Abigail Wadsworth

This post is based on a conversation we had in the Duck Prints Press LLC Discord, and all contributors comments have been used/paraphrased/integrated into this post with permission. The people who contributed ideas to this post are: @nottesilhouette, @ramblingandpie, @arialerendeair, @tryslora, @deansmultitudes, @theleakypen, Owlish Intergalactic, myself (I’m @unforth), and one who preferred to remain anonymous.

Few things are harder than coming back to writing after a long period of not writing. Being creative takes a lot of energy, and starting after not doing so for a period of time takes even more energy. The writers on our Discord had a really productive discussion, where we talked about strategies we’ve each personally used to help us get our writing mojo back. None of these methods work for everyone, but if you haven’t written in a while, maybe one of these will work for you!

How to Revive that Creative Writing Spark:

doing sprints with a friend - knowing you’re all in it together can really help!

talking with writing buddies about what you’re each working on - the shared enthusiasm can be really helpful,

journaling, about daily life, or about dreams you’ve had - turning the dream into something coherent can be a great strategy (or, don’t bother, and just write it however crazily it took place!)

pick a random story you wrote in the past and read a chapter, paragraph, or 500 word segment - and look at it as a reader, say things you liked about it, praise it, emphasize the good things about your own writing.

transcribe a song with lyrics you find inspiring, or crack open a favorite book and transcribe a few paragraphs. You can even do it with something you’ve written yourself!

set a low-pressure, low-word count deadline - make it public, if you’re the kind of person that helps, or keep it to yourself.

sign up for a zero-consequence challenge, such as a bingo, or the Duck Prints Press #drabbledaysaturday prompts on Twitter - something where no one will mind if you don’t succeed, but you might find some inspiration.

create a small goal, either daily, weekly, or monthly - it can be a time frame (I’ll write for 5 minutes a day!) or a word count (I’ll write 1,000 words a month!) or even something tiny (I’ll write one sentence a day!) or a public sharing goal (post a ficlet a day!) and then do your best to stick to it, and reward yourself when you succeed.

open your ask box or otherwise solicit short prompts - for example, do a “three sentence” meme (”send me a pairing and a trope and I’ll write a three sentence fill”) or a story title meme (”send me a story title and I’ll write a little about the story I’d create with that title”) or an emoji prompt (”send me three emojis and I’ll write a ficlet”) or make your own fun one that will bring you joy (one of our writers created a “name two characters and I’ll make them kiss in six sentences or less” meme that helped them a lot)

participate in a prompt month, something with no consequences for failure but with prompts that can inspire daily ficlet.

write without editing, and just throw what you create out into the world - anything to get the words flowing.

challenge yourself to write a drabble day, no more and no less.

try changing how or when you write - get a nice journal and write by hand, or if that’s your normal, try writing in a word document instead.

write at different times of day, and see if it’s easier for you over breakfast, or after lights out, or during your lunch break, or by stealing a few minutes while you’re “on the clock” at work.

make an attempt at different formats of writing - if you usually write prose, try a poem; if you usually write really long things, try a drabble.

look out your window, or find a place you like, and just describe what you see.

do some free association exercises - for example, use a random word generator (I use this one sometimes) and then write literally whatever word comes into your head next - keep going until you fill the page, or until it starts to turn into a story, or just until you don’t feel like it any longer.

pick a random sentence (the person who suggested this often uses “Just write anything”) to be the start of a story, and “pants” your way through whatever comes next, without worrying about grammar, continuity, logic, or much of anything.

plan ahead - schedule your writing time and don’t let yourself put it off (rewards for success are always good!) and/or visualize exactly what you want to write ahead so you’re ready when you sit down.

if you get hit by inspiration, don’t put it off - even if all you do is scrawl a sentence in your phone or on scratch paper between other tasks, get it out of your head. Even a single sentence is a creation!

