Since this rant is gonna veer into a total different series it needs it's own post @k1201a.
The Shen Jiu arguments just plain out baffle me when they try to call Shen Qingqui/Yuan a self-insert for the audience and less interesting. Makes me just think they have never read the REALLY bad transmigration-reincarnation novels out there. Shen Yuan was reincarnated into the tragic life taped on cardboard out of karma and he said screw that because Shen Jiu really was for all intents and purposes hated by everyone but Yue Qingyuan.
Once he is, I dunno, REINCARNATED he is Shen Qingqui and embraces that on his terms because he ain't about to go back to living in his old life ever and doesn't want Shen Jiu's dumb choices.
He also draws the line of what he thought of Shen Jiu even in regards to Yue Qingyuan and made him put their old life at peace with the old Shen Jiu and the present Shen Qingqui. Since they chose different paths as the same person.
As if testing it out, Yue Qingyuan let out a, “Xiao Jiu…”
Shen Qingqiu: “Shixiong, it’s Qingqiu.”
Even though it was hard to explain the truth to Yue Qingyuan, Shen Qingqiu still hoped that he could show him the difference as much as possible.
Yue Qingyuan gave a start before he smiled weakly. “… It’s Qingqiu. Qingqiu-shidi.”
Ever since Shen Qingqiu entered the role of a character in the novel, he had always refused to become that scum villain from the original work. He had drawn a clear boundary and was proud of doing the complete opposite. There had never been a moment where he had as intense and impulsive a thought as he did now.
If he really were Shen Jiu, then everything would be fine.
If that person could really hear what Yue Qingyuan just said also, then everything would be fine.
It is just so frustrating with the western portion of MXTX novel fans making the most simple antagonists deeper than they are compared to the main characters because they don't understand what actual literary irony is. These books are not big brain energy and yet they still manage to have such wild takes.
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Since there's been a lot of fandom history on my dash tonight, I want to tell you about something I've referenced before, and which always gets funny notes in my inbox whenever I do:
The day fandom collectively lost its shit after logging into Delicious and finding it was like, a horrible mix between MySpace and Reddit.
Like AO3, it's a story of fandom using a space that wasn't intended for fandom, and then being utterly destroyed when that space decided to adopt hostile policies.
Delicious was a social bookmarking site, which was basically a way for users to save content from around the web. This was during a time when browsers were notoriously awful, and saving bookmarks locally was guaranteed to end in you losing everything because Firefox updated and did something weird, or Internet Explorer just randomly shat the bed and reinstalled itself when you weren't looking. And it was superior to browser bookmarks, because it had tags and organisational structures that were set by each, individual user.
And it happened to be perfect for fandom, because at the time we were primarily using LiveJournal, another site that didn't want us, and was actively trying to push us out. Delicious was used in two primary ways:
Readers of fic would use it to save the ones they liked, often using their account to curate reclists.
Community owners would use it to organise posts to the community.
Free LJ accounts only allowed so many tags, and even paid accounts often didn't have enough for large communities. Roleplay was huge on LJ, and users would often want tags for all their characters so they could find old threads. Some megafandoms with huge ensemble casts would very quickly run out of tags on their communities, especially if they tagged for content creators, tropes, kinks, etc. With Delicious' tag system, it was a perfect site for both of these purposes.
And then one day, without warning, we all logged in to do our thing, and it was a completely different site. Tale as old as time, Yahoo! bought it, decided it wasn't profitable enough, and decided to rebuild it from the ground up without any warning. They got rid of the tag system entirely, and I don't think anyone ever truly figured out how the new site was meant to be used.
But fandom was utterly and truly in a mass panic, because this backbone of how so many things were run just evaporated. Ever wonder why AO3 has the tag system it does? It was built by the same people who used Delicious. Before AO3, fandom had collectively decided that the information AO3 displays on fic headers was what should always be displayed. People would have to build their own headers, but they always included the same general gist of fandom, characters, pairing, rating, word count, warnings, kinks, and summary. You could browse a stranger's Delicious account, and would have a reasonable certainty of seeing these same, or very similar prefixes in their tag system.
