I would like to say that I want to be added in your permanent p1harmony taglist if possible ā¤ļø
Also, I really like your writings and i would love to read morešš
Have a nice day/night!šš
me @ you
omg hi! yes of course! thank you so much for reading my writing and enjoying it (ā„ļ¹ā„) you have no idea how much your words mean to me! your support for my little blog makes me so happy (Ā“ź³`)ā”
yes! i will add you to my p1h perm taglist! i will likely expand it to include moodboards, scenarios and blurbs. so if you or anyone else is interested, lmk and i'll make another official post for it!
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
ā Live Streamingā Interactive Chatā Private Showsā HD Qualityā Free Actions
Free to watch ā¢ No registration required ā¢ HD streaming
Thatās my little tongue-in-cheek joke for this post, because the irony of what Iām doing literallyĀ as I type that statement is not lost on me. Itās true, thoughā I honestly think that advice is one of the most damaging things to a writerās mindset. It makes them second-guess their methods, their ideas, and even whether they truly have what it takes to be a *~*writer*~* in the eyes of the rest of the world.
Itās a truly unfortunate thing, because itās so important for writers to be able to share their experiences and successes. The problem is that these experiences get passed around in a game of Itās-Been-Ten-Years-Since-This-Essay-Was-Written Telephone, and the original intent of the advice (and sometimes its actual meaning!) gets lost along the way. They become these overarching blanket statements that offer broad limitations without reason or potential alternatives.
Because Iām so infuriated by this (and because Iām super extra and actually have a relevant platform on which to discuss this), Iām going to take some time to explain the actual meaning of this particular piece ofĀ āadviceā and why itās far less of a concern than youāve been lead to believe.
She was the most beautiful girl Iād ever seen. It was raining cats and dogs, but she still stood with her arms to the sky, laughing like she didnāt even notice. She turned to me and winked, and I felt my face go as red as a beet. In that moment, I knew that Iād give my right arm toĀ be with her.
A trope is a convention used in writing to give meaning to aspects of your story. Theyāre used as storytelling shorthand to attach identifiable qualities to your plot and charactersā recurring themes that exist throughout history to guide stories.
Examples of tropes include the heroās journey, the characterās fatal flaw, theĀ comic relief character, the hero with a dark past, and the Mom Friend.
The world had never experienced a beauty like hersā neither had I. I just watched as she stood there, arms to the sky as the rain pelted her relentlessly, soaking into her clothes and hair. She smiled as it ran down her face, laughing at each raindrop, finally turning to me and winking. She could have just been blinking the water out of her eye, I donāt know, but my face was hot and I suddenly found it hard to look at her. I stared at my shoes, willing them to take a step for onceĀ so I could go and join her.
Say that you wanted to write someone a love poem. You do your research, sifting through decades of poems to pick out the best phrases and metaphors, and you end up with the following:
Your eyes are as deep as an oceans
Your eyes shine like stars
Theyāre like windows to your soul
I get lost in them every time I look
The poem is essentially a cut-and-paste of phrases from every cheesy romance novel out there, and will most likely leave the object of your affections wondering why youāre so obsessed with their eyeballs.
The point is, the poem hasnāt been written for you. Sure, it follows a similar structure to poems that have been written before, but where you take it is entirely up to youā the opening lines are simply the prompt to make way for your own creative license.
Letās be real, here.Ā
I get that everyone wants to make something new and exciting that comes entirely from their own imagination. Itās the dream! The idea that anything we write could potentially be sourced back to an existing piece is super aggravating, and you donāt have to tell me how discouraging it is to have something that youāre genuinely proud of suddenly fall flat because someone says,Ā āHasnāt the teen dystopia thing been done to death?ā orĀ āDidnāt Star TrekĀ do an episode like this?ā orĀ āPenney, this is just a Star TrekĀ fanfiction with the names changed to Dirk and Spork, please stop.ā
To be totally honest, there is not (nor will there ever be) a single piece of writing on this earth thatās 100% original. Everything is based off of a story that came before it, or had plots and characters that were cherry-picked from the millions of plots and characters that existed previously.
