Eng Comp 2 Research

Why Can’t I Stick to My Outline?

Aw thank you <3 Unfortunately, I don’t have a great answer for you, because it could be due to a number of things, some of which have workarounds, while others don’t. Here’s a couple that come to mind:

1. You don’t know your characters well enough when you outline, so when you write them, they make unexpected choices.

Solution: Develop your characters through writing before you outline. You can do this by role playing online, or adding them to short stories or by writing random scenes from your outline. (And keep in mind here, that sometimes thinking about your characters and filling out forms or taking notes will help, and sometimes it just creates a misguided illusion which will change the moment you start writing. Characters can be funky like that.)

2. You’re focusing your outline too much on where you’re going and not why you’re going there, so when you write, your story goes in the wrong direction.

Solution: Put more time into developing the motivations and goals of the characters and the initial conflict, making those tight enough that they can only lead to a certain outcome.

Instead of viewing your outline as a series of events (“I want the three main characters to have an argument and then they all go to the beach”), look at what’s forcing these characters to do the thing you want from them (“I know the three main characters all have vastly different opinions on what to do with the stolen money which are deeply rooted in these specific parts of their past and this is driving a wedge between them, but if they don’t go to the beach together they will lose out on their old chance to question the mysterious person who disrupted their lives and forced them together.”) 

3. Your story is trying to tell you what it wants to be, but you’re clinging to your old ideas of it and so can’t enjoy the new version.

Solution: Just don’t outline. This isn’t something I recommend most people do, but occasionally there are writers who create better stories when they don’t try to preconceive what they want out of the story ahead of time, and just let it take it’s natural course. You can always edit things around later!

You can also mix this with solution two, and outline the inciting conflicts, goals, and internal struggles ahead of time. By carefully devising characters who clash and placing them in situations with high stakes vs rewards which drive them to work together toward a common goal against an opposition they are thematically and externally bound to, you’ll have a solid foundation upon which to build your story.

4. You’ve done everything imaginable and still can’t get your rough draft to match your outline.

What I’m talking about is proof of life outside your characters in your world. Not in the sense of ‘talking to the cashier at the checkout’, but things like:

Graffiti etched into a desk your character sits in during an exam

Realising that someone has come along and arranged the cans on the shelf so the labels say something stupid

Dirty vans that have ‘wash me’ written in the dried mud

A coin that has been stuck into a piece of gum on a handrail

Little things that show the world still goes on despite whatever is happening to the characters. 

first drafts are for making it exist

second drafts are for making it functional

A list of words commonly used in the Writeblr community and their meaning!

I’ve gotten a lot of questions about what some things mean, so I thought it was time to compile a list of meanings.

Writeblr — A community of writers on tumblr; A blog that posts primarily about writing. See here for a more in-depth explanation. (Also written as Writblr on occasion)

WIP  — Stands for Work in Progress. Primarily, it’s a piece of fictional work that is still in the writing process and is unfinished. (Also see: WIP page)

OC  — Stands for Original Character. This is a character entirely of your own creation.

Tag list  — A tag list is a list of users who will be tagged in every post that a Writeblr makes about a certain WIP. It is often included at the bottom of a post, and people are free to ask to be included, or removed from it.

WIP Page  — A page or a post on a Writeblr that describes a WIP. Commonly includes a synopsis, setting, characters, etc. See here for what goes in a WIP page and how to make one.

Tag games — Tumblr games where people will do something (often answer questions, a snippet of their WIP, etc) and ask other users to participate by using the @ function in that post.

Ask games  — A tumblr game where a user will request people to send them things with the ask function. Often times will include a list of questions they wish to be asked.

Fanfiction  — Fiction written by a fan about an existing TV show, movie, book, etc. Often features the characters, the setting, etc. of that piece of media.

AU  — Stands for Alternate Universe. AUs typically feature the same cast of characters of a WIP or an existing piece of fiction with a major change or two. (For example, a Fantasy AU would involve placing the characters in a fantasy setting. There also may be an AU of what might happen if a certain character didn’t die in their story).

Canon  — Material or information that is accepted as an official part of a story. (i.e., the creator confirms it and includes it in their story).

Headcanons  — Ideas and interpretations of a fictional work that is accepted by a fan, but isn’t necessarily supported by canon.

Moodboard  — A collection of images meant to evoke a certain feeling or emotion. Often used by Writeblrs for their WIPs and OCs.

Have a word you’d like to see included? Let me know and I’ll add it!