So. Fandom is panicking. Entire communities are un-searchable, reclists are broken, people have lost years of bookmarked fic, and we were all scrambling to find something that worked like Delicious, or build something like it, but it had happened so abruptly that there wans't time to really coordinate.
Then, from the shadows came Maciej Cegłowski, aka Pinboard Guy. (Not to be confused with Pinterest.) Pinboard Guy had heard that Delicious had shat the bed, because fandom wasn't the only group that used the site, and weren't the only people who lost their bookmarks, but we were certainly being very loud and obnoxious about it. Pinboard Guy reached out to fandom on the whole, with a glorious gift. He had his own Delicious clone, that he built from the ground up and maintained for better privacy and security, and he sold accounts. At the time, it was around a $5 one-time fee, with a structure that increased the fee by a fractional amount for each new account. Basically, as server load increased, so did server costs, and this is how he managed to keep up with that.
He also understood that by its nature, fandom is very social, where his site was very asocial.
So he asked, what does fandom need? And someone opened up a Gdoc, and a lot of people put together a very well-written and organised (and enormous) list of ways in which fandom used social bookmarking. How we needed prefixes, and bundles, and a way to discover other accounts, along with detailled explanations of why. A lot of work was put into this, which was basically a fandom manifesto explaining to an outsider everything he would need to know to rebuild Delicious. For a lot of us, we didn't expect anything, but just being humoured was validating.
And then this man implemented these features for us. When you go into your account, you can tick a box that says you're part of fandom, and it will open up an entirely separate part of the site, that he built, just for us. He didn't have to do this. But he did it anyway. He's changed the pricing model since then, and it's now a yearly fee instead of one-time, because Pinboard is still run by Pinboard Guy, and no one else. No ads, no sponsors. Just Maciej Cegłowski and his ancient-ass code that still looks like the internet did in 2009.
And then, a few years down the line, like the fucking baller he is, Cegłowski bought Delicious and shut it down. Just killed it dead.
Not a lot of people within use Pinboard anymore, because AO3 also serves the first reason people used it: bookmarking fic. Allowing for external bookmarks meant that the reclist people didn't need to rely on a service that might not always be friendly to us. And then, well. LiveJournal kicked fandom out through a series of hostile policy changes, and Dreamwidth failed to take off, so we no longer really needed that community archive aspect.
But 2009 was a rough year for fandom, because it was the year fandom pretty much everything changed. While we gained a huge, centralised archive that wasn't the Pit of Voles that FFN is, we lost that centralisation when fandom fled LiveJournal for this fucking hellsite. Some of us vainly tried to make Dreamwidth happen, and clung to it in the desperate hope that Tumblr would fail and people would miss journals and communities, but it never happened.
And I'm telling you. When this Post+ thing finally drives fandom off this site, I'm gonna be torn between sitting back and laughing because it's the same shit all over again, and collapsing into utter despair because I am too goddamn old to learn how to use another site that isn't built for the way fandom likes to shove square pegs into round holes to make sites suit our needs.
Finding your character’s voice is one of the most important things you can do to make your character more fully developed. It can often be the thing that sets your character apart and makes the reader easily able to identify them. Creating your character’s voice breathes life into them.
What to think about:
Can be shown with:
sentence structure/complexity (shorter vs. longer sentences, number of clauses, etc.)
contractions (e.g. y’all versus you guys, I am vs. I’m)
word choice (simple or advanced; more poetic vs. more practical, blunt vs. subtle)
word order/syntax (can indicate dialect and/or formality)
Things to ask yourself:
- If my character speaks formally/informally, is there a reason?
- Does it indicate their status?
- Or is it a rejection of their status? (e.g. does your highborn character prefer to speak informally because they hate their position in life, or does your lower class character speak more formally to make themselves appear higher class?)
- Is the way they speak normal for their society? In other words, if your character is, say, an alien from a highly formal culture, they won’t think of themselves as speaking abnormally. But if they visit another, less cultured planet, they’ll stick out like a sore thumb.