Even more honestly, people likeĀ it that way. Tropes help us to identify our favorite genres and characters, guide us to stories that we may like based on those preferences, and open our eyes to new stories and authors that follow those tropes in a slightly different way.Ā
In short, embrace your tropes. Learn to recognize them and how they can be used and reimagined, and build your story out of the wonderful things that come of that knowledge. Be like me and waste a billion hours in the rabbit hole that is TV Tropes!
So I have this story about a death wizard and a fire wizard who overtime meeting each other, and completing missions together learn to love each other. Down the line they get married and continue to do a lot together. But Iām planning on the fire wizard dying. How could I portray the fire wizards feelings but at the same time get the deathās correct (both are male btw). (Also the fire wizard is generally a little awkward with love and stuff, and the death is kind and is affectionate)
Hey anon!
I think one of the most difficult things about writing character death is the aftermath and effect on the characters that are left behind. There are a lot of different approaches to this, but Iāve found the most helpful strategy is ensuring that your story can answer the following questions:
On Death Itself
What is the significance of death in your world?Ā Death generally falls somewhere on what Iām going to call the Marigold-Morbid spectrum, which can (and should!) affect the way that your partner and supporting characters approach the death of their loved one. Closer to the Marigold end of the spectrum is the idea that death is simply a path to the afterlife and, while saddening, is ultimately part of the balance of the universe and the plan of some arbitrary deity. On the Morbid end comes the idea that death is dark and depressing and should only be discussed in whispers behind closed doors.Where your world falls on this spectrum is important, because the attitude surrounding your partner character will move forward following the death. A positive atmosphere will guide them faster toward the acceptance stage, whereas a more nihilistic outlook will make them dwell longer in the depression/anger phases.
How does the characterās death affect the world as a whole?Ā Your character may or may not make a significant impact on the world, but their partner is likely to see remnants of them in the things that were left behind. While this particular detail isnāt the most important, it may be helpful to consider what impressions were left behind and how they affect your living characters.Another thing to consider here is that your character has magical powers, so their death may have a greater meaning depending on how magic is handled in your universe. Is there an environmental impact as a result of their death? Will the loss of this wizard create a power imbalance? If so, how will that manifest?
What is the reason behind this characterās death?Ā In fiction, death is rarely a thing that just happens. To the primary protagonist of your story (their partner, Iām assuming), this death carries a weight that will follow them through the remainder of their story arc. Even if the character themselves doesnāt recognize it, you as the writer (and we as the readers!) should be aware of what this death means for the rest of your story.Because Iām me, Iām going to take a few examples from Harry Potter. There are a lot of significant deaths that happen throughout the series, and each of them means something different for Harry and his journey. The first realĀ death is Cedric Diggory (collateral damage), which sets our expectations for Voldemortās brutality with the murder of an innocent child. Dumbledoreās death (death of a mentor) symbolizes a loss in hope and peace and is a chilling reminder of whatās to come. Fred Weasley (loss of close friends/family) represents the real and personal casualties of war and reminds us that some deaths are unfair, unnecessary, and really difficult to move on from.Even if your characterās death seems meaningless to the overall narrative, it will have an impact and mean something important to the people they were close to, and youāll want to be prepared for whatever that understanding means for your partner character.
Was the death sudden and/or unexpected?Ā While the death of a loved one is never a positive thing, the partnerās emotional reaction may vary depending on the circumstances surrounding it (i.e. whether they had time to prepare). While a death following a long sickness or period of suffering may bring some comfort with the knowledge that things are better, a sudden death can be jarring and will likely trigger a much stronger negative reaction.
On Your Character(s)
How long are their respective lifespans?Ā When youāre writing about characters that have powers/special abilities or are in any way non-human, itās important to consider what their expected lifespan is and how this will affect the partner character. Did they approach the relationship with the knowledge that one of them would die relatively early in their time together, or does this come as an unexpected turn in what should have been a long life?