General Posts:

Different Ways Characters Can Show Love

Don’t Be Afraid of The Static Character

External vs. Internal Character, Part 1: The Three Faces (and for the sake of keeping the info together) External vs. Internal Character, Part 2: Taking Advantage of POV

Q&A:

Reforming an antagonist

Adding variety to antagonists in stories 

Describing characters 

Quick Tips:

Allow behavior to adjust to company

Weaknesses should actually matter to the plot

Only writing about characters like yourself means you have a lot to learn

*Popularity reflects note count and is current as of January 2019.

Physical Appearance

Face Shapes

Hair Types

Hair Colors

Hair Styles

Facial Hair

Eyebrows

Eye Shapes

Eye Colors

Lip Shapes

Skin Colors

Skin Types

Height Comparison

Types Of Piercings

Body Types

More Specific Words For Body Types

Nose Shapes

Voices

Speech Patterns

Speech Impediments

Distinguishable Facial Features

Fashion Styles

Personality

Hobbies

Archetypes

Secrets

Quirks

Mannerisms

Bad Habits

Fears

Religions

Mental Disorders

Pet Peeves

Strengths

Weaknesses

Flaws

Talents & Skills

Character Motivations

Miscellaneous

Character Building Chart

Character Name Generator

Basic Character Appearance Generator

Character Detail Generators

Backstory & Origin Generators

Outfit, Costume, Clothing, & Wardrobe Generators

Basic Character Premise Generator

Character Cast Generator

Alternative Character Cast Generator

Zombie Generator

Vampire Generator

Teen Generator

Pirate Generator

Music Band Generator

Murder Mystery Victim Generator

Merperson Generator

Fairy Generator

Fantasy & Sci-Fi Race Generator

Elemental Person Generator

Deity Generator

Villain Generator

Other Resources From Wordsnstuff

Resources For Describing Physical Things

Resources For Describing Characters

Resources For Describing Emotions

Resources For Writing Sketchy Topics

Useful Writing Resources

Useful Writing Resources II

Support Wordsnstuff!

Request A Writing Help Post/Themed Playlist/Writing Tips!

Send Me Poetry To Feature On Our Instagram!

Receive Updates & Participate In Polls On Our Twitter!

Like us and share on Facebook!

Read More On Our Masterlist & See our Frequently Asked Questions!

Tag What You Want Me To See With #wordsnstuff!

Anon asked:

How would you deal with a character with a lot of history but is super important to present canon that they are already getting their own book? Flashbacks? A long prologue of a defining moment? Time skip? Also, you have inspired me to start writing again. Thank you

Flashbacks. I’ll admit I’m bias against flashbacks because they’re so often done poorly, or inserted too early in the story, or used for a scene which the reader doesn’t actually need to know nor care enough about.

They can still be done well though and are decent tools when applied right.  If you do want to use flashbacks, here are my tips on how to do them well.

- Prologues. I would never put a character’s backstory in the prologue unless you have a scene which only hints at the backstory and instead focuses on introducing the antagonist and the stakes the protagonist will eventually need to overcome. Prologues work because they make the reader highly anticipate something to come. Showing who a character is and why they are the way they are so early in the story is usually going to have the opposite effect.

- Time skips. A time skip in which the first act of the book is in the past and the rest in the present generally only works in relationship and growth based books in which the plot is nonexistent and the sole focus is on the main character’s interactions with and development through the life they’ve been given.

(It’s worth noting that this is not the case for all forms of storytelling! If you’re writing a screenplay it’s much easier to pull off in a wide range of genres.)

- The present. Usually the best way to reveal backstory is actually the most simple way: have it naturally revealed in conversation. This allows the characters to react to it at the same time as the reader, creating a heightened sense of emotion and stakes in the present.

Tips for all forms of backstory reveals:

1. Wait. If the reader doesn’t need to know something yet, don’t tell them. Drawing out the mystery increases suspense, and waiting until the reader is fully connected to character creates the strongest emotional reaction from the reader.

2. Tone is everything. Soft, tender moments are perfect for revealing softer pieces of backstory, while a tense, emotional reveal works great when it comes up during suspenseful scenes. Tense backstory can also be used to jar a character into a state of fight or flight, or tender backstory to calm a character down during a suspenseful scene and allow them to think straight.

3. Emotions, always. The point of backstory isn’t just to reveal plot information; it’s meant to inspire emotion in both the characters and the reader. The only reason the reader shouldn’t be clenching their heart is if their mind has just been blown clear out of their head.

