Rochelle Writes

Spite

Inspiration

Hungry for Validation

Make readers go “Wow!”

Make readers go “Oh!”

Make readers go :’((

Horny

Dragons

Whom else is going to write this if not me??

They Gave Me a Keyboard and Cannot Take it Away Now

I Invented Several Languages and Must Use Them Somewhere

These characters are REAL and have things to do

I Like to Suffer

I like to be gay and unhinged but in a productive way

I care about my OCs and so must you now

I have issues I need to project on SOMETHING

Love is not fake and here is why, an entire book

- The characters have suffered enough in canon and I am determined to provide them with a lifetime supply of tasty snacks, consensual sex and emotional support by any means necessary.

Accepting – too accepting; willing to excuse extreme behavior

Adaptable – used to traveling from situation to situation; may not be able to fully adapt/live in a permanent situation

Affable – accidentally befriends the wrong sort of people; pushes to befriend everyone

Affectionate –inappropriate affection

Alert – constantly on edge; paranoid

Altruistic – self-destructive behavior for the sake of their Cause

Apologetic – apologizes too much; is a doormat; guilt-ridden

Aspiring – becomes very ambitious; ruthless in their attempts to reach goals

Assertive – misunderstood as aggressive; actually aggressive; others react negatively when they take command all the time

Athletic – joints weakened from exercise; performance-enhancing drug abuse; competitive

Is your protagonist manipulative? Well that’s awful… until they manipulate the antagonist into making a decision that saves the lives of their friends. 

Is your protagonist a skeptic? Well that’s not good… until someone tries to lie to them. 

Is your protagonist overprotective? That sucks… until someone they love is in danger. 

when you put an arrow on the string, the verb is called “nocking” i.e. eyes glued on the target, he nocked the arrow

also the part of the arrow that gets put onto the string is called the nock. depending on the type of arrow this can be a piece of plastic glued into the arrow, or with wood or bamboo arrows it can be carved into the shaft of the arrow itself

you do not close an eye when aiming or shooting; you see better with both eyes open.

everyone has a dominant eye that more naturally your brain focuses with. that determines whether you are right or left handed when shooting, and doesn’t necessarily correlate to whether the person is right or left handed in anything else

so if you’re writing a character who has difficulty seeing out of one eye, take that into account when they are shooting

if they are right eye dominant, they hold the bow with their left hand and draw the string with their right. if they are left eye dominant, they hold the bow with their right hand and draw the string with their left

if they shoot left, the quiver sits on their left side/hip/thigh. shoot right - right side quiver.

there are several different ways to draw, if you are writing something historical or in a specific region, then do research on that style of archery. but for a generic place to start that is a more universal way of drawing a bow, here are some things to include

the chin stays down. raising your chin will fuck up your aim

the pointer finger on your draw hand rests on the side of your chin/jaw, and the string of the bow will touch the tip of the archer’s nose

weight is on the balls of your feet, leaning slightly forward off your heels

if it is an older bow/barebow, there is not usually a place for the arrow to rest on the bow. this means the arrow rests on the archer’s hand. if they are not wearing a glove on that hand, the fletchings (that’s the feathers on the arrow) will more than likely slice their hand when firing. this scars.

so if you’re wanting to describe someone observing and archer’s hands (hands are hot, don’t @ me) they would see a silver scar about halfway between the pointer finger knuckle and palm of the person’s hand. (turn your hand vertical and trace down the length of your pointer toward your thumb and stop next to the knuckle. that spot there.)

most archers wear something to protect their fingers on the hand that draws the bow. even with that, they have callouses. without it, a lot of callouses, scars, and blisters.

most common draw uses three fingers on the string: pointer, middle, ring. the arrow sits between the pointer and middle. just like where the draw point is, this is not universal and do research if you’re doing something culturally important.

barebow means that the bow is bare of any instruments. no sight, no weights, etc. the most basic/traditional form of bow

a recurve bow is anything where the tips of the bow curve back around forward, away from the archer

a compound is what you think of as a modern hunting bow, and is recognisable by having wheels at the ends and three strings

arrows have three fletchings that form a triangle, the point faces the archer so that the flat of the arrow will pass the flat of the bow on release. the arrow sits on the side of the bow facing the archer

archers with a larger/raised chest will sometimes where a chest protect so that the string does not catch when firing (this is regardless of gender, i know several cis-men who need it as well)

string can also catch on the forearm that is holding the bow and creates bruises and welts if you don’t wear a protector. modern ones are small plastic and cover just the spot, with elastic holding it in place. traditional ones are leather and wrap all the way around, lacing up on the back of your arm like a corset.