How long were the characters together before their death?Ā This question isnāt quite as important because time doesnāt automatically signify a stronger connection, but you should consider if enough time has passed that the characters are integral to one anotherās daily routines. Where are the places and times that the partner notices the characterās absence?
What is their relationship and understanding of death?Ā Everyone has a different approach to death based on their respective experiences and exposure to it.Ā āDesensitizationā doesnāt quite convey the proper tone here, but itās true that a person working in end-of-life care will have a much calmer approach to the idea of death than, say, a barista or social worker.Your partner character is a death wizard, so I assume that heāll be familiar with the idea of death and what it means. That being said, itās very possible that heās not well-acquainted with it on a personal levelā perhaps this is the first time heās lost someone thatās truly close to him, which will be a far more emotional experience than the sort of death heās surrounded with on a more regular basis. These will be important considerations when trying to pin down his exact emotional reaction.
How do they proceed through the stages of grief? This step is quite possibly the most variable depending on your characterās personality, but itās also the most important when it comes to determining which emotions are present and how theyāre conveyed.The five stages of griefĀ take your character through five different primary emotions, but itās not always a cut-and-paste ordeal. The stages may overlap, or the characters may repeat stages or spend the majority of their time in one before rushing through the rest. This, and the way these stages are represented through their thoughts and behavior are entirely dependent on your individual character and how they react to different triggers. Personally, I suggest spending the most time outlining this stage and how it will play into the rest of the story, as itās likely to make the strongest impact on how your character acts through the rest of the story (e.g. how they approach their daily life and interact with other characters).
I hope this helps! If any of our followers have suggestions on the dos and donāts of character death, please feel free to pitch inā we love your input!
Making Your Murder Board (or, Creating Fiction Through the Mind Map Method)
Hello, all!
With Camp NaNo quickly approaching, I find myself facing the daunting task of writing two novellas without much of an outline in place. I canāt imagine that Iām the only one in a situation like this, so I thought Iād share one of my favorite methods for organising my stories.
In the past, Iāve certainly been the type to write out a full outline with Roman numerals and topic sentences like itās a fifth-grade book report from the 1980s.
While I canāt deny that this can be incredibly helpful when it comes to writing specific scenes and keeping timelines in place, itās a bit too technical when it comes to more grand-scheme ideas that get the plot rolling in the first place. I donāt know about you, but I like to visualise my stories on a large scale before I start getting down and dirty with the details.
Enter the mind map.
I personally like to refer to this as my Murder Board, as it makes me feel like Iām on Criminal Minds and trying to solve the case by connecting all of the little red strings and thumbtacks. It can get pretty involved and can look damn scary depending on how many details you include, but I absolutely swear by it.
This strategy was recommended to me by a friend, and I canāt offer enough praise for it and how much itās helped me to get my stories on track. If there are any of you out there still struggling with how to string your plot bunnies together in time for writing to start on July 1st, I definitely recommend taking some time to put one of these together.
Iāve illustrated my preferred method below using Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix as an example. As a quick disclaimer, Iām the type of writer that puts a lot of emphasis on character. As such, this method is specific to character and relies heavily on the primary protagonistās perspectiveā if your story isnāt particularly character-driven, this exact method may not work for you. I still strongly advise giving it a shot, as you never know what sort of details will be uncovered as you work on putting together a map.
With that in mind, letās begin! (I apologise in advance for the quality of the photosā my camera isnāt the best)
The Main Suspect
The first thing is to identify the main protagonist of your story. Thereās only room for a single suspect at this point, so you may want to consider making multiple maps if your story is one that features several protagonists.
(As a side note, I especially recommend this method if you are writing such a story, as it allows you to approach your story from several different angles and can give you a better understanding of each characterās perspective.)
