#writeblr tips

I had someone ask today how I get people to click through and read my writing, and I'm realizing that I've never actually made a post all in one place of everything I do to get a new piece of short fiction off the ground... so here you go! How to get (some) eyes on your work, even if it is not published anywhere of interest and you don't have a marketing team behind you.

The #1 thing is presentation. You want to get people's attention, and once you have it, convince them to keep paying attention. Fortunately, people tend to be both reasonable and predictable, which means all you have to do is follow The Formula.

If you're struggling with breathing life into your OC's, try this funny yet stupidly simple trick/writeblr tag game I just came up with. I call it the 'Roast Your OCS and Make It Into a Title' tag game. 🤣

So, we've all heard of fictional character archetypes and stereotypes that are often present in fiction, right? We all know it's not good to have shallow, surface level characters that have no complexity or nuance to their personalities, because real life humans contain multitudes, contradictions, and are in general very complicated beings.

Throw all that shit out for this exercise and toss it into the trash! 🗑️ In this tag game, we're gonna be reducing all our OC's to the most basic, mundane, stereotypical/archetypal renditions of themselves and making it Fit Into a Title!

Here's an example of my main character + his besties from my Science Fantasy WIP:

Cold and Stoic Pretty Boy Loaner With Social Anxiety and Unhealed Trauma Tries to Save His Sister

Disowned Goth Femme Fatale With Bitchy Yet Gentle Attitude Is Socially Neglected and Cries A Lot

Occasionally Serious Himbo City Boy Cop Tries and Fails to Fight Crime With Therapy and Rehabilitation

Snobby Know-It-All Imperial Man Who Somehow Has Both A Superiority and Inferiority Complex

Protective Amazonian Lesbian Sadist Who Will Absolutely Step On You and Ruin Your Life Forever

Gifted Slutty Bisexual Boy Genius Is Hiding a Dark Secret and Is Very Zesty (Rude) About It

For this tag game I'm gonna be tagging A LOT of people but mainly people who've interacted with me recently. Free to reblog if you see this on your dash, even if you're not tagged. I find this shit HILARIOUS and I would love to see what everyone manages to come up with! No pressure at all if you don't wanna participate, this is all just for fun. ❤️😊

@in-heavens-trenches @revenantlore @cupandquillcafe @fattybattysblog @eames-with-a-rose

@gailynovelry @kestalsblog @dru-reads-writeblr @druidx @indigowriting

@diabolical-blue @writercoracain @tildeathiwillwrite @craig-h-stuart @illarian-rambling

@coarsely @rjcopeseethemald @jackiezenauthor @squarebracket-trickster @kaylinalexanderbooks

@pen-of-roses @flock-from-the-void @sarandipitywrites @buffythevampirelover @imsaanvikhanna

@songsofsomnia @shadow-of-tea-and-tea @owlsandwich @faeriecinna @hauntedluminarybbq

@sarahlizziewrites @ayzrules @rickie-the-storyteller @janec23

If you want some extra help you can also look up character stereotypes/archetypes like I did. There's hundreds of blog posts about this topic but here's some helpful links so you can judge/roast your OC's to your heart's content:

You've probably seen the little headers I use occasionally on my blog, like these:

Ever wanted to make one of your own? Don't fear, because it's actually really easy! I've outlined my process step by step below the cut >:)

Lol you and me both anon. A couple years ago I was fairly active on the writeblr scene, but now I'm kind of busy with uni so I've mostly been reblogging writing posts.

If you want my advice for running a writeblr, some tips for a Low-Spoons Writeblr Experience:

Reblog! Reblog writing tips, reblog other people's writing, reblog tag games. Keep the queue going.

Speaking of tag games, I suggest participating in those. If you don't have any writeblr friends (I'll get to that) then look through the tag game and writeblr tags and find tag games tagged "for anybody". Be shameless, jump on that train, and tag OP back.

Speaking of writeblr friends, go on a follow spree. Find writeblrs on tumblr, look through their blogs, their WIP pages if they have them, and if you like what you see go hit the follow button.

Lastly, comment on stuff. Even if it's just in the tags. You can comment on people's writing snippets, their tag games, it doesn't have to be anything particularly lengthy, even a little emoji heart will work. If you're super anxious about Being Perceived you can leave the comment in the tags so only OP will see it- but either way chances are you'll make them smile.