When done well, this can be amazing. When done awfully, it makes the reader sigh and roll their eyes in exasperation. So, be careful not to overdo it!
Catchphrases can include:
slang (e.g. wicked, if your character is from Boston, like Faith Lehane from Buffy: the Vampire Slayer)
exclamations/swears (”Hell’s bells!” - Harry Dresden, “Zoinks!” - Shaggy, “Holy ___, Batman!” - Robin at various times)
automatic responses (such as in response to how they are, e.g. “Five by five.” - Faith Lehane, or in response to a question they don’t want to answer, e.g. “Spoilers!” - River Song)
greetings/goodbyes (”Hello, sweetie.” - River Song, “What’s up, Doc?” - Bugs Bunny)
introducing themselves ( “The name’s Bond. James Bond.” - James Bond, “Trust me. I’m the Doctor.” - the Doctor, “Denny Crane,” said repeatedly by Denny Crane)
an explanation/repeat phrase of some other classification (”Dammit, Jim, I’m a doctor, not a ________.” - Bones, “Your mission, should you choose to accept it…” - Mission Impossible, “Live long and prosper.” - Spock, “Same thing we do every night, Pinky! Try to take over the world!” - the Brain)
A lot of times, these catchphrases can become inside jokes, and merely referencing them is enough (think: “It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s Superman!” or “Holy _______, Batman!”).
But sometimes, it can feel a little forced (like Miss Martian’s constant use of “Hello, Megan!” all the time in Young Justice). You want to use these catchphrases sparingly, and when they make sense. While you and I might say “fudge” or another such exclamation any time we trip, the reader does not want to read that twenty times in the same chapter because your character is a klutz. This is the art of writing, not the hyperrealism of writing. You want it to mean something, so use it only when needed.
Things to ask yourself:
- Does this character really need a catchphrase? How will this help establish character?
- Does the catchphrase come from the type of place they live or things they do? For instance, Harry Dresden is a wizard, so when he swears he says, “Hell’s bells,” which reminds us of his job and difference from those around him. This wouldn’t be the same if he simply said, “Dang it,” any time he swore.
- Is there a reason they have a catchphrase? Is it deliberate or unconscious on their part?
- Is there a way you can flip the catchphrase and use it to signal a shift in the story or an unexpected twist (e.g. signifying that somehow your character as switched bodies with another person, like Faith from Buffy: the Vampire Slayer; alternatively, that something isn’t right with the character, because of certain events, and they’re not saying their usual catchphrase)?
Verbal tics are sounds that are not really words, more like filler, that get used almost unconsciously in everyday speech. Words like “ehm,” “uh,” and so on are all verbal tics. (Various internet sites assure me that throat clearing and sniffing can also be included here, but I leave that up to you.) For this section, however, I am also including words, but only those words that are filler. I am also including alterations to the text that represent how someone is speaking.
Now, I know that in any writing guide you read, they want you to NOT, NOT, NOT use regular tics like these in dialogue. It’s annoying, repetitive, annoying, serves no purpose, annoying, and so on. In a sense, they are very much right. Don’t use verbal tics for every character! But using them to distinguish one character (or a couple, in different ways) can work very well if done right.
Verbal tics can be:
words (examples: “You don’t wanna mess with us, see, ‘cause we’re dangerous, see,” or “So, I went to the mall yesterday, and there was this dress, so I bought it, so…” or even “Like, I’m not even sure what Vanessa was, like, wearing at that party last night?”)
filler sounds (e.g. “eh,” “um,” “uh,” “er,” “hrrgh,” “urk,” and so on)
messing with the letters and format of the sentence (e.g. dragging out the letter, making every word separated for a slow speaker, running words together to indicate speed, etc.)
Examples of verbal tics (this is a section in which examples are very helpful, so here you go):
Damian Wayne, the current Robin at DC Comics: uses the distinctive sound “tt” in his appearances to express his emotions, even - tt - other comic series that he guest-stars in
Asmodeus from the Redwall series: drawsss out the letter ssss becaussse he isss a ssssnake
The Flash, at various points in DC Comics: speakswithallthewordstogetherbecausehe’stalkingsofast!!!