4. No unnecessary details. You will always know more about your character’s backstories then should be told to the reader. If a particular detail isn’t essential to the reader’s understanding of the plot and characters, or useful for creating the emotional tone you want, it’s best not to force it in.

5. The present is more important. All revealed backstory should have an immediate and unavoidable effect on the present. This can come in the form of a plot twist, character development, or a strong emotional reaction from the characters. Don’t backtrack just to reveal facts.

Hey guys! As a writer myself, it’s hard to have a lot of resources for writing in one place. That’s why I decided to create this masterpost, and maybe make more if I find future resources. I hope you like it, and expect to see more masterposts like this in the future!

Generators

Character

Appearance Generator

Archetypes Generator

Character Generator

Character Traits Generator

Family Generator

Job/Occupation Generator, (II)

Love Interest Generator

Motive Generator

Name Generator

Personality Generator, (II)

Quick Character Generator

Super Powers Generator

Names

Brand Name Generator

Medicine Title Generator

Name Generator

Quick Name Generator

Vehicle Generator

Town Name Generator

Plot

First Encounter Generator

First Line Generator, (II)

Plot Generator, (II), (III)

Plot Device Generator

Plot Twist Generator

Quick Plot Generator

Setting/World-Building

City Generator

Fantasy Race Generator

Laws Generator

Pet Generator

Setting Generator

Species Generator

Terrain Generator

Prompts

Subject Generator

”Take Three Nouns” Generator

Word Prompt Generator

Misc

Color Generator

Decision Generator

Dialogue Generator

Journey Generator

Title Generator, (II), (III)

Some Tips

Just a few I found from the writing tips tag!

Writing action / @berrybird

How to create a strong voice in your writing / @collegerefs

How to plot a complex novel in one day! / @lizard-is-writing

8 ways to get past writer’s block / @kiramartinauthor

psa for writers / @dasakuryo

”Write Using Your 5 Senses” / @ambientwriting

How People Watching Improves Your Writing / @wherethetransthingsare

Writing Science Fiction: Tips for Beginners / @fictionwritingtips

Creating Likeable Characters / @authors-haven

Vocabulary

Descriptive words / @somekindofstudent

Words to replace “Said” / @msocasey

Obscure color words / @mintsteelpeachlilac

Words to spice up your stories / @busyibee

Words to describe someone’s voice

Words to Use Instead of Very / @gaybybirth

Touchy Feely Words / @gaybybirth

Some Advice

Stephen King’s Top 20 Rules for Writers

”But my plot isn’t UNIQUE or BIG enough!” / @youreallwrite

8 Things Every Creative Should Know / @adamjk

(How To) Get Over Comparing Yourself to Other Creatives / @adamjk

How to Get Over Common Creative Fears (Maybe) / @adamjk

14 Tips From Stephen King On Writing / @i-can-give-you-prompts

Playlists

Electronic Thoughts / @eruditekid

“Mix About Writing” An Instrumental Mix / @shadowofemirates

Shut Up, I’m Writing! / @ninadropdead

Chill / @endlessreveries

Breathtaking Film Scores / @tweedskirts

Music to Write to Vol. 1: Starlight / @crestadeen

Music for Written Words / @ghoulpatch

Dead Men Tell No Tales / @scamandersnewt

Fatale / @dolcegf

All These Things that I’ve Done / @referenceforwriters

Feeling Soaking into Your Bones / @verylondon

I Can Feel Your Pulse in the Pages / @rphelper

Morally Ambiguous / @scamandersnewt

Wonderwall / @wheelerwrites

Pythia / @mazikeene

Ballet: To Dance / @tanaquil

Websites and Apps

For Writing

ZenPen: A minimalist writing website to keep you free of distractions and in the flow.

The Most Dangerous Writing App: A website where you have to keep typing or all of your writing will be lost. It helps you keep writing…kind of. You can choose between a time or word count limit!

Evernote: An online website where you can take notes and save the product to your laptop and/or smartphone!

Writer, the Internet Typewriter: It’s just you and your writing, and you can save your product on the website if you create an account.

Wordcounter: A website to help check your word and character count, and shows words you’re using frequently.

Monospace: An Android app for writing on the go when you feel the inspiration, but you don’t have your laptop on you!

For Productivity

Tide: An app that combines a pomodoro-esque timer with nature sounds and other noises! (Google Play / Apple Store)

ClearFocus: An Android app with a pomodoro-type time counter to let you concentrate easier and stay productive.

