Write Promptly

I’ve dipped my toes in the worlds of art and writing (not saying that writing isn’t a form of art, but I’m sure you know the differentiation here), and I can say with absolute certainty that the majority of us are highly critical of our work and striving to get better. 

Here is a short list of things that us, as writers, can take away from how our artist friends do things.

1. Artists look back on their old work and say:  “Wow, look how far I’ve come.”

This is one of the biggest differences that I’ve noticed between the art and writing communities. It’s easier for artists to put two images side-by-side–something they drew a few years ago and something they drew a few months ago–and be filled with nothing but pride at how far they’ve come.

Us writers? Hell nah. We curl up into the fetal position and wail about how much the old thing pains us. What we should be doing instead is comparing our old work to our new work. Something will have improved or changed. If it’s improved, hell yeah. If it’s changed? You can decide whether that’s good or bad and change or not change your future work accordingly.

There is nothing shameful about having once been less than good at the thing that you love–we all have to start somewhere and I can guarantee that the first thing you wrote is not and will never be the best thing that you write.

2. Artists strive for realism over style, to begin with.

Keep in mind I’ve been out of the art community for years, but when I was actively involved, artists were encouraged to master realism first. Get to know proportions, perspective, shadows, etc. work before you start messing with them to develop a personal style. The same goes for writing.

We must know the rules before we learn how to break them, because every rule is made to be broken after all. Learn literary conventions–sentence structure, word usage, plot, and everything outside or in between those…and then start destroying those rules. 

3. Artists learn with references.

I have never met an artist that didn’t, at some point, use a reference to help them draw. Be it pictures, tutorials from other artists, or something else. They use these references to help them learn–this does not mean that they copy or steal, it means that they recognize what they need to improve and get an idea on how to improve it.

4. Artists work on bits and pieces of their style, rather than tackling the whole thing at once.

Nobody is perfect. Everyone has something that they need to improve. A distinct difference between the writing and art community that I’ve recognized is that artists are willing to take a step back and say “Okay, I need to work on my shading.” or “I think I’ll focus on how to draw hair today.” instead of the writer mentality of “It all needs to improve. At the same time.”

It is much more difficult to hone your style if you are trying to tackle every problem at the same time. Most artists seem to be pretty good at identifying individual problems and spending as much time as they need to tackle each of them at once. This is part of the reason that I think writers often get overwhelmed when they try to improve–we’ve convinced ourselves that we need it to get better at the same time.

Impossible expectations, my friends.

5. Artists are encouraged to have a distinctive style.

If you take a look at the most renowned artists throughout history, very few of them frequently practiced realism. This is because they had a style. People who are even partially versed in the art world can pick out a van Gogh, or Picasso, or Rembrandt just by glancing at the style of the painting. While this is possible with most modern writing it is much more difficult.

Most readers don’t want cookie-cutter realism when they read something–they want to get a feeling, they want to feel things. If you think of any textbook ever, they are bland as hell. They don’t possess the kind of style that is near-essential in creative literature. Of course, if you want to write textbooks, more power to you, but most of us don’t want to.

The point being, after you get a good concept of realism (Point #2), start playing with it a little. Start using more adverbs or different sentence structures, use metaphors and similes, do whatever you want! And, if it doesn’t turn out well, there’s no harm in rewinding and trying something new. 

It’s worthwhile to keep in mind that the vast majority of people have a natural style–so this point can just as easily be translated into “Don’t let anyone kill your style.” rather than “Develop a style.”

Affection

Anger

Angst

Anguish

Annoyance

Anticipation

Anxiety

Apathy

Arousal

Awe

Boredom

Confidence

Contempt

Contentment

Courage

Curiosity

Depression

Desire

Despair

Disappointment

Disgust

Distrust

Ecstasy

Embarrassment

Empathy

Enthusiasm

Envy

Euphoria

Fear

Frustration

Gratitude

Grief

Guilt

Happiness

Hatred

Hope

Horror

Hostility

Humiliation

Interest

Jealousy

Joy

Loneliness

Love (avoid this one)

Lust

Outrage

Panic

Passion

Pity

Pleasure

Pride

Rage

Regret

Remorse

Resentment

Sadness

Saudade

Schadenfreude

Self-confidence

Shame

Shock

Shyness

Sorrow

Suffering

Surprise

Trust

Wonder

              Analyze stories.