I’m experiencing a slump in productivity that could not come at a worse time. It’s easy to fall into despair when I’m unable to produce like I want to. Here are some tips that have gotten me through my current block:

use this as an opportunity to read (and reread). periods of unproductivity are more tolerable if you immerse yourself in the writing of others. it might also inspire you to write again, especially if you hope to emulate their style.

genuinely give yourself a break. some writers suggest that you power through a block by forcing yourself to write. I personally feel like that’s running on an injury. let yourself rest - really rest - and trust that you’ll want to write again. (but if you have an impending deadline during a block hmu and I’ll give you advice on that.)

daydream. take breaks in your day to just zone out. typically, I’m an avid daydreamer, but when I’m in a block, I have the bad habit of being occupied constantly so I’m not tempted by thoughts I won’t write down. this isn’t good for my writing. don’t be afraid of your thoughts, of absence from stimulation. people watch. listen to music and watch the clouds move. be at peace with your brain’s ability to entertain itself.

try out other creative outlets. draw even if you suck at it. knit that scarf you’ve been meaning to. learn to fold origami. garden. remind yourself that you’re not just one kind of creator.

don’t beat yourself up. it’s tempting to feel like you’re worthless when you can’t do the one thing you so love to do, but remember that everyone has slumps. even when you’re not writing, you are a writer. destroy anyone who says otherwise.

Embarrass your protagonist. Make them seem weak and vulnerable in some way.

Shoot someone. That always takes the reader by surprise. 

In relation, kidnap someone. Or, rather, make it seem to your protagonist like someone has been kidnapped. 

Have one of your side characters disappear or become unavailable for some reason. This will frustrate your protagonist.

Have someone kiss the wrong girl, boy, or person, especially if you’ve been setting up a romance angle. It’s annoying.

If this story involves parents, have them argue. Push the threat of divorce, even if you know it won’t ever happen. It’ll make your readers nervous.

Have someone frame your protagonist for a crime they didn’t commit. This could range from a dispute to a minor crime to a full-blown felony.

If this is a fantasy story involving magic or witchcraft, create a terrible accident that’s a direct result of their spell-casting. 

Injure your protagonist in some way, or push them into a treacherous scenario where they might not make it out alive. 

Have two side characters who are both close to the protagonist get into a literal fist-fight. This creates tension for the reader, especially if these characters are well-developed, because they won’t know who to root for.

Make your protagonist get lost somewhere (at night in the middle of town, in the woods, in someone else’s house, etc.) 

Involve a murder. It can be as in-depth and as important as you want it to be. 

Introduce a new character that seems to prey on your protagonist’s flaws and bring them out to light.

If it’s in-character, have one of your characters get drunk or take drugs. Show the fallout of that decision through your protagonist. 

Spread a rumor about your protagonist. 

If your protagonist is in high-school, create drama in the school atmosphere. A death of a student, even if your protagonist didn’t know them personally, changes the vibe. 

If your story involves children, have one of them do something dangerous (touch a hot stove, run out into the road, etc.) and show how the protagonist responds to this, even if the child isn’t related to them. 

In a fantasy story, toss out the idea of a rebellion or war between clans or villages (or whatever units you are working with). 

Add a scenario where your protagonist has to make a choice. We all have watched movies where we have screamed don’t go in there! at the top of our lungs at the main character. Make them go in there. 

Have your protagonist find something, even if they don’t understand the importance of it yet. A key, a document, an old stuffed animal, etc. 

Foreshadow later events in some way. (Need help? Ask me!)

Have your protagonist get involved in some sort of verbal altercation with someone else, even if they weren’t the one who started it. 

Let your protagonist get sick. No, but really, this happens in real life all the time and it’s rarely ever talked about in literature, unless it’s at its extremes. It could range from a common cold to pneumonia. Maybe they end up in the hospital because of it. Maybe they are unable to do that one thing (whatever that may be) because of it.

Have someone unexpected knock on your protagonist’s door. 

Introduce a character that takes immediate interest in your protagonist’s past, which might trigger a flashback.

Have your protagonist try to hide something from someone else and fail.

Formulate some sort of argument or dispute between your protagonist and their love interest to push them apart. 