Forest: An app with a time counter to keep you focused and off your phone, and when you complete the time limit, a tree grows in your garden! (Google Play / Apple Store)

SelfControl: A Mac downloadable app that blocks you from distracting mail servers, websites, and other things!

Prompt Blogs

@writeworld

@dialouge-prompts

@oopsprompts

@prompts-for-the-otp

@creativepromptsforwriting

@the-modern-typewriter

@theprofessionalpromptmaker

@writers-are-writers

@otp-imagines-cult

@witterprompts

@havetobememes

@auideas

@putthepromptsonpaper

@promptsonpaper

@fyotpprompts

@otpisms

@soprompt

@otpprompts

@ablockforwritersblock

@awritersnook

Writing Tips Blogs

@writeworld

@anomalously-written

@awritersnook

@clevergirlhelps

@referenceforwriters

@whataboutwriting

@thewritershelpers

@nimblesnotebook

Writing:

- Starting Your Novel

- Coming up with working titles (About Working Titles)

- Writing the 25-word Pitch

- How to write good dialogue (Dammit, Dialogue!)

- Creating Epic Characters

- How to Write Scenes that Progress Your Plot

- The World is Waiting for Your Book

- 3 Reasons Why I Love Working On Multiple Books

- Killing Your Darlings

- Writing believable antagonists (Antagonists and Antagonizing)

- How to Write a Book

- On Writing What You Know

- To Pseudonym or Not to Pseudonym

- How long should my chapters be? (Chapters and Word Counts)

- How I name my characters (Dealing With Names)

- 9 Writing Essentials

- Tips for regaining inspiration (Ask)

- Tips for regaining motivation (Ask)

- What to do when you start losing faith in your story (Ask)

Organization:

- Organizing the Thought-Dump

- Colour-Coding and Editing

Outlining:

- The Pantser’s Guide to Outlining

- Mapping Out Your Book’s Timeline with Calendars

- How I take notes for scene ideas (DtWT #46)

Editing:

- Editing Toolbox

- How to Survive Another Round of Edits

Beta-Readers:

- A Guide to Beta-Readers

Setting Idea Boards on Pinterest!

So I’ve been slowly easing from “hiatus” to “semi-hiatus,” and part of that has meant getting set up on other social medias!

I’m still somewhat new to Pinterest, but I’ve been building some hopefully useful boards like Setting Ideas and Character Ideas to use as plot bunnies or story mood boards of your own.

And, of course, I’m building out some boards for writing tips too! :)

Follow on Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/thecharactercomma

Follow on Twitter: twitter.com/CharacterComma

Like on Facebook: www.facebook.com/thecharactercomma

Hello, writerly friends~ ♥︎

My Writing Advice Masterpost is back! Now featuring the best questions and answers from the last three years, along with all of the videos from my writing advice YouTube Channel!

This post will be updated every week with new writing advice videos, playlists, and responses! So, make sure to bookmark THIS page and follow my blog (maxkirin.tumblr.com) so you don’t miss a thing!

Writing Advice Compilations

The NaNoWriMo Survival Guide

Writer’s Life Vlogs (Newest Episode: Max Nerds Out)

WRITERS UNITE! A book of writing advice, inspiration, and tips! Written with the help of 248 Tumblr authors. FREE DOWNLOAD!

Writing Exercises & Prompts

Virtual Writing Academy (Newest Episode: Age & Character)

Daily Story Seed

Daily Weird Prompt

Daily Character Question

Your Writing Horoscope (Retired)

“Can I publish a story based on one of your prompts?”

Did you know that I have published a book of Story Seeds? Sounds interesting? You can learn more about it HERE! c;

Motivation & Inspiration

Daily Writer Positivity

How to Regain the Motivation to Finish Your Novel (Video)

The Truth About Talent, NaNoWriMo Pep Talk (Video)

Overcoming Your Inner *Perfectionist* (Video)

How to Finish Your First Novel (M. Kirin’s Origin Story)

M. Kirin’s Top 3 Tips for NaNoWriMo

The 7 Cardinal Rules of Writing Life

Neil Gaiman’s “Make Good Art” Speech

Neil Gaiman’s 8 Rules of Writing

Elizabeth Gilbert’s Inspirational Speech on the ‘Genius’

What Confidence Is and Is NOT

“I’m afraid writing is a waste of time”

“I’m half-way through this book and I’m stuck”

Stop Trying to Impress People

Stop Trying to Make Your Parents Proud of your Writing

Your Parents Disapprove of Your Writing?