Don’t just listen to what other storytellers say you should do, figure out what you like about the stories you enjoy and learn to replicate that.

Want to learn about pacing? Examine stories you think flow fantastically. Want to learn about description? Study your favorite author’s descriptions. Want to learn about characterization? Critique your favorite characters.  Want to learn about foreshadowing? Explore how it’s done in stories where the plot twist blew your mind.

Storytellers giving advice to other storytellers is fantastic and useful, but you will never know something as thoroughly as you know the things you figure out for yourself. 

And by analyzing the stories you love instead of listening blindly to advice, you’ll never be swayed by the bias of other writers and you’ll never take in advice that’s suited for a story you wouldn’t enjoy writing.

“Hello Lizard. After having problems with OCD and anxiety, I’ve changed - I don’t write a much as I used to and I can’t think of ideas. I want to get back into writing. What do I do?”

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

Anon asked: omg you’re a science person who just wants to write all day, I can relate on a spiritual level…

Anon asked: How do I find other writers on twitter? I dont know what specific hashtags are used.

#amwriting is the main one. Or could also go through my followers list on my twitter because I’ve just been mass following back writers for ages. (I can’t vouch for most of them, but you’ll find some cool people if you look long enough.)

Anon asked: Have you studied literature ?

This is an ominously vague question o-o I don’t have a degree in literature, nor have I haven’t dedicated any of my time to studying the works of dead white guys who wrote things I don’t actually enjoy reading. I do put quite a lot of analytical though into every story I consume though, and I’ve certainly written my fair share of academic papers on portrays of various character archetypes.

Anon asked: Bryn! I’m trying to make a WIP page this weekend thanks to your post! Problem is, I have…a lot of WIPs. Do you think I should only include the main/biggest ones, or should I write about all of them? I’m worried writing about all of them will drive people off with so much to read, but I also want people to have something to refer to when I mention the smaller projects. Thanks for the help!

I don’t think there’s any wrong way to go about it. But if you’re asking my personal opinion, I would make a primary wip page with a fair amount of details about my largest wips, and then link to a secondary page that has very simple descriptions of the ones I work on less often.

Anon asked: I’ve written an unserious med school story (it deals with a lot of uni struggles mostly), but I’ve written a part where a child patient (side character) passed away. Given the fact that the book isn’t super angsty, would you say that this can fit in, do you think it can be pulled off as plausible?

So I’ve been reading a lot of amateur writing lately, and I’ve noticed what seems to be a common problem: dialogue. 

Tell me if this looks familiar. You start writing a conversation, only to look down and realize it reads like: 

“I’m talking now,” he said. 

“Yes, I noticed,” she said. 

“I have nothing much to add to this conversation,” the third person said. 

And it grates on your ears. So much ‘said.’ It looks awful! It sounds repetitive. So, naturally, you try to shake it up a bit: 

“Is this any better?” He inquired. 

“I’m not sure,” she mused. 

“I definitely think so!” that other guy roared. 

This is not an improvement. This is worse. 

Now your dialogue is just as disjointed as it was before, but you have the added problem of a bunch of distracting dialogue verbs that can have an unintentionally comedic effect. 

So here’s how you avoid it: You mix up the dialogue with description. 

“Isn’t this better?” he asked, leaning forward in his seat. “Don’t you feel like we’re more grounded in reality?” 

She nodded, looking down at her freshly manicured nails. “I don’t feel like a talking head anymore.” 

“Right!” that annoying third guy added. “And now you can get some characterization crammed into the dialogue!” 

The rules of dialogue punctuation are as follows: 

Each speaker gets his/her own paragraph - when the speaker changes, you start a new paragraph. 

Within the speaker’s own paragraph, you can include action, interior thoughts, description, etc. 

You can interrupt dialogue in the middle to put in a “said” tag, and then write more dialogue from that same speaker. 

You can put the “said” tag at the beginning or end of the sentence. 

Once you’ve established which characters are talking, you don’t need a “said” tag every time they speak. 