For the sake of this example, hereās where weāll start:
The Motives
From here, you can identify the main conflicts that the character faces. I like to add another level of organisation by keeping internal and external conflicts on opposing sides, though youāre welcome to rearrange things in whatever way makes the most sense to you. The only thing I insist upon here is making sure that each conflict is represented by a different color.
In this example, I cited Professor Umbridge and Lord Voldemort as Harryās biggest external conflicts, and themes of trust and identity questioning (read as: teen angst) as internal conflicts. You can be more specific and include more of each type of conflict, but I didnāt have a lot of paper to spare.
The Details
Now itās time to add a few more specific details. For each conflict, include a few important aspects that are directly related to (either contributing to or caused by) the conflict itself.
This is where the color-coding from the last step comes in handy. No conflict exists in a vacuum, and each is going to affect the other in some way. For each aspect you identify, color-code it according to other conflicts/themes itās related to.
As you can see, I introduced a few extra colors for things that didnāt necessarily fit the four conflicts I outlined, but are important enough to merit a common theme (something I could reference in a key or a related story map). Iāve attributed orange to things related to the Order, and Cho Chang gets to be that nice off-purple color.
The Witnesses
Finally, you can take it one step further by color-coding things that are related by theme. Even if they arenāt necessarily related to a direct conflict, the different aspects you cite may be linked in some other way. Identifying these connections will be important for developing backstory, offering foreshadowing, and creating the simple connective tissue that keeps your story flowing naturally.
With this example, everything related to the Ministry has been outlined in teal, the things specific to the Order remain orange, and the things that are important to Harry himself are the same green used in his name.
I also can take this opportunity to draw smaller connections between things with more prominent themes elsewhere. For example, Dumbledoreās Army is coded red because itās founded on Harryās belief that the students should be able to defend themselves against the rising threat of Dark magic, but itās also important for creating a new generation of Order members and defying the restricting guidelines set in place by a Ministry in denial.
At this point, youāve finished your Murder Board. All of the pictures and post-it notes have been circled, and their red strings all point to one central suspect. All thatās left is to put the pieces together!
Happy writing, and I wish you the best of luck in your first week of Camp. See you soon, Super Scribes!
(1/2)Hey! Not to be a sjwā¢ who ruins people's fun, but regarding the last ask about a transgender character being kicked out of society/tortured-it seems a bit problematic if the author isn't transgender themselves. I love the idea of the representation, and idk if the author themselves is trans(if they are thats amazing!! And you can ignore this if they are) but if the author is cisgender, then I don't think it would be a good idea for this character to to main. Ik that the book prob isn't
Referring to this ask
It looks like there was meant to be a second part to this ask, but it looks like weāve only received the first part. Iāll keep an eye out for the second, but Iāll address this one as-is because you raise an important point that Iād really like to discuss.
Firstly, I want to apologise for my lapse in judgement regarding the way I handled this ask.Ā Iām aware that this is a highly-debated topic in the writing community (particularly so on Tumblr), and itās difficult to offer advice without making assumptions about the author themselves. I donāt believe itās my place (neither as a cisgender person nor an admin on this blog) to tell people what they should or should not write, so I offered advice as best I could on the overall point of the ask (describing experiences that the author may not have personally had) without interjecting my personal stance on the matter. I realise now that this is an important topic that shouldĀ be addressed, and Iām sorry for not having done so sooner.
With that in mind, I also want to thank you for bringing this up in such a positive way. We like to encourage constructive criticism and open discussion amongst ourselves and our followers, and I really appreciate that you mentioned this in a way that offers healthy feedback to the author without assuming that they werenāt trans themselves.
On that note, there are some things that should be considered in the event that the author is cisgender. There are a lot of conflicting opinions on this (as I mentioned before), but the general consensus seems to be that minority representation is good from any author as long as they arenāt trying to write specifically aboutĀ the minority experience. A potential solution for this is doing as you suggested, and continuing to represent the trans individual as a secondary character without making the story focus on the personal struggle they have as a trans person.