You’re Not The Worst Writer In The World

English Not Your First Language? Neither is Mine

Are You Worried Nobody Will Take You Seriously?

Dealing with Hate and Harsh Criticism

Why You Need to Develop a Thick Skin

Feeling Down About Your Writing?

“I am not as good as other writers” (and other lies)

Be A Little Delusional

Planning, Outlining, and Getting Started

How to Plan Your Novel (Video)

The Best Distraction-Free Writing Software (Video)

Best Apps for Writers: Evernote (Video)

TOP 5 TIPS for Writers Using Evernote (Video)

The NaNoWriMo Survival Guide (Video)

TOP 3 TIPS for Getting in the Mood to Write! (Video)

How Much World-Building is Enough? (Video)

The *Right* Time to be Critical of Your Writing (Video)

Overcoming the Fear of Getting it “Wrong“ (Video)

The Story-Idea Test

M. Kirin’s Click-n-Drag Story Generator

Which outlining method is the best?

“I want to write a book but I have no idea where to start”

M. Kirin’s Secret for Starting books, and Finishing Them

M. Kirin’s Top 3 Tips to Start Writing and Never Stopping

Tips for writing Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Paranormal

M. Kirin’s #1 Tip For Improving Your Writing

Let’s Talk About: Show VS Tell

The Difference Between Character & Plot (The Marcy Rule)

Dialogue

TOP 3 TIPS for Writing Dialogue (Video)

The Art of Writing Dialogue Tags (Video)

M. Kirin talks about authentic dialogue

The grammatical side of dialogue

How do I write numbers in dialogue?

Editing & Revision

M. Kirin’s Top 5 Revision Tips

How to Love and Care for Your Beta Readers

M. Kirin’s (subjective) secret recipe for the second draft

When is the best time to edit a story?

M. Kirin Talks About Editing, and Speeding Up Your Story

M. Kirin Uses Evernote to Revise Books

“Kill Your Darlings” VS “Cut What You Love”

Writing Killer Plot-Twists and Mystery Novels

“How long is a Rough Draft compared to the Finished Draft?”

Hot-Button Issues

Let’s Talk About: Titles! (Video)

Let’s Talk About: Filler (Video)

Let’s Talk About: Purple Prose (Video)

Let’s Talk About: Pacing (Video)

Let’s Talk About: Deus Ex Machina

Let’s Talk About: Coincidence in Writing

Realism is a dirty word

Racist & homophobic language in fiction

Inaccuracy in Fiction (Video)

M. Kirin drops a few bombs on ‘creative vocabulary’

“I want to write but I don’t have the time”

Is it bad to have too many LGBTQIA or POC characters?

“My antagonist is POC/LGBTQIA, is this bad?”

“All my characters are LGBTQIA, is this bad?”

When to let go of a story

Is it rational to be afraid of what people will think of you?

Let’s Lightly Talk About: Plagiarism & Copyright

Writing About Things You Have Never Experienced

“Do you need to go to college/university to be a good writer?”

My book is similar to something already out, what do I do?

General Advice

M. Kirin’s Cure For Writer’s Block (and Life Block)

Overcoming Writer’s Block: The First Sentence (Video)

The Writer’s Tool Box (Video)

3 Practical Tips for Writing More (Video)

Which POV (Point of View) is the Best? (Video)

Getting to Know Your Characters (Video)

Keeping the Plot Twist Secret! (Video)

A [Strange] Tip For Writing More! (Video)

#1 Tip for Writing Memorable Characters (Video)

1.5 Tips for Hard-Hitting Writing (Video)

3 Ways to Add Character to Narration (Video)

Foreshadowing & Being Subtle (Video)

Writing Advice from: The Walking Dead (Video)

Writing Advice from: Aldnoah.Zero (Video)

World-Building Tips: Dystopian (Video)

World-Building Tips: Fantasy & Science Fiction (Video)

World-Building Tips: Life After the Apocalypse (Video)

World-Building Tips: Government & The Human Element (Video)

World-Building Tips: Spicing Up The Real World (Video)

Using Real People as Inspiration (Video)

When Should The Book End? (Video)

Writing Better Characters: The ‘Flawed’ Myth (Video)

Writing Better Characters: Unlikable Protagonists (Video)

TOP 3 TIPS for Writing a Large Cast of Characters (Video)

Overcoming the First Sentence (Again) (and Again)

Let’s Talk About: Pen Names!