ETA: use a comma instead of a period at the end of a sentence of dialogue, and keep the ‘said’ tag in lower caps. If you end on a ? or !, the ‘said’ tag is still in lower case. (thanks, commenters who pointed this out!) 

Some more examples: 

“If you’re writing an incomplete thought,” he said, “you put a comma, then the quote mark, then the dialogue tag.” 

“If the sentence ends, you put in a period.” She pointed at the previous sentence. “See? Complete sentences.” 

“You can also replace the dialogue tag with action.” Extra guy yawned. “When you do, you use a period instead of a comma.”

So what do you do with this newfound power? I’m glad you asked. 

You can provide description of the character and their surroundings in order to orient them in time and space while talking. 

You can reveal characterization through body language and other nonverbal cues that will add more dimension to your dialogue. 

You can add interior thoughts for your POV character between lines of dialogue - especially helpful when they’re not saying quite what they mean. 

You can control pacing. Lines of dialogue interrupted by descriptions convey a slower-paced conversation. Lines delivered with just a “said” tag, or with no dialogue tag at all, convey a more rapid-fire conversation. 

For example: 

“We’ve been talking about dialogue for a while,” he said, shifting in his seat as though uncomfortable with sitting still. 

“We sure have,” she agreed. She rose from her chair, stretching. “Shall we go, then?” 

“I think we should.” 

“Great. Let’s get out of here.” 

By controlling the pacing, you can establish mood and help guide your reader along to understanding what it is that you’re doing. 

Not only that, but when I first write something, often it’s “said” all the way down, and then relatively late in the process, I go back and fluff it up with action and intonation. It’s okay to let it be simple the first time around, and then add in the complexity where it is warranted. This lets me work faster, so that I’m not shifting gears between dialogue and description constantly.

“You’ve always been the pacifist.” The villain pushed himself off the floor and onto his knees, giving the hero a contemptuous smile. “How far will you actually go to save them? Go ahead. Use your powers to injure me, harm me.”

The hero held up a hand, and ball of fire burst forth, casting dark shadows across their face. “Don’t dare me,” they said, and immediately shot a blast of flame at the crouching villain.

Meanwhile:

I definitely have some tips for you! I have a few here from before, but I’ll include some others.

1) Describe a feeling. If you start off telling us how your main character feels, we’ll be more attuned to their emotions and may care about them more off the bat. Describing the feeling and then the situation at hand, we’ll get to know about who your MC as well as the sort of world they’re living in. It likely won’t take up too much space throughout the chapter, but it’s a start and can branch off into a variety of paths.

2) Consider opening in medias res. Latin for “into the middle of things,” this literary device is most commonly known for its use in The Odyssey. With this sort of opening, you begin in the middle of an eventful scene and circle your way back later on to explain what led up to get there. It’ll make the beginning of your story eventful, and works most often in more action-based or dramatic stories.

Yes, you. You, with the pen in hand, the laptop atop your lap. You, with the scribbles and the scrawls. You with the tappity-taps and clickity-clicks. You, with the eraser marks. You, with the red and green squiggles. You, who knows a piece of written paper equals a little more than half a typed page. You, who knows 50,000 words is about 100 regular pages. You, who doesn’t know how to spell a word because you’ve only heard it spoken, but never seen it written. You, who stuffed your work in the attic drawer. You, who saved your story inside a chain of files so nobody would read it by accident.

Your writing is important even if you’re shy and can’t really introduce yourself well, or broadcast your achievements to the world so people know how to find you.

Your writing is important even if you accidentally offended that one really popular person and now nobody who likes them will read your stuff, let alone comment.

Your writing is important even if you aren’t good at writing to fic prompts, and never make half of a ficlet bingo card, and are afraid to join Big Bangs or gift exchanges.

Your writing is important even if there’s only a handful of people who like your ship/fandom/angle on such and such a character, and they’re always the only ones who talk to you about it.

Your writing is important even if the people you read never bother to read your work, and they never say why.

Your writing is important because You. Are. Writing!  Not because you are shilling it everywhere and tapdancing to win the attention of readers who might possibly leave you a comment but only if they think you’re cute.