There are a lot of other posts and articles where this has been discussed, and Iām happy to provide links so that the author (and any of our other followers who may be having similar troubles) can decide for themselves. Our purpose here is to help writers make decisions and guide them toward solutions for their own storytelling, and I hope to never give the impression that my word is the final one.
Dear Cisgender People Who Write, Publish, and Read āTransā Books
Cisgender People Telling Transgender Stories
So You Want to Save the World from Bad RepresentationĀ (focuses on race, but still relevant here)
Hierarchies of Power: Cisgender Playwrights and Trans Characters
If anyone has suggestions for further resources or wants to offer their perspective on this, feel free to reblog and comment. Please remember to be respectful toward the anons on both asksā kind and helpful feedback goes a long way for writers and their stories!
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
ā Live Streamingā Interactive Chatā Private Showsā HD Qualityā Free Actions
Free to watch ā¢ No registration required ā¢ HD streaming
(1/2) Hi, I'm the writer of the story with the transgender character. I thank you all for your advice, but I am a cis black female and throughout my life I've been bullied by my extended family, and other people because I don't act black enough. People called me "white girl" in high school. I am proud of who I am now, and it has taken me a while to gain my confidence back, but I still feel awful. I know this sounds bad, but I was particularly focusing on my characters feelings of being alone...
(2/2) and feeling like heās alone. I wasnāt really revolving my story on the fact that he is transgender, and I know that it would be unwise for me to write about how it feels to be trans because I know that itās not my place. I apologize for my ask sounding offensive, and I will work on my story again.
Hey anon,
Thank you for checking in about this! Weāve received a lot of responses about your original ask, and itās always helpful to get some added context behind the questions and the stories we hear about through them.
On a personal note, Iām so happy that youāve been able to regain your confidence and grow more proud and accepting of who you are. Bullying can leave some deep scars that can be difficult to recover from, and Iām glad that youāre making progress toward that by creating a character that youāre able to empathize with on that emotional level.
Your response here is incredibly sweet and respectful, and I want to thank you for coming forward about your intentions behind the character in question. I genuinely hope that none of the responses weāve received or given have discouraged you from writing the story that you want to tellā it was never my goal to turn you away from a story you were passionate about, and I hope that youāre happy with the story you end up with regardless of whether or not you decide to revisit your character and make changes.
I would also like to thank all of the anons that came forward with their suggestions for being so respectful to the original anon and offering constructive criticism. This is exactly the type of discourse that we want to encourage amongst our followers, and itās refreshing to see such honest and helpful voices speaking about a topic thatās on the receiving end of so much toxicity lately. Youāre all wonderful, and weāre truly blessed to have such a fantastic community behind us.
Finally, I want to apologize if any of my own responses (either to the original anon or those that have written back) have been at all offensive or otherwise hurtful. I and my fellow admins are above all else dedicated to helping our fellow writers in whatever way we can, and our aim has never been to make anyone feel ostracized, insulted, or discouraged from their stories. If I have made this impression on anyone in the last few days, I am incredibly sorry.
We all know how difficult it can be to bring a story to life, and I believe it goes without saying that negative responses are neither productive nor welcome on our blog. You all have been the greatest followers a girl could ask for, and I thank you again for being so kind and understanding. I look forward to answering many, many asks in the future.
On the last ask u should've acknowledged the fact that being trans is seen as odd by some on THIS planet and that some trans ppl do feel like outsiders, irl. Author- Pls don't make it seem like discrimination is something that could only happen on another planet. Acknowledge the fact that it happened/s on earth, if earth exists in ur story.
This is also in response to this post.Ā
Thank you for your insight, anon! I donāt believe the author was trying to imply that discrimination doesnāt happen on Earth, but itās always good to acknowledge in some way that it isnāt some alien thing that humans are completely incapable of.
One of the simplest and most impactful statements Iāve ever heard about writing is that fiction cannot exist in a vacuum. Everything we write is based on our perspective of the world around us, which greatly affects the way we (and our respective audiences) perceive our writing.
