Winter Wrights

me:

This is an extensive list of resources for every problem you could come across while writing/planning/editing your novel. Use it well;)

{ *** } Indicate a Highly Reccommended Resource

Planning/outlining Your Work

How To Outline ***

Zigzag Method : Creating Plots

How to Plot a Romance Novel 

Seven Great Sources of Conflict for Romances 

Let’s talk about brainstorming

Writing Something With Meaning ***

Past Or Present Tense? : How To Decide

Writing Your Work

How To Write A Fabulous Chapter #1 ***

How to Build a Romance Thread in Your Story 

The Big Book Of Writing Sex ***

6 Ways to Get Your Readers Shipping Like Crazy 

Romance Writing Tips ***

20 Tips for Writing Lovable Romance Novel Heroes

7 Ways To Speed Up Your Writing *** 

80+ Barriers to Love: A List of Ideas to Keep Romantic Tension High 

9 Romance Writing Mistakes to Avoid 

Removing the Creeps From Romance

19 Ways to Write Better Dialogue ***

50 Things Your Characters Can Do WHILE They Talk ***

How To Write Action And Fight Scenes

10 Steps To Write Arguments

9 Ways To Write Body Language

Writing Good Kissing Scenes

Writing Murders

Create And Control Tone ***

Tips for Writing Ghost Stories

Incorporating Flashbacks

12 Tips To Avoid Overwriting ***

Characters

Behind the Name

Top Baby Names

Looking for a name that means a certain thing? ***

7 Rules of Picking Names

Most Common Surnames ***

Minor Character Development

Writing Antagonists, Antiheroes and Villains

Characters With Enhanced Senses

5 Tips to Help You Introduce Characters

How Do You Describe a Character?