Canada, from the Hetalia anime: ending every sentence like a true Canadian, eh?
Things to ask yourself:
- What purpose would a verbal tic have for my character? Do they really need one?
- Is the verbal tic connected to an emotion, or is it involuntary? (Generally, in real life, it is involuntary, but once again, this is art, and so it can have meaning, if you so choose!) What emotion might it be connected to?
- Are they aware of it? Are they embarrassed by it? Do people make fun of them for it?
- Is it part of their dialect/culture?
- Is it a recent thing or have they always done it?
- Where is the balance between making it seem like a realistic tic and annoying my reader with the repetitiveness?
*I am not referring to any medical diagnoses here, although if you want to go right ahead and use medically diagnosed tics for a character, please feel free to! However, this section does not deal with those, as I am not an expert, although I understand there might be some confusion due to the terminology I have used. Please let me know if there is a different term I should be using instead, as I couldn’t find one anywhere. Thanks!
The way that your character addresses other characters says a lot about how they view and respect those around them, in addition to their personality. In addition, if you establish a character addresses others in a certain way (say, by last name only), then when they break this pattern, the reader knows it is important.
Different ways of addressing others:
nicknames (either a shortening of someone’s name, even if it’s not usually shortened, or a name reflecting some characteristic of theirs - e.g. “Jane” to “Janie,” or “Shorty,” or Tony Stark’s brand of nicknames, like “Capsicle” or “Rock of Ages”)
titles (similar to nicknames, but more formal - e.g. a character referring to people by their rank, job, familial relations, etc.)
last name only
full name only (never shortened, includes first, last, and middle names)
no nicknames (never refers to a character by anything other than what’s printed on their birth certificate, can be combined with others on these lists, especially the previous two)
familial referencing (e.g. Aragorn, son of Arathorn)
insults (ranging from harmless to aggressive, can be combined with the first one on this list, not always swears)
by physical/personal characteristics [epithets]** (e.g. by gender, hair color, eye color, traits - for instance, “boy,” “you, redhead!” or “the only one of you with any spine”)
** This one tends to work best in stories set in older times or in sci-fi/fantasy. Epithets can be insults, but the epithets I am thinking of are more Homeric in nature.
Things to ask yourself:
- Is there a reason behind my character’s decision to address people in this way? Does it indicate a lack of trust? A need to crack jokes?
- What does this say about my character’s background? Is this the normal way to address people where they come from? Is it abnormal to do so in the place they are now?
- Does my character evolve from speaking this way? Do they start speaking in a different way, either deliberately or unconsciously? Why?
Accents are tricky. There are several different ways to write accents (I’m currently working on a post that explains them further), but basically no matter how you write an accent, there are a few things you can do to portray the accent.
slang (e.g. barbie = barbecue in Australian slang)
word order/syntax (e.g. “I’m after going to Mary’s” = “I just went down to Mary’s” in Hiberno-English)
contractions (I’ve versus I have, or y’all versus ye vs youse vs you and so on)
idioms (words or phrases that do not have equivalents in other dialects/languages/places)
diction (words meaning different things, like “chips” in American English and in British English)
verbs (e.g. “ain’t,” “be,” “runnin,” or mixing up tenses)
Keep in mind:
- be RESPECTFUL of whatever accent you’re trying to portray, especially if it’s not your accent
- don’t overdo the accent because it might end up sounding stereotypical (and that is not respectful - see above)
- you should get a feel for the accent you’re trying to write. Listen to the music, read something in that accent, watch/listen people talk in the accent until you hear the rhythm and way people with that accent talk.
Things to ask yourself:
- Is the way I am portraying this accent as accurate as it is within my power to make it? (In other words, have I done my research?)
- How does my character feel about their accent? Are they in a place where their accent is normal? Are they in a place where they stand out because of their accent?