Have your protagonist lose something of great value in their house and show their struggle to find it. This will frustrate the reader just as much as the protagonist.

Create a situation where your protagonist needs to sneak out in the middle of the night for some reason.

In your head:

Trying to describe it like:

1) Find some good fight scenes to reference. Note that while it should look *something* like the fight you’re going to write, you can be pretty flexible as long as you can translate the movements of the original fight into something that makes sense for your setting. For example, I once adapted elements of a bending fight in Legend of Korra into a lightsaber duel, even though the LoK fight didn’t involve swords or melee weapons, because I was able to retain the spirit of the LoK blocking in swordfight form. Turning that LoK fight into something involving guns, on the other hand, would be tricky. The reverse is also true - it’s tough to turn a gunfight into melee combat.

2) Watch the reference scenes a few times, and try to identify what about the blocking makes it cool. 

3) Watch the reference scene again, but this time watch it in slow motion or pause it every couple seconds. Make a mental note of what’s happening frame by frame. Try to break it down into smaller pieces as well as large movements - don’t just say “he swings a sword,” make a note of the micromovements that go into swinging a sword.

4) Block your fight scene without any flair or description. Just write a list of simple, one-line descriptors of what happens blow by blow. Draw on your observations of the reference fight scenes from steps 1-3. You shouldn’t copy a fight’s blocking verbatim, but you can borrow individual elements as long as the way you describe it in Step 5 brings something new to the table. (The equivalent in art would be using references. Tracing a picture and calling it yours? Bad. Plagiarism. Looking at pictures similar to the thing you want to draw and using that to figure out how it should look? Or looking at art and saying “hey the way they did x is really cool, I want to emulate that part of their style”? Good and fine.)

5) Once it’s blocked, THEN you go back in and add flourishes. Note that you shouldn’t add flourishes to every sentence. Some of them should be short & declarative. But figure out the places where you can add relevant information and flesh those out more. 

If you’re still struggling to write a fight scene, here’s a list of questions you can ask yourself about the fight scene. Use the answers to inform the blocking AND how you embellish on that blocking.

Are there lots of acrobatics? 

Is it fluid or choppy? 

Are the characters going for glancing blows or are they throwing their whole weight into the strike? If melee combat, do they have to follow through? If ranged combat, is there recoil? If it’s a heavy blow or recoil is involved, what does that feel like?

How do the characters and their weapons hold up as the fight progresses? Do they need to reload ammo? Do weapons break? Do they injure themselves? If the answer to any of those is yes, how does that change the course of the fight?

Are characters using the environment in interesting ways? 

Does the fight damage things around them? 

Are the weather or other conditions (lighting, smoke, hazards) complicating the fight?

Does the fighting style reveal something about the character, or the relationship between two characters? 

Does a fight have extra dimension because of the characters’ relationships, or the context of the fight?

What do the characters want out of the fight? Is it a no-holds-barred fight to the death, or is it a ceremonial fight with rules and norms to follow?

Is it strenuous? Do the characters tire? Do they sweat? Do they get dirty? Do any of those factors affect the fight as it goes on? How do characters deal with pain?

Mary Robinette Kowal on twitter:

“Me, talking a writer down from imposter syndrome: How long have you been writing?

Them: Three years.

Me: And how old are you?

Them: 28.

Me: Okay.  So you’re a level 28 human and a level 3 writer.  How good were you as a level 3 human?

i hate this so much but this knowledge is too powerful to keep from you all.

last night @phaltu discovered that setting your font to comic sans in google docs improves writing speed and creativity by an insane amount. “no” i said and “die” but then i tried it and god. i wish it wasn’t this way. i wish it wasn’t true. i wish i could protect you all from this but it’s real. 

something about this font is so disarming. something about this font lets you look past the shape of the words and into their soul. i’ve never written so much as i did last night, on my phone, at 2am, in comic sans.

Sympathetic villain: A character who is a bad person, but whose backstory/character arc makes you feel sorry for or sympathetic towards them.

Anti-hero: A character who does bad things to achieve a good goal.

Anti-villain: A character who does bad things to achieve a goal that they believe to be good, but is actually messed up.

How bodies decompose

Wilderness survival skills

Mob mentality

Other cultures

What it takes for a human to die in a given situation

Common tropes in your genre

How bodies decompose

Wilderness survival skills

Mob mentality

Other cultures

What it takes for a human to die in a given situation

Common tropes for your genre