Suspension of disbelief only goes so far, so itās important to ground the more fantastical elements of our stories in things that we can identify in our daily life. In her essayĀ āEngineering Impossible Architecturesā, Karen Russell refers to this as the Kansas:Oz ratioā the ability for us to believe in the rules of Oz because the laws of Kansas can still be followed. There are a number of ways to pull this off, but itās most commonly done through social constructs.
Every world will have some form of politics, every world will have some form of law system. Every world will have love, friendship, fear, and rivalry. Every world will have some sort of social conflict, which we can identify based on the similarities it bears to our own social conflict. Because these are things we understand, the way theyāre handled in a fictional setting can greatly affect the way we react to them in our daily life.
With that in mind, we should always be sure that we approach things like discrimination in a way that our readers can understand. Making it seem distinctly non-human defamiliarises the concept and can alienate (pun intended) our readers, but approaching it in a way that we and our readers can recognise can speak volumes as to its scope, influence, and effects in reality.
I feel ready to burn my laptop at this point! I love writing and have been working on one particular story for a long time -- a dystopian YA type of thing. I recently let a close friend read the outline and he said none of it was original, that it was like a lot of other books put together. Do you have any ideas for making an idea more original? Thank you so much!
Hey anon!
In all honesty, I donāt believe that any story starts as 100% original. Storytelling tropes have existed for so long that itās really difficult to find an idea thatās neverĀ been done before, so we often end up telling our stories by using bits and pieces of stories that weāve loved and collected over the years. They build up and amalgamate and morph until theyāre something new and beautiful that has all of the makings of the stories you love while still being something completely new.
Until someone comes along and tells you itās been done before. Trust me, anon, I have been there. A lot of people donāt seem to realise that every piece of writing needs some sort of springboard, which is often built from well-known tropes in the genre.
Itās the never-ending problem with genre writing, honestly. At some point, literally every fantasy novel is going to be compared to Lord of the Rings, and every dystopian YA is going to be compared to The Hunger Games. Itās just one of the indisputable facts of the universe.
Overall, just continue moving forward with your story. Nothing seems original in the first draft; in some cases, the story doesnāt begin to resemble something completely unique until well past the second and third drafts. As you continue developing your story and learning more about your specific world and the characters inside it, it will naturally evolve into something that stands on its own without necessarily warranting those comparisons.
Because thatās just a general piece of advice, hereās some more specific ways on how to do that:
Focus on worldbuilding.Ā Even if your story seems like a Frankensteinian combination of Hunger Games, The Maze Runner, Divergent, and City of Bones, youāll still need a backstory that explains why your specific dystopia makes sense. The world works the way it does for a reason, and putting time into your own history and culture will give it stronger legs to stand on. @theticklishpearā did an excellent post on worldbuilding here, and I encourage you to check it out!
Work on character development.Ā I am a hugeĀ advocate for the power of character building. The more effort you put into your characters and their relationships, the more they start to become their own people. This will bleed into your worldbuilding as well, as your respective character backstories will offer more insight about their environment. Hereās a cool thing I wrote on characterisation, if youāre interested! (P.S., I am always down to talk character at literally any time)
Work with your points of tension. Not all conflicts are resolved in the same way, and finding the major points of tension in your story will help you create a plot that works within the genre while still being something unique to your world and characters. Dianne just did a post recently linking to a few of our favourite articles on developing tension, and I definitely recommend looking into them.
Donāt let naysayers get you down, anon. The bottom line is that effort engenders results. The only thing you really need to do to make your story more original is to continue writing it. It may seem like a really basic piece of advice, but youāll find yourself coming up with new plotlines and character changes in the middle of a draft that can completely change the entire course of the story. Hell, I ended up changing the entire premise of one of mine after deciding that the main character wore band t-shirts on casual Fridays.
Youāve got this. I wish you the best of luck moving forward!