Let’s Talk About: Reactive VS Proactive Characters

Let’s Talk About: Transitioning Smoothly From Scene to Scene

Let’s Talk About: Writing The Climax (& Resolution)

Let’s Talk About: Writing The End

Let’s Talk About: Spies

Let’s Make a Title (To A Story You Haven’t Finished)

The 10-Minute Rule

Making Boring Scenes FUN to Write!

Stories are like children

Let’s Talk About Titles (And Then Talk Some More)

M. Kirin Reveals the ‘Secret’ Behind Style

How much description/scenery is too much?

How can I write faster?

I want my readers to love my characters

I think my book may be too short for my genre

I killed one of my main characters by mistake, what do I do?

M. Kirin’s Writing Advice for Fleshing out Romantic Relationships

A warning about character names and meanings

Past or present tense?

Is swearing okay? And other muthafuckin’ truths

“What emotion do you find hardest to write?”

“What writing software do you use?”

Communication, a must for collaborative works

Researching illegal things, cousin? I got just the thing for you!

Joss Whedon’s Top 10 Writing Tips

M. Kirin’s Tarot Cheat-Sheet

Writing Tips for Storytelling in Video-Games

Fair Use In Novels (by thedancingwriter​)

Publishing

Publishing Battle: Indie VS Traditional

“How do I turn my book into an eBook?”

Writing Music & Playlists

Top 10 Songs For Writers

Writing In The Dark (Unobtrusive)

Writing About Love

Writing & Fighting!

Writing About Horror

Royalty And Noble Blood (Medieval/Fantasy)

Digital Reality (Cyberpunk/Futuristic)

Lost In The Wild (Survival/Nature)

No Hero (Action/Anti-Heroes)

Mermaid Magic (Mysterious)

After The Bomb (Post-Apocalyptic/Dystopian)

Sorrow (Sad/Despair)

Upon Black Wings (Adventure/Dragons)

Haunted Mansion (Horror/Supernatural)

Childhood Friends (Happy/Uplifting)

In Time (Writing/Study Playlist)

Music For Writers: Portal 2 Soundtrack (FREE)

M. Kirin’s Favorite Music to Listen to While Writing

M. Kirin’s Secret For Making Playlists

Miscellaneous

M. Kirin’s 2014 AMA, Part 1 & Part 2 (Video)

The Kirin Games! M. Kirin’s characters murder each other in this Hunger Games simulation~ ;p (Video)

Max & Kitty Recommend: Top 10 Things You Should Read/Watch/Play Right Now! (Video)

Finally! An Ask-Meme for Writers! 

M. Kirin’s Philosophy for Running a Writing Blog

Tomorrow is the anniversary of a decision I made to help writers think differently about what they’re writing, to give them one more perspective in a vast sea of other advice- and perspective-givers, but you’ve shown that it wasn’t a waste of time. You’ve stuck with me, and let me share with you what I know; you’ve let me encourage you, and you’ve let me in on a very special part of yourself: your stories and your dreams. Thank you! To celebrate the milestone, here’s your annual round up of what we’ve accomplished this year.

Two-Year Blogaversary masterpost Three-Year Blogaversary masterpost

We added post series on Creature Companions, Dialogue, Relationships, Space Building, and we’ve picked up the Magic Building series again to talk about practitioner tropes. Night of Asking and the Night of Musing events continued strong, and you all indulged me with the Title Stories meme. The gmail for one-on-one consultations still doles out advice to those in need of longer conversations; the NaNo Chatzy room returned; and you tolerated my 4th State of the Blog(ger) Address. Take a look down this year’s memory lane:

Process:

Getting Back In the Swing of Things

Ways To Narrow Down Ideas

What To Do When Ideas Are Lacking

Fleshing Out Ideas

How To Choose Ideas That Last

Is My Plot Too Full?