get out of the spaces where your usual things are - go to a park, or on a hike, or in your backyard, or even a different room in your own home, and bring a journal or phone or laptop, and see what strikes you.

pick That Thing You Haven’t Been Letting Yourself Write and ignore all the things you Think You Should Be Writing and just…write what brings you joy

fanfiction can be very helpful, especially in canon using canon-compliant ships/characterizations - there’s no need to do the heavy lifting. Even if you just write the characters going to a grocery store, or talking about what movie they want to watch, or arguing over take out - something short and sweet that’s just for fun, with no expectations for yourself or anyone else.

alternatively, if you’re the type who writes better for others and you’re feeling down - knock out anything, even something short, and post it, and take joy even in a single like or kudos. Knowing even one person out there loved what you wrote can really help.

Any or all of these may help you, but there’s one final one that I, at least, think is the most important of all - and that’s helped me most.

FORGIVE YOURSELF. You have work in progress up. It’s okay to leave them. You told someone you’d write something for them. It’s okay not to. You have a deadline looming. It’s okay to ask for more time, or to withdraw, or - in the end - it’s even okay to ghost. You think what you’ve made is bad. It’s okay if it’s bad. You’ll never be able to create when you’re raking yourself over the coals. Everyone in fandom has “been there” - has missed deadlines, has left challenges, has abandoned works in progress, have reneged on a promise to a friend to write something. Until you forgive yourself, you’ll never be able to create anything, and isn’t even a single sentence that isn’t on that Big Important Thing better than no sentences on anything?

Forgive yourself, and find that spark, inspiration, muse, whatever you want to call it - and write things that bring you joy.

We believe in you!

And a Heaven in a Wild Flower,

Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand

And Eternity in an hour.

Reminds me of the time I was looking at some swords for sale, and these two frat types were picking up swords and I overheard them say something to the effect of “these aren’t even real swords, feel how light this is, it’s garbage” and like, no, my dude, try swinging it around very quickly while simultaneously darting back and forth. 

I guarantee most people will be gasping for breath and feeling like their arms are falling off within 5 minutes. 

okay, let’s ignore the lightest one and all the two handed swords. Pick something in the middle and you’ve got a sword weighing about 2.5 pounds. But there’s physics happening, which is that about half the weight is at the end of a long stick, and that’s the part you’re moving the most.

See that can of chili up there? try duct taping one of them to the end of a broomstick and waving it around. It’s going to feel a lot heavier because of the leverage it has. Lifting it will feel easy, but when you wave it you give it momentum, which you then have to stop and redirect. Wave it for five minutes straight and your arms are going to feel like they are on fire, and you’re going to mysteriously lose the ability to keep it held at the proper angle for defense and attack.

In a fight, you are already basically jumping rope, and anyone who has done that as an adult can tell you without a lot of training it makes you wish you were dead within minutes. Add to that some vigorous swinging of a weight at the end of a stick, and the cliché “let him tire himself out” technique of dueling becomes a very real, very deadly thing. Like, without rigorous training, you will very rapidly find yourself literally unable to keep your blade up, gasping for breath. When you do get your blade up to block something or to attack, there is no strength left in your arms, it feels like one of those dreams where you are trying to run but you only move at a snails pace, you just can’t make yourself move quickly or with force. You begin to be unable to even grip your weapon strongly, a sharp strike at your blade will likely knock it from your hand.

If you are writing sword fights, I highly recommend finding a three foot long metal pipe that weighs three pounds, setting a five minute timer, and then do this routine until the timer goes off: jump forward a little, and swing the pipe as if attacking, jump back a little and lift the “hilt” to head hight with the pipe parallel to the ground to simulate a block (many blocks require less movement, but include more force to counter the movement of the opponents blade, so this is a happy medium). Repeat for five minutes – skip forward, strike, skip back, block.

One of the most important parts of any narrative are the characters and how they relate to each other. But sometimes, when it comes to writing characters different from ourselves we end up stumped. Here’s an exercise created by YWP Participant Natalie Gertsenberger to help you out!

