This Is Your Daily Reminder Not To Correct Other People’s Grammar If They’re Not Asking You To, Especially

“What is a personal website even FOR?“

When making a personal website for the first time, you may ask yourself this!

The answer is: fucking anything. Personal websites don’t have to be “presentable” if they’re not tied to your IRL identity or whatever. Look at old captures of geocities, tripod, angelfire sites. You had dedicated single-topic sites, sure, but you also had sites that were arbitrary, slapdash little hoards of the website owner’s Favorite Things, no matter how unrelated they were.

Some suggestions:

links to your 3 favorite other websites.

an essay about how cool hydraulic engines are

a sanctuary for all your favorite images, such as memes, that you’ve collected over the years

facts about centipedes you think everyone should know

competitive hardcore sims 2 speedrunning strategies

a portfolio of your artwork, or links to other people’s artwork you enjoy

elaborate lies and hoaxes (maybe even a whole arg)

useful survival tips specific to where you come from (personal recipes, trustworthy doctors, good music venues, eats that are both good and affordable, hot goss on who’s up to what horseshit on your city council/school board/university faculty/whatever)

original fiction that noone on social media cares about because people only like and reblog about what they already know. explain your entire fictional country that you wanna put in a real novel one day.

making people not have to dig through your tags to know where to find all your dracula meta (including the shipping manifesto you wrote 10 years ago)

speaking of fandom, you know that one piece of media you love that nobody else seems to have heard of? you post into the void and nobody reblogs or likes? nothing in the tags? Yea. Built a shrine to that explaining why EVERYONE should care about it. tell me how that pirated copy of Telefang made you the human being you are today

explaining your personal philosophies on life without worrying that you will get reblogged by randos calling you cringe

just generally being fucking a weird, unrelatable, unmarketable, extremely specific ass human being

Tips For Designing a Book Cover

Credit: https://dribbble.com/stories/2021/01/26/book-cover-design-101-how-to-design-a-cover-that-sells

1. Gather book cover design inspiration

Before you start designing, you should always gather visual inspiration first to help guide your cover’s overall look and feel. Gathering different book cover ideas will help you to understand what you’re drawn to, what works, and what doesn’t, so you can narrow down what you want to accomplish with your cover design. As a good rule of thumb, aim to collect between 10 - 20 pieces of visual inspiration.

Once you’ve gathered enough ideas, you should start to notice certain patterns of visuals, themes, imagery, and layouts that you’re drawn to. Keep this in mind throughout the next steps.

2.  Outline the book’s main themes

A book cover needs to support the themes the book explores. It also needs to support the mood of the book. What is the book about? Is it a serious exploration of modern society? Is it a fun, adventurous memoir all about finding yourself? A serious book should have a relatively serious cover, while a fun beach read needs an entirely different kind of aesthetic.

Outline your book’s main themes and keep these at the front of your mind when deciding on the kind of imagery you’ll want to use on the cover.

3. Consider the genre

Different genres have different conventions when it comes to covers. Most fantasy books show protagonists with weapons or fantasy creatures. Romance books typically have the romantically involved characters on the cover. Contemporary books frequently feature cute, modern art. True crime books usually feature dark covers that hint at the crime.

To get a sense of what the genre expects, look to competing books. If they all follow a certain convention, you’ll likely want your cover to also fit that convention so that readers of that genre can immediately recognize it!

4. Use visual hierarchy

Visual hierarchy on a book cover is key. You need to make sure that the reader browsing the shelves sees the most important part of the cover first. For most books, this will be the title. But for certain bestselling authors, you might want to consider emphasizing their name so that it’s even more prominent than the title. That’s because fans of that author can immediately recognize that it’s one of their books.

In general, your hierarchy should place the title and cover graphics most prominently, followed by a subtitle (e.g. “a novel”), followed by the author’s name. There may also be endorsements or prizes to include on the cover, but those are usually placed less prominently than other elements.