Plotting: Modifying The 10-Point Plot Model For Multiple-Narrator POVs

Plotting: Staggering Side Plot Climaxes

Plotting: When Side Characters’ Stories Are More Intriguing

Retooling A Character To Really Be Something

Character Arcs: Jerks & Nice Characters

Character Arcs: Static VS. Dynamic

Worldbuilding Without Burning Out

Creating Immersive Worlds

Texture Building & Building Up An Undeveloped World

Planning For Happy or Bittersweet Endings

Secondhand Embarrassment

Write What You Want To Read And Why It May Or May Not Work

Thinking Yourself Out Of Corners

Staying Motivated During Redrafting

Handling Rejection

Craft:

Things I Want To See More Of: (part one) (part two)

Things I Want To See Less Of: (part one) (part two)

Expanding Plots & Connecting Points

Characterization Without Cramming

Describing Familiar Places

Scare Your Readers

Writing Third Person Omniscient

First Person Narration VS. Third Person Limited

Forming Narrative Voice Outside Of Dialogue

Multiple-Narrator POV With Limited Numbers Of Narrators

Telling Stories Over Decades

Naming Consistent With World

Naming: Desert Desert & The Dark Mountain

Determining Time Period

Translation Convention

Retelling The Classics

Showing A Character’s Age In First Person POV

Villains Hiding In Plain Sight

Writing Characters From A Group Not Your Own

Writing Queerplatonic Relationships

From Fanfiction To Original Fiction

National Novel Planning Month:

Returning to the second half of a novel

Notes to make during re-reads

Setting up a back-up idea

Listen to your sounding-boards

NaNo prep for short stories and essays

Prepping from scratch on short notice

National Novel Writing Month:

Week One: Never Too Early to Start

Week Two: Never Too Late to Start

Week Three: You’ve Been Part of Something Huge

Week Four: My Hope For You

Week Five: Meeting More Than Wordcount Goals

Grammar & Publishing:

Pros and Cons of Pseudonyms

The Proper Use of En- and Em-dashes

The Proper Punctuation Of Dialogue

Querying An Illustrated Story Aimed 8-12

Topical Discussions:

Places to Learn Culture

Separating Mythical Creatures With Similar Traits

Differentiating Types of Magic In Various Races

What Position Do Centaur Sleep In?

Non-Harry Potter Wands

Life On a Water World

Blending Magic & Technology

Contraception in Fantasy

Cultural Ideas Of Record Keeping & History

Time Travel

Religion Or Philosophy?

Combining Disparate Ideas: Western & Fantasy

Drug Use In the Middle Ages

Kingdoms Grown From Scratch

Why Was Harry Potter So Popular?

Centaur, Dryads, and Merfolk

Creating Alien Species

An Exercise In Developing Demigods

Book Recommendations:

The Horse and His Boy

The Paper Magician

The Hangman’s Daughter

Pear’s Personal Favorites

Encouragement:

I don’t feel like I have enough experience

Similar but not the same (x)

Trust in your ability to grow

How to celebrate working out a sticky bit

For all you non-NaNo-ers out there

Building confidence

I used to be good…what now?

Is it wrong to write as much for validation as for pleasure?

I want to introduce all of you to this amazing place called the ukhairdressers style gallery.

It’s basically a massive database full of high-quality images of different hairstyles. I mean, look at all the options in that sidebar (and part of it’s cut off):

In total they have 976 pages of hairstyles with about 17 styles each, that’s about 16592 hairstyles to look at. 

Look at all the stuff they’ve got! Long hair:

Short hair:

Straight hair:

Curly hair:

Afro hair:

Men’s hair:

Hair on older models:

Extra-fancy hair:

Even crazy avant-garde hair:

How to Improve your writing

This is something that happens every day in your life. A shift of your eyebrow in skepticism, or the way your lip may twitch to a half smile cause you’re trying not to laugh. These behaviors are vital for writing in character, because not only do the allow you to visually see what is happening but it is also reaffirming whatever emotion your character is showing.

So why should you write it?

Much of human communication is non-verbal which means you need to also translate this non-verbal reaction in a post. It allows you to greatly enhance the emotions of another character and always another person to ‘visually’ see how they feel in a post. Most of all, this will add depth and volume to your post to make it feel more real. IT will make your character feel like a human instead of just another fictional person you look at from above.

Below you will find a list different type of emotions and what sort of body language can be exhibited to them.

Three ways to accent an action.

When writing about emotions, there are different ways to verbally write them out. Each one is unique in their own way, allowing you to show more about the emotion.

Emphasize the Emotion. But doing this, you are expressing both the emotion and the body language. We’ll use a simple example. It’s short and simple yet you can sense he is happy. John felt so happy that he was humming a tune while walking down the hall.

Complicate the Emotion. Sometimes, even when you are feeling one emotion, deep down rooted underneath the facade of it all, there is actually an underlining emotion they feel. This is something you have to truly express otherwise no one will know. John felt so happy that he was humming a tune while walking down the hall. However, it was obvious by the way his nose crinkled that he was disgusted by the actions beforehand. Instead, John covered it up by appearing pleased today.