As writers, we all know what makes each of our stories unique. We know what makes them stand out. What makes them different. But in general with any novel, the characters are the center of our story. The heart of it all. Characters are who we relate to, they are the people that take us into their world, and bring us along for the ride. Let’s face it—the reason we read is because we want to experience the impossible. And we can’t do that without our beloved characters. 

Characters are like our friends. If you’ve ever noticed, our friends are more often than not, the polar opposites of ourselves. But you know what? It works.  And that is the key to creating diverse, multi-dimensional characters. 

they got all 28 of us screenwriters in a room on like the second day and straight up told us—

“you will suffer for your entire career if you make this into a competition.” 

they told us that, while we might like the write similar things, like in the same genre, or same settings—we’d never be in competition, simply because we were all different people.

from our big differences in life experience and in personality, down to our smaller differences in story preferences and writing style, it all made everything we all did unique.

and while we were all one of a million people trying to achieve the same goal of making writing a career—individually we were the only ones who could tell our stories. 

You are the only one who can write like you, who can draw like you, who can cosplay like you, who can sing like you, who can make art like you. Don’t ruin the love you have for your craft by comparing yourself to others, by putting yourself in competition with them just because you want to be “the best”.

And finally, here’s the tough love part that we all got reminded of constantly—

The moment you decide you are better than everyone, is the moment you fail. Because you will have closed yourself off to valuable critique. You will have inflated your ego so big that the second you get rejected you’ll spiral. You will have become so high and mighty that one day you’ll look around and realize you have pushed all of your peers, and your entire support system, away. 

@not-the-girl-u-think​ said:

Hey Abby! Any tips for a slow burn romance??

Let’s start with a little thingy first: slow-burns, when done well, are my favorite thing to read. I love the suspense that comes with them, that feeling when you know they’re going to get to together but you’re on the edge of your seat wondering if it’ll happen anyway. That stuff melts my heart, so I’m really, really happy that you sent this.

What is a slow-burn?

Slow-burns are great because they work both as a main or a subplot. They’re extremely character-oriented romances that take a while (usually an entire book or, in some cases, an entire series) to develop. Oh, and they have a talent for making people like me freak out over every little detail.

From a writer’s perspective, a slow-burn is a pain in the neck. You want everything to go at the right pace with the right chemistry enough that it seems like everything happens naturally. You don’t want things to go too slow or too fast, but you don’t want the reader to be rushed or bored either. Two characters are needed that would making a slow-burn seem worth it to pursue, and there lies the issue.

Creating the Chemistry

This part of the post is going to build pretty heavily on this post about writing believable romances. As you’ve (hopefully) guessed, your main goal for creating a successful slow-burn should be to achieve realism. Creating chemistry between characters is a balance of everything you’ve learned about writing romance.

In order for two (or more) characters to have good chemistry, they have to be compatible. One of the biggest giveaways of an under-developed romance is seeing two characters forced together when you know it wouldn’t happen in real life. When I say “balance”, what I mean is this: your characters can’t only have traits that fit well together, but they also can’t be constantly conflicting. 

People tend to like a challenge, so if their partner or partners just go along with everything they say it won’t become so much fun. However, constantly having to fight against the person/people you’re supposed to be with is physically and mentally exhausting. Once you get to this point, it’s easy to question whether this relationship is worth it.

This balance that you achieve is especially important because it’s one you’re going to be working with all throughout the development of this relationship. If there’s a trait you’re not necessarily “good” at writing, practice is going to be your best friend. You’ll need to know how their traits go together, where they clash and where they blend and where they don’t really act the way someone would expect.

The Relationship “Basis”

A slow-burn, as you know, doesn’t just happen. There are precursors, usually with them starting off as friends or a friend of a friend. Something was there first, and whatever this “something” was will have a pretty large effect on their current relationship.