How To Write Child Characters

36 Core Values For Building Character

Questions To Answer When Creating Characters ***

4 Ways to Make Readers Instantly Loathe Your Character Descriptions

5 Ways to Keep Characters Consistent

Character Archetypes

25 Ways To Fuck With Your Characters

Building Platonic Relationships Between Female Characters

9 Simple and Powerful Ways to Write Body Language 

33 Ways To Write Stronger Characters

Conveying Character Emotion 

How to Make Readers Love an Unlikable Character…  

How to Create Powerful Character Combos

How To Describe A Character’s Voice ***

Describing Clothing And Appearance ***

Career Masterpost ***

Creating Your Character’s Personality ***

Character Flaws ***

Editing

DON’T EDIT>>> REWRITE THE WHOLE THING FIRST

Ultimate Guide To Editing Each Aspect Of Your Work ***

Why You Would Read Your Novel Out Loud ***

Grammar and Punctuation ***

How To Write A Captivating First Sentence

10 Things Your Opening Chapter Should Do: A Check-List for Self-Editing ***

Saving Your Story: Finding Where It Went Wrong

How To Condense Without Losing Anything

The Stages Of Editing

Dialogue/Description Balance

3 Proofreading Tips

The Short Story Form

Chapter & Novel Lengths

Anatomy Of A Novel : Chapters and Parts ***

How To Write Chapter After Chapter Until You Have A Book ***

Where Chapter #2 Should Start

Step By Step Guide To Editing Your Draft

Writing Tool: CTRL-F (How And Why You Should Use It) ***

How To Kill A Character

25 Steps To Edit The Unmerciful Suck Out Of Your Story

5 Ways To Make Your Novel Helplessly Addictive ***

Setting

{Setting} How To Describe Setting In Your Stories ***

20 Questions To Enhance Setting

How To Bring Your Setting To Life

Miscellaneous Resources You Can Use In Between

How to Write from a Guy’s POV 

The Emotional Wounds Thesaurus

Text To Speech Reader

Compare Character Heights 

A Visual Dictionary of Tops

Writers Helping Writers

7 Tricks To Imrove Your Writing Overnight

Work Out/ Word Count : Exercise Between Writing ***

Most Important Writing Tips ***

Let’s talk about diversity in novels

Letting Go Of Your Story

Keeping A Healthy Writing Schedule And Avoiding Procrastination ***

How To Create A Good Book Cover

Write or Die

Tip of my Tongue

Character Traits Form

Online Thesaurus

Writing Sketchy/Medical/Law

Coma: Types, Causes, etc

Tips for writing blood loss

Gunshot Wound Care

Examples of Hospital Forms

Common Legal Questions

The Writer’s Forensics Blog

Brain Injury Legal Guide

Types of Surgical Operations

Types of Mental Health Problems

A Day in the Life of a Mental Hospital Patient

Global Black Market Information ***

Crime Scene Science

Examining Mob Mentality

How Street Gangs Work

Writers’ Block Help/ Productivity

Story Plot Generator

@aveeragemusings ‘ Cure To Writers’ Block ***

50 Romance Plot Ideas

Reading Like A Writer ***

Defeat Writers’ Block

Writing In A Bad Mood ***

Writers Block

When You’ve Lost Motivation To Write A Novel ***

What To Do When The Words Won’t Flow ***

9 Ways To Be A More Productive Writer

“I Cannot Write A Good Sentence Today” (How To Get Over It) ***

Real Writing Advice ***

Info You Need To Know & Words You Didn’t Think Of

A Writer’s Thesaurus ***

Words To Describe… ***

Words & Phrases To Use In Your Sex Scenes ***

Colors (An Extensive List Of Colors)

List Of Kinks & Fetishes ***

List Of Elemental Abilities

inkarnate.com : World Creator And Map Maker For Your Imaginary Setting

Body Language Phrases

List Of Legendary Creatures

How To Write Magic

Hairstyle References

Hemingway : Writing Checker

Body Types: Words To Describe Bodies and How They Move Around

Poisonous Herbs and Plants ***

The Psychology of Color

The Meaning behind Rose color

Types of Swords

Color Symbolism

How a handgun works

How to Write a Eulogy

Types of Crying

Avoiding LGBTQ Stereotypes ***

Superstitions and More

The 12 Common Archetypes

Language of Flowers

12 Realistic Woman Body Shapes

Using Feedback And Reviews

Turning Negative Reviews Into Positive Ones ***

Proofreading Marks : Easy Symbols To Make Reviewing/Feedback Easier ***

Authonomy Teen Ink Figment Fiction Press ReviewFuse

Medicine

A Study In Physical Injury

Comas

Medical Facts And Tips For Your Writing Needs

Broken Bones

Burns

Unconsciousness & Head Trauma

Blood Loss

Stab Wounds

Pain & Shock

All About Mechanical Injuries (Injuries Caused By Violence)

Writing Specific Characters

Portraying a kleptomaniac.

Playing a character with cancer.

How to portray a power driven character.

Playing the manipulative character.

Portraying a character with borderline personality disorder.

Playing a character with Orthorexia Nervosa.

Writing a character who lost someone important.

Playing the bullies.

Portraying the drug dealer.

Playing a rebellious character.

How to portray a sociopath.

How to write characters with PTSD.

Playing characters with memory loss.

Playing a pyromaniac.

How to write a mute character.

How to write a character with an OCD.

How to play a stoner.

Playing a character with an eating disorder.

Portraying a character who is anti-social.

Portraying a character who is depressed.

How to portray someone with dyslexia.

How to portray a character with bipolar disorder.

Portraying a character with severe depression.

How to play a serial killer.

Writing insane characters.

Playing a character under the influence of marijuana.

Tips on writing a drug addict.

How to write a character with HPD.

Writing a character with Nymphomania.

Writing a character with schizophrenia.

Writing a character with Dissociative Identity Disorder.

Writing a character with depression.

Writing a character who suffers from night terrors.

Writing a character with paranoid personality disorder.

How to play a victim of rape.

How to play a mentally ill/insane character.

Writing a character who self-harms.

Writing a character who is high on amphetamines.

How to play the stalker.

How to portray a character high on cocaine.

Playing a character with ADHD.

How to play a sexual assault victim.

Writing a compulsive gambler.

Playing a character who is faking a disorder.

Playing a prisoner.

Portraying an emotionally detached character.

How to play a character with social anxiety.

Portraying a character who is high.

Portraying characters who have secrets.

Portraying a recovering alcoholic.

Portraying a sex addict.

How to play someone creepy.

Portraying sexually/emotionally abused characters.

Playing a character under the influence of drugs.

Playing a character who struggles with Bulimia.