I have been trying to make myself outline my wips for years now- with little success- until now. If you are someone who has trouble outlining, or someone who wants to give it a try, here are some do’s and don’ts that have helped me!

This is by no means a cure-all guide, it’s just what has helped me. So take what you need and leave the rest. :)

DO’s

DO keep it simple. An outline isn’t supposed to be anything other than the bare-bones of the sequence of your novel. Try to keep it limited and use notes for any details you must remember. This will keep it neat and provide lots of room to expand when you begin writing.

DO write what you know and fill in the blanks! (This is probably the tip that saved me the most from myself) Your outline doesn’t have to be perfect- especially when you’re first starting. Write the events you know will happen and place them in their approximate spots, then fill in any holes in your outline. (This is also great to weed out any plot-holes your story may have)

DO know your story structure. Work with the big things first. Determine your ending, resolution, climax, inciting incident, and beginning. Knowing the larger whole of your story will help you when you’re finding the route from point A to point B.

DO divide up your outline. Separating your planing into more digestible sections is essential to keeping organized. When I divvy up my outline, scenes are much easier to find. You could divide it up by: scenes, time changes, chapters, or any other unit. 

DO color code! I was hesitant to use color coding in my outline, but I’ve found that it is saves a lot of time when looking for scenes, and having an idea of the flow of my story. It helps to break up the “bad” with the “good” scenes and maintain a good story flow. (Ex. I have a color for any “bad” scenes, a color for scenes involving my love interest, a color for my MC’s inner thoughts/feelings, this list goes on...) 

DON’TS

DON’T sweat the small stuff. Your outline doesn't need all the details- thats what drafting is for. Keep it short and sweet with the most important and crucial bits only. It isn't called an "outline" for nothing. This is the lines of your story! Leave the shading and coloring for your draft!

DON'T stress about your story sequence. You don’t need to know everything in perfect succession- in fact that’s why you need an outline in the first place. Don’t stress about having plot/timeline holes, continue on your outline with what you do know and skip spaces. Whatever is missing will come to you eventually. (This also gives you more time to think through things and figure out what will fit!)

DON'T give up! Outlining is a long and hard process, but isn't without reward! Having an outline for your story is a good way to help prevent against inconsistencies, plot holes, and time gaps in your writing!

I hope this is helpful to any plotters developing an outlining style/process!

“Show, don’t tell,” was what I was taught at school.

You, too?

Here’s a simple example of “show, don’t tell”:

Show: The skin resists the blunt knife, dimpling slightly before bursting open in a splatter of red liquid. All over my hands. All over the kitchen counter. What’s inside is worse: a viscous mess of seeds and soggy flesh that oozes across my plate, and turns to a fragrant mush in my mouth. It isn’t the taste, but the texture that makes me long to spit it out. Tell: I hate raw tomatoes.

In my example above, the difference between the two approaches is marked. However, in practice, it isn’t always so easy to distinguish between showing and telling.

In this article, I’d like to explore the techniques used by 3 famous authors to blend showing and telling in order to unfold the plot, the characters, and the world.

Here is a general comparison of showing and telling:

How vs. What – showing is more likely to explain and describe how something occurs, whereas telling can simply state what happened.

Detail vs. Overview – showing focuses on providing details in an effort to imitate the character’s experience, while telling is more useful for providing a broad overview or generalisation of the situation.

Verbose vs. Succinct – since showing requires more detail, it’s usually wordier than telling.

Slow vs. Fast – another consequence of providing more details is that the pace of the narration slows down. Telling, in contrast, usually speeds up the story.

Character vs. Narrator – because showing often relies on the way the action of the story is perceived, the character becomes more dominant. However, this character may be the narrator themselves.

Perception vs. Context – even if the perceptions are shown from the point of view of a disembodied narrator, they’re usually more focused. Telling, in contrast, is better suited to provide context.

Personal vs. Impersonal – because it foregrounds perceptions, showing can feel more personal, whereas telling can impart a universal quality as exemplified by the fairytale formula: “once upon a time, in a kingdom far away, there lived a…”

Writer vs. Reader – showing requires a writer to expend skill, time, and words. Although it can help to draw the reader in, I think it can be argued that telling a story demands more of the reader, who has to fill in the details through the work of their own imagination.