If they were previously best friends, they’re probably already comfortable with each other. Depending on the length and depth of their friendship, taking it to a romantic level might not change anything other than the addition of kissing and… other activities.

If the previous relationship was based on a mutual dependency, depending on their personalities they might become more less dependent on each other. They might go out and learn/try new things together and use the codependency to help each other out, or they might make an effort to get a little more independent so they’re not constantly relying on each other.

You’ll want to consider how they met in the first place, and why they started talking in the first place. Was it a funny joke, a chance meeting on a vacation, something like tutoring at first? This basis will be the precedent for the relationship, and in my opinion it’s too important to be forgotten about.

Hinting at a Romance

Romance between people happens in weird ways. Sometimes someone points it out or sometimes it happens like in that one Tumblr post where one little thing happens and then it’s there. Sometimes it’s a stolen glance across the room or a game of spin the bottle gone wrong.

When there are situations involving a forcing of romantic interaction, the characters involved are absolutely correct to be made uncomfortable by this situation. I’ve seen too many stories where characters don’t act like themselves in these moments for purely the purpose of bringing in this romance… don’t do that.

What I tend to lean to are weird thoughts about the possibility of a romantic future and those thoughts that hit you unexpectedly. “Woah, I bet A would love this.” Things like that are what I usually do, just because that’s how I’ve always experienced things. If you want to go beyond your own perspective, ask your friends. It could definitely be a weird question, so if you’re not comfortable with that then Google will be your friend.

1. Does your character have good aim? 2. What would history remember your character for? 3. Does your character prefer to work in silence or with noise and of what kind? 4. Has your character ever been handcuffed or tied up? 5. Can your character cook? 6. Who did your character look up to as a child? 7. Do any of your characters have depression? 8. Who has the worst luck? 9. Could your character win an arm wrestling competition? How well would they do? 10. Would your character give up the chance to come back to life as a god so that someone else could be saved?

11. What is your character’s favorite historical or fairy tale figure? 12. Would your character marry someone their family didn’t approve of? 13. Do/Did any of your characters have large ears they had to grow into as a kid? 14. Are any of your characters nonverbal? 15. Did your character ever want to be a cowboy? 16. How does the way your character present themselves in public differ from how they are in private? 17. How petty is your character? 18. Is your character pro or anti union? 19. Does your character like carrots? 20. How self-confident is your characters?

21. Do any of your characters have heterochromia? 22. Do any of your characters have someone named after them? Or are they named after someone else? 23. Do any of your characters have facial markings? 24. What is your character’s opinions on squirrels? 25. Does your character experience sexism for the job/title they hold? (ie: she’s a girl, she can’t be x,y,z because only boys can be) 26. Are any of your characters missing fingers? 27. Does your character know how to tie different kinds of knots? 28. How much does your character giggle? 29. Are any of your characters nameless? (In that there is no legal record of them existing, they just don’t have names in canon, or history remembers them but not their name?) 30. How independent was your character as a teen?

31. How much does your character care about their appearance? 32. Do you have any characters who are twins? 33. Does your character like math? How good are they at it? 34. Do any of your characters collect sea-shells or wear shell jewelry? 35. Naptime, yes or no? 36. Would your character prefer to sit around and chill or be up and moving and doing something? 37. Did any of your characters have a fever they almost died from as a child? 38. Does your character worry about breaking the rules and getting in trouble? 39. Do any of your characters have the responsibilities of an adult despite being a child, or did they when they were? 40. If a loved one died, how long would they stay in mourning?

41. Do other people around your character dictate their life or do they get to choose for themselves? 42. Did/do any of your characters have an arranged marriage? 43. Do you have any widows/widower characters? 44. Are any of your characters overshadowed by other siblings? Or have parents who clearly have a favorite? (ex: Boromir and Faramir) 45. Would your character kill someone to get what they want? 46. Does your character prefer to lead or follow? 47. Has your character ever stolen anything? 48. Are any of your characters apprentices? 49. Are any of your characters certified Bird Nerds ™? 50. Are any of your characters Good Dads ™?