Illegal Activity

Examining Mob Mentality

How Street Gangs Work

Domestic Abuse

Torture

Assault

Murder

Terrorism

Internet Fraud

Cyberwarfare

Computer Viruses

Corporate Crime

Political Corruption

Drug Trafficking

Human Trafficking

Sex Trafficking

Illegal Immigration

Contemporary Slavery 

Black Market Prices & Profits

AK-47 prices on the black market

Bribes

Computer Hackers and Online Fraud

Contract Killing

Exotic Animals

Fake Diplomas

Fake ID Cards, Passports and Other Identity Documents

Human Smuggling Fees

Human Traffickers Prices

Kidney and Organ Trafficking Prices

Prostitution Prices

Cocaine Prices

Ecstasy Pills Prices

Heroin Prices

Marijuana Prices

Meth Prices

Earnings From Illegal Jobs

Countries In Order Of Largest To Smallest Risk

Forensics

arson

Asphyxia

Blood Analysis

Book Review

Cause & Manner of Death

Chemistry/Physics

Computers/Cell Phones/Electronics

Cool & Odd-Mostly Odd

Corpse Identification

Corpse Location

Crime and Science Radio

crime lab

Crime Scene

Cults and Religions

DNA

Document Examination

Fingerprints/Patterned Evidence

Firearms Analysis

Forensic Anthropology

Forensic Art

Forensic Dentistry

Forensic History

Forensic Psychiatry

General Forensics

Guest Blogger

High Tech Forensics

Interesting Cases

Interesting Places

Interviews

Medical History

Medical Issues

Misc

Multiple Murderers

On This Day

Poisons & Drugs

Police Procedure

Q&A

serial killers

Space Program

Stupid Criminals

Theft

Time of Death

Toxicology

Don’t worry about what other people want to read because no matter what you write, there will be an audience for it. Write the story you are passionate about telling!  People LOVE romances of all kinds so write the type of love story you are interested in.

Most romance stories end with two character getting together so the interesting part is HOW the characters end up together. How do they learn and grow as people?  What challenges must they overcome?  Do not make it easy for them.  Force them to confront their fears and come to terms with their weaknesses/faults and to embrace their strengths.

Look to your favorite love stories for inspiration and examine what about them keeps your interest.

For your first draft or two, I wouldn’t worry too much about it and just freely write whatever awesome ideas you have.  Once you have the ideas down, go back and see what needs to be explained thoroughly or not.  Have someone read it over and see if they are confused or find anything unbelievable.

In general, over-explaining concepts can frequently ruin the (literally or metaphorical) magic.  If you state that X does Y, and maybe give a sentence or two of explanation, readers will accept it without question.  Usually, characters and the reader do not need to know why things work for them to exist.  (For a real life example, most people don’t know why cell phones work but they know what they do and how to use them.)   And if the characters accept whatever it is as real and/or normal, then the reader will as well.  Establish the concepts early on in the story and readers will accept them as part of the world.

That doesn’t mean it’s always fun, of course. It doesn’t mean it’s always easy. It doesn’t mean it requires zero effort or stubbornness or determination. But it does mean that, more often than not, writing should make you happy.

It’s just that it’s easy on social media to watch the memes circulate about how awful writing is, about how a writer would rather do anything other than write, about how it’s a painful process, like pulling teeth or carving your own heart out. And it can be. It definitely can be. And if that’s what you’re looking for from writing, then that’s fine. 

I’ve seen all of these and I bet you have, too. But sometimes, we don’t see we’re doing them ourselves.

1. Victim Plot A story about a character who never acts, but is always acted upon by evil villains. We’re supposed to feel sympathy, I think, but I always want to hit the victim and ask them when they’re going to DO something about their life.

2. Deus Ex Machina Plot Frequently happens in children’s fiction when the adults come to save the kids. But it also happens in adult fiction when an earthquake or a natural disaster changes everyone and makes them see how all that came before doesn’t matter.

3. Coincidental Plot The author lets coincidences cause all the problems and then solve them all. Has a certain resemblance to the victim plot, only I know it’s the author I want to hit.

4. Random Plot This is a series of events that are only loosely connected. Even if the main character is propelling the plot forward, they are changing their mind too much to make me care.