Contradict the Emotion. This is a little different than complicate. Contradicting means that you are claiming one thing when in fact its the other. In many ways, this has a variety of uses, from inner depth of the truth to what you see in person, or someone creating a wall. It could be considered a lie, but when is anything that easy? John felt so happy that he was humming a tune while walking down the hall. In truth, once he was in the classroom, his shoulders slumped and a pout crossed his lips when no one was around, showing just how displeased he was with the situation.

Remember that you do not always have to contradict or complicate anything. Sometimes all you need to do is emphasize and that will be just fine. You don’t always have to have an underlining complicated for an emotion to make it more enhanced.

Do be afraid to use the Thesaurus to also improve an emotion. Such things as “happy” is a nice emotional word, but think of how much more powerful it is when you heard some is “overjoyed” or “content.” She how these emotions matched up with a body language can give two different styles of happiness? Mix and match to find what works best for your character at the time.

More In Depth Information

What I’ve stated above is more of a simplistic overview. IF you truly want to improve yourself, go to this

LINK HERE

To see just how much body language can reveal about a person. You will find things such as how a person lies, how the eyes reaction, the positioning of a person in personal space, mouth, and head body language and so much more.

Properly describing pain can be difficult, considering that we tend to forget what various injuries actually feel like after they heal. This is a blessing, as no one really wants to remember the quality and severity of pain as if they’re re-experiencing it. However, it can be useful to know how to describe pain for writing purposes, as writers tend to enjoy mauling their poor characters.

There are various qualities and severities of pain. You can think of them as different flavors and textures of ice cream—ice cream comes in many flavors (chocolate, strawberry, vanilla, etc) and the texture may vary, depending upon the addition of things like nuts and fudge.

Qualities of pain include:

Sharp

Stabbing

Burning

Hot

Tearing—ripping or pulling apart

Searing—brief, intense heat

Crushing—pain feels “heavy”

Localized—the pain occurs in only one part of the body

Radiating—the pain spreads over other parts of the body

Severity of pain can range from mild to moderate to severe, and medical professionals often use a scale of 1-10 for adult patients, with, for example, 1 being a mild headache and 10 being the worst pain the patient has ever felt. Understanding the qualities and severities of pain are useful to diagnosis in the real world, and using them to describe what your characters are feeling adds realism.

Many disorders and injuries have pain that is very specific to them, and it would be wise to research the pain symptomatic of your character’s particular disorder or injury. For example, men having heart attacks commonly experience a crushing chest pain that radiates down the left arm, and appendicitis is often experienced as a sharp, stabbing pain in the right lower quadrant of the abdomen.

Pain is also very relative. Individuals may report different severities of pain for the same types of injuries. I’ve heard some patients after open heart surgery request as much pain medication as we can legally give them, while others only require a Tylenol.

How patients express feeling pain can be helpful for characterization. For example, a strong and stoic character might have a horrific injury, but only show that they are in pain by clenching their fists. On the other hand, a character unused to pain or injury may whine and grimace a lot about a papercut.

Some ways of expressing pain include:

Guarding—shielding the injured/painful area with hands or arms

Shouting or whispering

Clenched fists

Gritted or bared teeth

Light skinned characters may go pale or gray, while dark skinned characters may go gray or their lips may be purplish

Thousand yard stare

Facial grimacing or wincing

Moaning or crying

Limited range of motion

Decrease in appetite

Other things to consider include whether anything improves or worsens the pain (such as holding an injured limb immobile or flexing it, or elevating it), whether the pain is continuous or intermittent (meaning coming in waves or flashes), and symptoms associated with extreme pain, like nausea or vomiting.

‘Always show, not tell,’ is a big fat lie. If you always show, you’ll have half a novel of descriptive words and flowy sentences that will be hard to read.

Here is a quick tip:

Show emotion.

Tell feelings.

Don’t tell us ‘she was sad.’ Show us- ‘Her lip trembled, and her eyes burned as she tried to keep her tears at bay.’

Don’t show us ‘her eyelids were heavy- too heavy. Her limbs could barely function and she couldn’t stop yawning.’ Tell us - ‘she felt tired that morning.’

Showing emotion will bring the reader closer to the characters, to understand their reactions better. But I don’t need to read about how slow she was moving due to tiredness.