51. Do any of your characters have grandparents who are named and living in canon? 52. Would your character prefer to have history know the truth or have many different versions of their life? 53. What if the furthest your character has ever walked in a given stretch of time? 54. Would your character prefer to visit a new city or stay at home? 55. Do you have any characters who despite trying their best ended up being horrible parents? 56. Do any of your characters have step-family? 57. Do any of your characters consistently wear hats? 58. Does your character prefer the ocean or the mountains? 59. What kinds of things does your character use as paperweights? 60. If faced with certain death, would your character continue to speak out against injustice?

61. Have any of your characters struggled with addiction? 62. Have any of your characters adopted anyone? 63. How far would your character go to help those in need? 64. Do your characters know any old blind swordsmen per the trope? 65. Is your characters energetic? 66. How much of a disappointment/scandal to their family is your character? 67. Would your character be willing to do something they consider morally wrong in order to achieve their goals? 68. Are any of your characters intimidatingly beautiful? 69. Has your character ever found themselves in with the wrong crowd and had to attempt to break from it? 70.  Does your character have any guarded/secret guild knowledge or family recipe?

71. How good is your character at reading people and navigating social situations? 72. Would your character care for someone who needed it if it meant being ostracized from their society? 73. Has your character been to/ ever explored any ruins? 74.  Are any of your characters associated with flowers? 75: Do any of your characters wear glasses, sunglasses, goggles, or monocles? 76: Would your character like to live on a farm and raise sheep? 77. Have any of your characters had to kill a friend? 78. Have any of your characters been exiled from their society? 79. What is a humanizing thing about a villain/antagonist/generally horrible person character that you have? 80. Was your character ever considered shy?

81. Does your character look like what others think they should from their reputation? 82. Describe your character’s handwriting. 83. Did/do any of your characters start a dynasty? 84. Do any of your characters have gaps in their teeth or are missing teeth? 85. Has your character ever been led down the wrong path because of their anger? 86. Is your character’s fear reaction to fight, flight, or freeze? 87. What are your character’s nails like? 88. Are any of your characters part of a spy network? 89. Would your character throw themselves in harms way to protect a loved one? 90. Can your character start a campfire?

91. Does your character engage in gossip? 92. Have any of your characters started and/or led a revolution? 93. Do you have any characters that are stuffed animals? Or characters who have them? 94. Are any of your characters mechanics? 95. If given total rule over a country, would your character step aside to turn it into a democracy? 96. Which character is The Proudest ™ of their kids? 97. Do any of your characters have a tendency to dislocate joints? 98. Has your character ever had to question their beliefs and realized they were wrong? 99. Do any of your characters have social anxiety? 100. Are any of your characters queer?

101. Which character is The Most dramatic? 102. Are any of your characters d/Deaf or HoH? 102. What is your character’s greatest source of guilt? 103. How well does your character deal with their anger? 104. Do any of your characters have pottery as a hobby? 105. Favorite winter activity? 106. Do any of your characters have noticeable acne? 107. Do any of your characters feel confined by their lives and the expectations placed upon them? 108. Are any of your characters dogs? 109. Would your character blackmail a god? 110. What color is associated with your character?

111. Do any of your characters have dogs for pets? 112. Does your character believe in wishing fountains and shooting stars? 113. Would your character commit treason if the law was wrong? 114. Do any of your characters insist on going by their fullname rather than a nickname? 115. Do any of your characters have an honorary father figure? 116. Have any of your characters (almost) drowned? 117. Could your character build a house or possess the knowledge to build one? 118. Have any of your characters come from a position of privilege that they’ve never had to examine? 119. If someone made a statue of your character, what would it look like? 120. Do any of your characters have PTSD?