5. Get rid of the clutter

Cluttered covers don’t work well when viewed at small sizes. Since a lot of book browsing happens online, covers are usually shrunk down to thumbnail size. If your book cover looks cluttered at thumbnail size, you will risk turning away potential readers.

Choose one focal element for your cover. This could be part of the image used on the cover, or it could be the title of the book. Once you know your focal point, you can design the rest of the cover to emphasize that point. Also make sure you leave plenty of white or blank space around that focal point.

6. Think in terms of thumbnails

When people are browsing Amazon or other online publishers such as Bookshop.org, they’re presented with a series of cover thumbnails. These are often pretty small—less than 200px high. That means that if your title isn’t prominent enough on the cover, it won’t be legible. It also means that if your cover has a ton of fine details that are important to its meaning, that will be lost in thumbnail size.

That doesn’t necessarily mean that you shouldn’t include those details on a cover, though. What it means is that you need to make sure that your cover still has a powerful impact at thumbnail size. Make your title legible at small sizes and ensure that the most prominent part of your graphics are recognizable (i.e., a mountain should be recognizable as a mountain, a person should be recognizable as a person, etc.).

7. Choose an appropriate font and color palette

Choosing a typeface for your book cover can be tricky. It needs to look great when viewed on the full-size cover, but it also needs to remain legible at small sizes on thumbnails.

For the most part, try to avoid any super detailed display or complex script typefaces. When searching for the perfect typeface, try it out both at large display sizes and at smaller body sizes to see if it’s still readable when displayed at 12px or 14px sizes.

Color palettes can be a book cover’s biggest asset—or biggest downfall. The right color palette draws the reader’s eye and gives them an idea of the tone and mood of the book, while the wrong colors risk confusing your audience. For example, neon colors typically indicate that a book will be fun to read and not too serious. Dark colors? This book could be serious or scary (depending on genre).

However, remember that color palettes are only one part of establishing a mood. You can, for example, create a scary mood with a pastel cover with the right visual elements (for instance, The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein by Kiersten White has a pastel pink cover).

8. Don’t overlook the spine or back cover

While a book’s front cover gets all the glory, the spine and back cover are also important design elements. Spines, especially, are important when a reader is browsing bookstore shelves, where most books are arranged on shelves with only the spine showing. 

You also need to take into account that due to the way offset printers work, your front cover, back cover, and spine may not always align perfectly. By continuing the basic background design around the entire cover, you avoid the spine or back cover looking bad due to printing errors. This ensures that your entire book cover looks professional and consistent.

when a character not in a cool way but in a fully sincere and slightly helpless way is like to understand things i need to be able to identify qualify & organize them i need structure and systems of logic but i also have an incredible capacity for empathy and feel things deeply. literally give me a kiss

grabbing new writers by the shoulders. it is important to write what you love and to love what you write. if you spend all your time trying to make something other people will approve of you will hate yourself and everything around you. learn at your own pace. you have time. i’m proud of you

Color-Themed Names

Red/pink-themed names

Camellia, Carmine, Cerise, Cherry, Claret, Flynn, Fuchsia, Garance, Garnet, Holly, Jacinthe, Linnea, Phoenix, Pink, Poppy, Reed, Rosa, Rose, Roux, Rowan, Roy, Ruby, Russ, Russell, Scarlett, Sherry, Titian, Zinnia

Orange-themed names

Alani, Amber, Azahar, Cam, Coral, Ginger, Orenji, Sziéna, Topaz

Yellow-themed names

Blaine, Bowie, Boyd, Citron, Citrine, Maize, Marigold, Saffron, Xanthe, Xanthus

Green-themed names

Basil, Beryl, Celadon, Chartreuse, Chloris, Clover, Fern, Forest, Emerald, Esmeralda, Giada, Hunter, Ivy, Jade, Juniper, Kelly, Midori, Moss, Olive, Orrin, Sage, Viridienne, Viridis

Blue-themed names

Aqua, Azul, Azure, Blue, Cobalt, Hyacinth, Indigo, Mazarine, Nila, Ocean, River, Sapphire, Sky, Teal