Your writing is important because it brings something into the world that was not previously there.  Because it gives you a voice that outlasts you.  Because someone, somewhere, needs to read what you are writing, even if they never scratch up the courage to say so.  Your writing is important because every time you do it, even if you don’t publish a word of what you write, you are learning something new.  Something that will make the next thing you write even better.

Your writing, my darlings, is important.

Hi there, sorry for not replying to this yet, Tumblr didn’t notify me!

Writing Scenes with Multiple Characters

This is something I’ve had to tackle in my own writing myself, as I tend to write stories with HUGE casts. 

When writing scenes with multiple characters it’s way too easy for the scene to get bogged down with repetitive actions and dialogue as you try to hop from one character to the next to convey what they’re feeling. 

You might get a clunky scene, like this, that pulls you out of the action and slows down the pace:

E.g 

June screamed, huddling in the corner of the room. Beatrice had screamed too, huddling next to her, shaking slightly. Lee hadn’t screamed, but it had been close, he huddled in the corner with them, “What happened?” he whispered.

“I don’t know,” Beatrice whispered back.

“Me neither.” whispered June in response.

Daniel was frozen still but shook his head, regaining his composure. “Anne, are you ok?” 

She sniffled, close to tears. “Yeah.”

Mia was wailing loudly. “No!”

Sarah was frozen to the spot too, but Mia’s wails had snapped her back to the moment. She exchanged a glance with Daniel. 

“Check on Lucas, would you?” Daniel said, nodding to the corner.

“Ok,” said Sarah, “Lucas…are you ok?”

Lucas stood on his own in the corner, arms wrapped around his knees, face pale. “Yeah.” 

That was almost painful to read.

It slowed down the pacing and the switching between each character and unnecessary attempt to give them all dialogue made it a clunky, awkward mess. You want to streamline the scene as much as possible. A way to do this is to remove any unnecessary ‘padding’ dialogue. You often don’t need dialogue to express how a character is reacting to a scenario. Describing a character as “shaking” and also saying “I’m scared” would be redundant, and pretty obvious to the reader. There are also characters who would likely not speak in certain situations, out of shock, shyness, or fear. 

Another way to avoid it feeling like you’re just hopping from character to character as if you were just ticking them off of a checklist, is to group characters together. It’s likely that there are several characters that would react similarly, so if two are likely to be crying put them together int he scene. If there are three or so that are likely to be in shock, describe them together. You can do this with several characters who aren’t likely to react the same and show characterization. For example, if you have a responsible character have them console the scared characters and telling the argumentative characters to stop bickering. 

One thing I tend to do to avoid “listing” off characters when I write, is to focus on one major character to base the POV on. Select this character to be the eyes of the scenes, this way you will feel less likely to ‘head hop’ from each character and muddle the scene by accidentally switching POV and creating a confusing mess. Write what this one character see’s and feels. Show how the other characters feel by their actions, and how the POV character reacts to them.

Here’s a slightly better rewording of the same scene, notice how much it’s condensed, unnecessary or repetitive dialogue and actions were removed, yet the characters reactions are still shown:

E.g 

A jolt of shock slapped Sarah in the face. She leaned on the wall for support, vaguely aware of what was happening around her. Someone had screamed, was it June or Beatrice? She didn’t know. They sat huddled in a corner with Lee, speaking in hurried, shaking whispers. Sarah shook her head, snapping out of her daze. Daniel, it semed, had too. He was already crouched, consoling Anne and trying to get Mia to stop wailing. He shot her a worried expression as she aproached on shaky legs, nodding to Lucas. He didn’t look too great. He stood on his own in the corner, arms wrapped around his skinny knees, face ashen. 

In fact, there was zero dialogue in that scene, but it still did the job of conveying the reactions of eight different characters without needing to bog down the scene with repetitive actions. 

I hope I could be of help, but if not, here are some further articles that might be worth reading: 

http://literarylab.blogspot.co.nz/2010/03/too-many-characters-in-scene-mix-and.htmlhttp://jamigold.com/2014/10/ask-jami-how-many-characters-is-too-many/https://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/dont-let-multiple-character-scenes-run/http://theeditorsblog.net/2011/10/25/dialogue-my-characters-talk-too-much/

~Lana