121. Do any of your characters have prosthetics? 122. What is your character’s greatest secret? 123. Did any of you characters have nannies or governesses growing up? 124. Does your character workout? 125. Who is your token cis, straight, (optional: white) male? 126. Are any of your characters on good terms/still friends with an ex? 127. Has anyone ever stolen your character’s identity or impersonated them? 128. Has your character’s home ever been destroyed? 129. Has your character ever had to compromise on what they thought was right in order to maintain peace? 130. Do you have any characters who are retired?

131. Who is redhaired and has a mustache? 132. Who is the precious cinnamon roll? 133. Have any of your characters ever been caught in a fire or explosion? 134. Has your character ever been alone in a hostile environment and been forced to travel a long way to reach a safety that wasn’t for sure? 135. Would  your character be content to go back to a normal and quiet life after going on an adventure? 136. Has your character ever been forced to deal with the ‘I want to speak to your manager” kind of person? 137. Are any of your characters bipolar? 138. How good is your character with money and accounting? 139. Has your character ever survived a fatal wound? 140. Can your character play an instruments?

141. Who has a weapon collection? 142. Do any of your characters use wheelchairs, transportation devices, or mobility aids? 143. Has your character ever had some part of their culture made illegal? 144. Are any of your characters adventurers by trade? 145. How much first aid and medical knowledge does your character have? 146. Were any of your characters disowned or abandoned by their parents? 147. Do any of your characters have albinism? 148. Do any of your characters have an eating disorder or food contamination phobia? 149: How good is your character at lying? 150. Do any of your characters have to deal with family being concerned more about appearances and reputation than personal wellbeing?

151. Would your character ever go cliff diving? 152: Do you have any characters with the jr. sr. I II or III thing? 153: Do any of your characters embody the spirit of a flapper? (Bonus points for style and or lifestyle) 154: How much does your character care about other people respecting their authority? 155: Does your character cut and/or color their hair for any specific reason? 156: Were/Are any of your characters under less pressure and fewer expectations than their siblings? 157: Do any of your characters live on their own? 158: Have any of your characters even been bit by a zombie or rabid animal or otherwise exposed to a deadly pathogen? (Did any of them survive?) 159: Does your character have any tattoos? And are any of them symbolic or significant? 160: Do any of your characters have asthma?

161: Your character’s opinion of pineapple? 162: Has your character ever thrown a tantrum over things not going their way? 163: Are any of your characters autistic? (If so, do they have special interests and what are they?) 164: Are any of your characters tinkerers or inventors? 165: Who is a “girls just wanna have fun” character? 166: Are any of your characters blind or visually impaired? 167: Are any of your characters fat? 168: Is your characters easily embarrassed? 169: Are any of your characters married to the sea? 170: Are any of your characters infamous?

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give a dirty look

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knit brows

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The Character-Driven Plot Wheel

1. Emotions drive actions.

Make your hero act on their deepfelt emotions. This not only adds meaning to their actions, but also helps communicate to readers your hero’s core emotional struggle.

2. Actions trigger consequences.

When your hero acts, give their actions consequences that affect the plot, themselves, and/or the surrounding characters. For example, driven by curiosity, maybe your hero opens Pandora’s box; maybe they act recklessly and someone dies; or maybe they stand up for what they believe in, but at great personal cost. Consequences raise the stakes and empower your hero with agency.

3. Consequences compel change.

Use the consequences of your hero’s actions to create a crucible of growth — challenges and situations that force them to take the next step on their character journey. That step may be forward, or backward, and it may be large or small; but something inside them changes.

4. Change influences emotions.

When a character goes through a change, even a small one, allow it to affect them emotionally. Maybe they feel increasingly frustrated or guilty. Maybe they’re afraid, having just taken another step closer to abandoning their old way of seeing the world. Or maybe they finally feel peace.

Regardless of the form it takes, remember to reflect your hero’s change in their emotions. Then let their emotions drive action, to trigger consequences, which will compel further change.

Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

And there you have it! That’s how you write a character-driven plot.

So what do you say?

Give the wheel a spin.

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