- Continuing on that thought, how noticeable is their accent? Is it the equivalent of someone from, say, Boston going somewhere else in Massachusetts, or the equivalent of that person from Boston going to California, or the equivalent of that same person going to London? Each one becomes more and more noticeable the farther the person goes from their home.
- Has my character made an attempt to hide their accent? Deliberately intensify it? Or do they just not care?
- Does it get stronger or weaker based on their emotional state?
The emotions your character normally expresses when they’re speaking say a lot about their general emotional state. In addition, if there is a change in their emotional state, readers will be able to know that just from the way they talk (though context and body language are always useful!)
You can show emotion in speech through:
speed (if they’re easily excited, they might talk fast! and with a lot of exclamation points! But if they’re sad a lot…well, they might talk a bit more slowly and take their time…kind of like Eeyore.)
word choice (is it generally positive? negative? Or somewhere in between?)
reactions to other characters’ dialogue (are they generally patient and wait for the other person to finish? Or do they jump in because they’re so excited about something the other person has said?)
volume (are they loud? Quiet? Are they normally quiet but get loud when they’re angry? Or vice versa?)
understandability (not necessarily stuttering or stumbling over words, but can be; are their procession of thoughts/logic easy to understand? Is their conclusion sensible? Are they understanding others easily or do they need clarification? For instance, if your character is easily excited, maybe their dialogue comes in a jumble of words that is hard to understand. Maybe they’re so angry they’re not listening to anything the other person is saying, and their dialogue reflects that.)
punctuation/capitalization (are they unsure of themselves and what they’re saying a lot, so they use a lot of question marks like this? Are they aggressive in their emotions and so THEY SHOUT LIKE THIS!!! Are they…kind of thoughtful and take the time to…express themselves correctly…or are they - well - I mean are they - like - the kind of people who - you know, backtrack and correct themselves a lot?)***
***Again, you want to be careful not to overdo this, as it can get annoying AND lose the effect it has on the reader. If one of your characters SHOUTS. EVERYTHING. THEY. SAY. THEN WHEN SOMETHING REALLY IMPORTANT HAPPENS TO THE CHARACTER AND THEY GET VERY EMOTIONAL AND SHOUT, IT’S LOST A TON OF EMOTIONAL IMPACT ON THE READER. Like the end of that sentence. Did it make a big impact on you? It should - it was the entire point of the sentence. But it was lost amidst all of the other capitalized words. The same thing goes for any type of repeated punctuation/capitalization for a character - you want to make sure it counts.
Things to ask yourself:
- Why does my character express this emotion generally?
- What does it say about their outlook on life?
- What does that say about how they view other people?
- Does their dialogue rely on these techniques too much when trying to show their emotions? How can I combine these with their body language?
This is a pretty simple one. Focus can be organization of thoughts - basically, what idea(s) can they or want to focus on. A character that is very focused might be a practical person who is focused on the here and now, and their plans for whatever situation they’re in. A character that is less focused might be someone who thinks of several things at once, which reflects in their dialogue.
Fixations are the things that their minds keep coming back to. So for example, if a character is worried about how they did on a test, throughout the story their dialogue might keep returning to that subject or referencing it. For instance: “Hey, when do you think we’re getting that test back?” or “Wow, this is pretty hard. Almost as hard as that test we took.” You want to make it less obvious than this, of course! (A good example is Anya from Buffy: the Vampire Slayer and her obsession with making money.)
Ways to show focus/fixation:
number of ideas/topics in their dialogue at a time
relevance of topics to the present
relevance of topics to the past/future
how they react to people who do not share their focus/fixation (e.g. a focused person finds it annoying when a person who is not focused keeps interrupting them, or a person who is less focused finds it annoying that a person who is focused is paying too much attention to one thing)
Things to ask yourself:
- How focused are they when talking?
- Do they think of a million things at once, or just one at a time?
- What are some short-term fixations they might have? Some long-term?
- Why might they be focused/not focused? Why might they have these fixations? What do these fixations say about their character?
- Do the focus/fixations change over time? How? Why? Does it reflect a change in their character?
- Am I making my character too focused/fixated on something? Is it detracting from or adding to the story or the character arc?