The aim of the “show, don’t tell,” rule is to encourage writers to describe the action of the story in a way that draws the reader to experience it alongside the character.

It’s a useful reminder to think about how you convey information.

However, as I think the examples in this article will demonstrate, showing and telling are more effective when used together.

The techniques of showing and telling are essential to fleshing out your plot structure.

✓ Telling can impart a lot of information very quickly, which is why it’s often a good choice for setting the scene.

✓ Showing, on the other hand, conveys story information slowly, but more in-depth. It’s more entertaining, so I recommend you use it in abundance for scenes that you want to linger in.

One of Ernest Hemingway’s writing tenets is to pare down story information as much as possible. His aim is to erase the narrator, and thereby the filter between the reader and the characters, but this doesn’t mean he shies away from telling. Quite the contrary!

For example, here is the very first sentence of THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA:

He was an old man who fished alone in a skiff in the Gulf Stream and he had gone eighty-four days now without taking a fish.

This telling sentence brings the reader up to speed, introducing the character, the location, and the situation.

You might argue that the rest of the novella is Hemingway showing the first sentence and its consequences.

A writer can often give away a surprising amount of information about the plot, because the reader can still enjoy the pleasure of the details unfolded through showing the character’s journey.

After his first telling sentence, Hemingway continues to weave showing and telling throughout the novella, creating the oceanic rhythm of the old man’s monologue.

For example:

“Bad news for you, fish,” he said and shifted the line over the sacks that covered his shoulders. [showing]

He was comfortable but suffering, although he did not admit the suffering at all. [telling]

You can use this technique of alternating lines of showing and telling as a way to break up long sections of introspection.

Hemingway has another interesting trick that combines the functions of telling and showing.

Glossing over boring passages of time is one of the chief advantages of telling.

Throughout The Old Man and the Sea, Hemingway repeatedly tells how much time has passed, but simultaneously shows its effect on the character through the perceptions of the old man…

The sun was two hours higher now and it did not hurt his eyes so much to look into the east. There were only three boats in sight now and they showed very low and far inshore.

…

He rested for what he believed to be two hours. The moon did not rise now until late and he had no way of judging the time. Nor was he really resting except comparatively. He was still bearing the pull of the fish across his shoulders but he placed his left hand on the gunwale of the bow and confided more and more of the resistance to the fish to the skiff itself.

…

For an hour the old man had been seeing black spots before his eyes and the sweat salted his eyes and salted the cut over his eye and on his forehead. He was not afraid of the black spots. They were normal at the tension that he was pulling on the line. Twice, though, he had felt faint and dizzy and that had worried him.

…

He had sailed for two hours, resting in the stern and sometimes chewing a bit of the meat from the marlin, trying to rest and to be strong, when he saw the first of the two sharks.

To use this trick, look for descriptions in your story when your character is fairly still for a long period of time. Instead of mentioning the passage of time, and what your character does before and after, describe their sensations during that time period, and how they perceive time passing.

I envy those who put down an outline and write their scenes in order but I could never do that :/ I would write chapter 2, then go to chapter 13, and scenes initially written for chapter 3 ends up in chapter 5... my writing is a whole mess and it’s incredibly difficult to manage in one word document.

I used trial version of Scrivener and I really loved it, but I can’t spare that money at this very moment.

I know I’ve made one of these posts before, but I figured I’d make one again as my following is more than six times larger than it was the first time (thank you guys so much!). So with that being said, here’s what I’ve found to effectively tag things.

Your first FIVE tags are going to be the ones that show up in tracked tags (AKA the things that show up when people click on the tags they follow)

This means that you’re going to want to put your most common tags here. Not personal tags or comments. Tags like #writing, #writeblr, #writing advice are all good ones for your first five.

Your first TWENTY tags are going to be the ones that show up if you search something in the search bar (This includes the initial five from above)

This is where you’d put any tags that are relevant to your post that would also help people find it. #fight scenes, #my wip, #writing lgbt are all valid for the first twenty. Twenty tags is a lot, and you by no means have to use all of them, but the more tags you do, the more easily people will find it in searches.

After the first twenty, tags will only be useful for blog navigation

This is a good place for comments if you used up your first twenty tag spots. It’s also good for personal tags or wip tags.

Tags on reblogs have the same effect as tags after the first twenty