction for when the reader actually needs to remember them. If a minor character comes in that isn’t apart of any major subplot or the main conflict, then spend less time describing them to the reader than the main characters. This seems like common sense to a lot of people, but this strategy is often overlooked in practice.

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I really liked it! It was a good fun read, the plot and the character arcs made sense within themselves staying true to the motives and behaviour that had been set up which I really appreciated. It did what it promised and that opening really was hella good, as were certain twists. Like, I knew it was coming because I write so much that it really takes a lot for a good twist to surprise me, but it was still a great moment. 

 I don’t know if I’d like it as much the second time round, but it was a perfect fit for me for the few days and mood I read it in. 

Also, Gavriel. Oh lord Gavriel. 

We don’t care what you write, what your skills are or if you even know how to read. If you’re a decent person who likes words, then we welcome you to our tribe!

Remember to read #read-first and get to know the rules! If you don’t, we’ll know, and you’ll have to be kicked out.

We want this server to be safe and comfortable so if you have any problems; shoot us a question in #questions-and-suggestions or DM an admin/mod.

bath woman: “you let me know if you ……. need anything ;))))))……hope the water is hot enough ;^)…”

Arthur: “my dog Copper used to take baths with me when he was alive :).”

“Nehemia stared at him for a long moment before nodding. “You have power in you, Prince. More power than you realize.” She touched his chest, tracing a symbol there, too, and some of the court ladies gasped. But Nehemia’s eyes were locked on his. “It sleeps,” she whispered, tapping his heart. “In here. When the time comes, when it awakens, do not be afraid.” She removed her hand and gave him a sad smile. “When it is time, I will help you.” With that, she walked away, the courtiers parting, then swallowing up her wake. He stared after the princess, wondering what her last words had meant. And why, when she had said them, something ancient and slumbering deep inside of him had opened an eye.”

If you only have a rough sketch of a beginning and an endthen you don’t have a story, you have two rough scenes. You’re essentiallyasking me how to write an entire story (and have it be good) so you’ll find thebasic answer to that in the “Plot and Story Structure” tag. You may have toread through a few different posts to get a complete picture.

For the rest of your question, you don’t have to addsub-plots, but they certainly help add depth to a story. The important thing to remember is that they aren’t there to pad astory out or be an “extra adventure” – they need to add to the main plot andhelp drive it forward. If a subplot seems meaningless to a reader, thatmeans that it was either poorly written, poorly integrated into the story, orboth. A good subplot can’t be taken out of the story without some sort of hole,but they’re separate from the main plot in that they aren’t a directcause-effect player in the outcome. A subplot can affect a main occurrence, butit can’t be the sole reason for its distance (or then that’s actually part ofthe main plot). One thing newer writers struggle with is juggling multiplesubplots, which I also have a post to help with (link embedded).

Character arcs aregenerally quite important because they mean you have dynamic characters whogrow and develop over time, which is a big driver in making sure a story isinteresting. Don’t Be Afraid of The Static Character (link embedded), butmost stories don’t benefit from them unless they’re heavily plot-based, like amystery. Typically, character arcs come from interaction with conflict and thisprevious post (link embedded) goes over how to make sure those arcs make adifference.

Enjoyability of a read highly depends on what you’rewriting. Adding horror elements to what’s supposed to be solely a romance novel(when it isn’t properly marketed or the author isn’t honest in the summary)isn’t going to score you any points with your general audience. Poor quality ofwriting can hurt enjoyability, as can plot holes, overly convenient events,fake-sounding dialogue or characters, unnecessary additions that take up too muchspace, etc.. Generally, you want to look at the genre you write in to get anidea of reader expectations and preferences (particularly the best-sellers orhighly rated books) and know that if you try and subvert expectations then youhave to work with the tropes rather than against them. Claiming to write a typeof story that’s “nothing like anything else” is a good way to lose majority ofan audience because genres are defined by expectations, and sense of familiarityoften helps potential readers pick things up.

Another thing you can think about it: What do you find enjoyable to read? You shouldn’t completely throwaway the opinions of others, but you have to write this thing so it should besomething you actually want to write. The interest of an author helps greatlyin upping quality of work— it’s like how an audience tends to find speechesmore enjoyable if the speaker is passionate and knowledgeable.

But like I said before, at the core of your question is justasking how to write a good story, which is the goal of pretty much any writer. Thisblog has many resources beyond just the links I gave and I recommend you lookthrough them and do some personal research because every bit of advice I giveis about writing a better story.

Good luck with everything!

I think self-publishing is the smarter move for you, sinceyou’d be a first-time author and publishing companies are very unlikely to getbehind (or would quickly drop) someone with no name who has severe trouble meetingdeadlines for a project.

Remember that publishing is a business and they employwriters to get money. Any sort of first-time author is a risk for an agencybecause that author doesn’t have much of a reputation to drive sales, thereforeyou must prove yourself worthy of their investment. It’s completely possiblefor someone with chronic fatigue and other issues to get published, but itwould likely be a hard struggle to find a company that’s willing to deal withthe constant pushed-back deadlines and delayed production. An author whoalready has a following and reputation can often take leave for health withouttoo much trouble. Companies also expect (AKA write it into your contract so youcan’t just back out anytime you want) for you to market your work, which meanstraveling and showing up to book signings, conventions, hosting meet-and-greets,basically a lot of things that require extended stamina and time. An authorthat can’t do that is a liability for book sales because print books have tosell at a higher amount than self-published (or e-books) to make money.

Since I’m recommending the self-publishing route, here aresome things to keep in mind:

Becareful about posting any of those WIPs online. Why would anyone buy somethingif they can read it for free, or have read it in the past for free? In the caseof indie writers (usually self-published) you may get a few who will “courtesybuy”, but it’s really not worth taking revenue away from yourself by puttinganything out to the public.

Invest inan editor. The reason so much self-published fiction is terrible is becausetoo many writers don’t hire editors. The reasons vary from expense to too muchpride, but an editor will only increase the quality of your manuscript whichwill make your book(s) much more appealing.

Learn tomarket yourself (or hire someone). Unlike professional editing, marketingis something you can do by yourself. However, it takes a decent amount of time tolearn/execute and hiring someone would still be smarter. It’s not a one-timedeal; marketing has to be consistent and that would have to include the timesyou’re not doing so well to get the best result.

Learn and get good at graphic design (or hire someone). This also applies to web design, which is vital for anyone who’s self-publishing. A good site can get a lot of attention just as a good book cover can. Even if it’s just an e-book, graphics matter.

You stillhave expectations from your readers. Obviously, nobody can force you towrite or get things done, but the freedom of self-publishing is partially glamorized.You make your own schedule, yes, but you’re still putting out a product andwith that comes a general public agreement that you’re going to be timely.Sure, you could have a site that explains the issue and I know that many readerswould be sympathetic (especially as you grow your fanbase over time and make aname for yourself), but a lack of productivity isn’t beneficial for bookproducts. You’ll need to set reasonable expectations with yourself that stillallow you to look like an active author.

If you self-publish and get successful enough, there’s achance that a publishing house may want to take you under their wing, and atthat point you’d probably have enough of a reputation that your health issueswouldn’t be a concern for the company.

Good luck with your potential publishing!