This one is probably the broadest one on the list. There aren’t specific things you can do to get this across (it’s more of a general thing), but it’s a cycle that you should keep in mind.
Your character sees themselves in a certain way. For instance, they might think of themselves as helpful, or kind.
The way that they see themselves can influence why they do things (e.g. if they see themselves as a person who doesn’t go on adventures, like Bilbo Baggins, they will refuse to go on an adventure.)
The actions that they take influences how other characters see them, but the other characters do not necessarily see your character’s perception of themselves (e.g. in the Hobbit, Bilbo sees himself as helpful and averting war by giving the Arkenstone to the Elves. He thinks he is being a good friend. However, Thorin sees it as a betrayal and thinks Bilbo is disloyal and not a good friend. Both of them at the time of their actions think they are right.)
How other characters see your character influences how they treat your character (e.g. Because Thorin thinks Bilbo has betrayed him, he threatens Bilbo and rejects him as a friend. Bilbo escapes with his life, but only through the help of the other dwarves. Again, to each character, their own actions are justified and so their dialogue reflects their belief that they are right. So, when they talk to each other, both of them think that they are right and the other is wrong, and you can see this in their dialogue.)
How they treat your character influences how your character sees and reacts to these people, and can influence your character’s perception of themselves (e.g. Because Thorin rejected Bilbo and called him a traitor, Bilbo is bewildered and believes for a time that Thorin cannot be saved, and he feels like he failed).
The cycle continues.
All of this is reflected in their dialogue to each other.
Knowing how each of your characters see each other and themselves will influence their dialogue and reactions to each other. Characters can misunderstand each other, underestimate someone, or help someone feel better about themselves, just to name a few things.
Things to ask yourself:
- How does my character see themselves? Why? Are they one hundred percent correct?
- How do other characters see my character? Why? Are they one hundred percent correct?
- Does my character have any idea of other people’s perceptions of them? If so, do they care? Is my character correct about what they think other people think about them?
- Will my character’s perspective of themselves/other people change? Why and how? Will other characters’ perspectives of my characters change? Why and how?
- How do all these reactions to each other influence the story?
Hope this helped! Let me know if there are any questions.
- Riona
SVSSS au except Shen Yuan transmigrated earlier, like say when Shen Jiu was a disciple, and met Shang Qinghua earlier and found out he was a transmigrator earlier and they both pulled their heads out of their asses and realized that they're both their ideal person and fall in love and everyone is both shocked and horrified at this strange power couple
SQQ's ideal man: someone who's caring, protective, a little pathetic, muscular, someone he can relax around, and will do anything for him
SQH's ideal man: cold, not afriad to cut a bitch (physically or verbally), likes be cared for/needs help with paperwork, tall, graceful and regal, someone who will listen to him ramble, who sees him and the stuff he does as someone or something of value
You may be feeling uninspired because you find it difficult to enter your characters' minds.
A great way to dive into a character's point of view is writing a paragraph from their perspective on a topic like death, the meaning of life, loss etc.
I usually do this before I start a project, but it can be a great way to get back into the swing of things in the middle of a book.
A lot of people write with music, curating playlists for their WIP.
I don't write with music, but it can be great to listen to a song or two before writing a specific scene or character's POV.
Curate a Playlist for your POV characters and listen to it when inspiration is running low.
This may just be a weird thing I do, but I love it.
When I really need a motivation boost, I create fake promotional material or swag designs for my WIP. Mock covers, bookmarks, posters, ads etc.
It reminds me what I'm working towards and that can help a lot.
Creating physical mood boards for your WIP or specific characters/locations and putting them up int your work space can do wonders for inspiration.
Every time you look at the moddboard, you're taken back to the moment when the idea first got into your head - a moment when you had oodles of inspiration.
You can also add to those mood boards whenever you need an extra shot of inspiration.
Every time I watch an Authortube vlog, I feel motivated to work on my own writing.
Pick an Authortuber who resonates with you and has the life you hope to build. Watch one or two of their vlogs and that should light a fire under you.