5. Meaningless Plot There’s no thematic cohesion, no overarching purpose or meaning to the events that happen, no sense that this has a larger, human meaning.

6. Abrupt Ending Plot You know you’ve read a book like this, with a tacked on ending because the author thought that would be cool instead of annoying. You have to craft the events so that they lead to an inevitable (if surprising) ending. That’s your job, writers!

7. Gotcha Plot A twist ending that doesn’t feel satisfying. It’s just so that the author can feel powerful over the readers, who couldn’t possibly guess that.

1) IF your character always has bad things happening to them, try forcing them to try and change the course of events every few scenes. It doesn’t have to make things better. It can even make things worse. But by having the nastiness happen BECAUSE they made a decision and acted upon it, they’ll read much less like a helpless victim. 

2) Move your Deus Ex Machina forward in your story. People don’t like it in the end but they’re pretty forgiving of it in the middle - especially when the problem ends up still having to be dealt with. Alternatively, if you can’t get away without the Deus Ex Machina ending, have the main character set up the situation which brings the Deus Ex Machina to occur. If the parents come to rescue the kid, then the kid has to get a message to them, tell them what to do, how to do it, and who to do it to. And make it an effort for the character to get it to happen. The end of the original Star Wars is actually a Deus Ex Machina, it’s rarely ever questioned because there is effort for the majority of the story on the part of Luke Skywalker to convince Han Solo to help out the cause. 

3) Coincidences are largely ok for causing problems, it’s coincidences offering solutions that people tend to resent in fiction. The first fix is to have your coincidence that fixes the problem at hand also create a worse problem. The second fix is the really smart recognition that this is the exact same problem as the victim paradigm, it takes away a character’s capability to influence their own story, so, again, force the character to make a decision and try to change the course of events every few scenes. Even in the course of natural disasters, an attempt to prepare and get ahead of the wave of destruction shows why the character isn’t a victim and has a chance for survival. They’ll read as much more active, even as things continue to fall down around their ears.

4) Randomness is usually the result of a character not knowing what they need. Which is fine. Most of us don’t. We just ricochet around toward what we want and then veer off when it doesn’t satisfy us. The trick for the writer writing this kind of character is for them to telegraph to the reader more information than the character has. Show the reader as early as possible what the character needs, why they don’t understand, and then have them keep missing it. This way it isn’t random, it is tragic. 

5) Fffff, can’t be the easy problems, can it ;p The trick to thematics / cohesion is the development of the main character. If you know what your character wants and/or needs and why they can’t have it, you’re halfway to solving the cohesion problem. The second half is ruthlessness. If something doesn’t relate to what they want / need or to the reason that they can’t have what they want / need: cut it. It’s the same problem as writing an essay about food and taking time to talk about your car troubles. Yeah, the car troubles might have interfered with your procurement of the food, but the essay topic is food. The car bit has to go. Meaning is found in narrowness, precision, and specificity. 

6) Your story isn’t over until two things happen. The first is a choice of three possibilities. A, the character gets what they want / need. B, the character realizes and acts upon the realization that they shouldn’t have what they want because they need something else. Or, C, it is shown that it is impossible by the world or the character’s personality for them to ever get what they want / need. The second thing you have to do is to either show or very suggestively imply what life is going to be like after the first thing has happened. If you end your story before you’ve done those two things, you have cut your story off instead of ended it. 

(found in the forward to The Hobbit Fiftieth Anniversary Edition, 1987)

7 covers in 7 days.

Thanks for tagging me @beautifulpaxielreads and @booksnotbombs 😊😊

Rules: no reviews, no explanations, just 7 days of covers from some of my favourite books.

Day 1: The Bell Jar by Silvia Plath.

Things, I'm madly in love with:

books (classic and modern, poetry and novels, old and new)

penmanship

art (looking for art, creating art, being art)

vintage porcelain (especially with golden lines)

combine my clothes for that special look that I need today

Oscar Wilde

religious studies

tattoos

flea markets, second hands, vintage and antique stores, where I can find pieces with their own history

music halls with tall ceilings and great shiny chandeliers

Greece, Italy, United Kingdom

collecting different strange things – from animal bones and dry flowers to glass bottles and old greeting cards

natural history

botanic