Shit, it’s 2020 and I’ve updated this Behemoth again. There’s both old and new in here. If you’re having problems with links overlapping, it is most likely the app/dashboard glitching—try the permalink version, and everything should work out, even on mobile. And of course, HAVE FUN.
Also: I had to split this one in two otherwise the links just poof, disappear. Part one is here.
THEMATIC LISTS By character Works featuring Persephone Works featuring Kassandra Works featuring Mary Magdalene Works featuring Narcissus (more or less) Works featuring male protagonists written by women Works featuring the House as a character Works featuring brothers Works featuring assassins Works featuring mermaids Works featuring musicians Works about scorned women and complex character development Works featuring the femme fatale archetype Works featuring female villains Works with Nature as a character Works with supernatural entities as a human double Works with introspective characters Works with narcissistic characters Works with “fatally-flawed” (hubristic) characters Romances featuring softer male protagonists Trope : Star-crossed lovers Trope : Friends to lovers Trope : Villainous love Trope : Toxic mother figure Trope : adaptating Beauty and the Beast Trope : adaptating Bluebeard By theme LGBTQ+ (a terribly old and lacking list) About love: pretty much a whole bibliography Suspense galore: books with good foreshadowing Suspense galore: a few good plot-twists Books taking place in a single building Books taking place in one House Books taking place in a high school Books with dysfunctional families Books about seeing into the Future Books by the sea (and a few pirates) Books set in Paris Books about hubris Books about loneliness and solitude Books about finding one’s life purpose Books about girlhood Books about introspection and self-discovery Books about melancholy and sadness Books about happiness and hope Books with symbolism and atmosphere Books about moral corruption and spiritual decadence Books about sex politics and philosophy Books about the female rage Books about or taking place during World War I Books featuring suicides Poems for mothers Poems about poetry Great love stories Unusual love stories Idealised, bittersweet love ; more By genres Rewriting Greek and Roman myths Rewriting Fairy Tales ; and again Writing and rewriting Arthuriana Favourites free-to-play text-based games Experimental literature Gothic and neo-gothic Southern Gothic Magical realism ; a few more Dystopias Young Adult Horror novels (but check the gothic instead) Crime novels Thrillers (thriller night); more Medieval historical fiction Sweet sweet comfort reads Just, like, sappy stuff
By context Beach reading Travel reading Halloween reading (spooky!) Winter reading Summer reading ; another Lockdown reading (you can still ask!) By book Books similar to The Secret History Books similar to Wuthering Heights ; again Books similar to Memoirs of Hadrian Books similar to Brideshead Revisited Books similar to A Grief Observed Books similar to The Brothers Karamazov Books similar to On Being Ill Books similar to Eros the Bittersweet Books similar to Dracula Books that might remind you of Avatar the Last Airbender if you squint Excerpts similar to Dido and Aeneas’ parting in the Aeneid Recommended editions of Romeo and Juliet Recommended editions of Shakespeare’s Sonnets Recommended editions of Wuthering Heights Recommended translations of Tristan and Yseult Some links to Rainer Maria Rilke’s Book of Hours Some links to a few of Mary Oliver’s works Lit criticism on Dorian Gray Lit criticism on Sonnets to Orpheus Books adapted to the screen (1) Books adapted to the screen (2) By author Favourite French writers Favourite Contemporary writers What to read? By Women French writers What to read? By Anne Carson (And some prep reading for Anne Carson) What to read? By Richard Siken What to read? By Roland Barthes What to read? By Agatha Christie What to read? By E. A. Poe What to read? By Daphné du Maurier What to read? By Sylvia Plath What to read? By Priya Sarukkai Chabria What to read? By Hélène Cixous What to read? On and by Branwell Brontë What to read & which translation? For Marguerite Yourcenar Which translation? For Hafez If you love Anne Carson If you love Angela Carter ; more If you love Louise Glück If you love Virginia Woolf If you love Sylvia Plath If you love Marguerite Duras If you love Emile Zola If you love Colette
hehe incorrect quotes
Oof there's a typo :'(
Based on this 👇