Purple-themed names

Amethyst, Heather, Iolanthe, Ione, Iris, Lavender, Lilac, Mauve, Sigal, Violet, Wisteria, Yolanda

Brown-themed names

Anise, Auburn, Brindle, Bruno, Coco, Clove, Fawn, Hari, Hazel, Roan, Russet, Sienna, Tawny, Umber

Black-themed names

Coal, Ebony, Jet, Melanie, Onyx, Pepper, Raven, Sable

Gray/silver-themed names

Arian, Ash, Chamois, Ecru, Gin, Gray/Grey, Grayson, Isabelline, Silver, Slate, Sterling, Stone, Storm

White-themed names

Alaska, Alba, Albion, Bianca, Blaine, Dove, Everest, Fidda, Fiona, Ivory, Lily, Opal, Pearl, Snow

Rainbow/misc-themed names

Aya, Ayami, Ayane, Enfys, Hong, Iridiana, Iris, Itza, Itzel, Iro, Jalus, Kelemi, Keshet, Nanako, Ostadar, Raga, Solongo, Szinta, Tolbon, Tourmaline, Vaiva, Walken, Ziazan

Gold-themed names

Altin, Arta, Aurelia, Aurelius, Aurian, Aurum, Cressida, Dahab, Florin, Genji, Gilda, Golden, Goldie, Eurion, Hiran, Kanaka, Kanok, Loreal, Oriana, Orville, Sonali, Sui, Suvarna, Tala, Zahava

It’s 1 am and I just… stories really were made to save us, huh?

these are so helpful thanks ! I feel more confident now :)

thank you so much! i’m glad i could help <3

My writing advice for new writers

masterlist. main navigation.

@bluebxlle_writer on Instagram

1. Write for yourself

This is the #1 tip I will always give to writers, so you've probably heard me say this a few times. Don't write for others, but write for yourself.

People have different tastes. There will always be some who dislike your book, and some who consider it their favorite. Lots of people hate famous books like Percy Jackson or Six Of Crows, and I'm sure you've disliked a popular book before. So instead of writing a book that others would read, start writing a book that you would read. If you end up liking your book, I can assure you that many others will too.

2. Flesh out characters

When you're excited to write a new WIP, you might delay your character building process and decide to start writing while trying to figure out the characterization on the way. I've done this a couple of times, thinking that it would speed up my writing process, but trust me, it did not. It actually slowed down my writing instead.

If you start writing your wip without at least finishing 80% of your character building process, you'll find yourself getting stuck in scenes, not knowing what your character would say or do, which is very inconvenient.

If you ever get bored of character building and really want to start writing instead, I suggest writing one-shots unrelated to your WIP. By doing this, you don't have to worry about writing your characters out of character, and its actually useful to their characterization process.

3. Experiment!

If you feel like there's something off with your writing, or you're beginning to feel that writing is a chore for you, experiment with different writing techniques. Switch up your genre, time period, plotting method, etc.

For reference, I used to be a pantser who writes plot-driven mystery stories. But now, I'm more comfortable with being a plantser who writes character-driven low fantasy stories! Basically, don't be afraid of change, because it might help you later.

4. Know your ending

In my opinion, the most important thing to consider while writing a story is your ending - not your beginning or middle. You can rewrite your beginning chapters anytime, and you can always figure out your middle chapters later, noone knows how to write the middle of a story anyway.

But if you don't know the ending of your story, you're screwed, buddy. Without knowing how your story ends, you can't write the events that build up to that ending.

You're unsure about your novel's ending at first and decided to throw in a last minute plot twist? That means you've been foreshadowing the wrong ending the whole book, and you gotta rewrite. You don't know how your characters will develop throughout the book? You won't be able to write the journey of their arc throughout the story. Hassling, right? That's why, try not to start writing your WIP without having a possible ending in mind.

5. If you write, you're valid.

Nowadays, the standards of being a writer is that you have to write a full-length novel and be traditionally published. This isn't true, not even the slightest.

You write poetry? You're a writer and valid. You're a screenwriter? Bro, look at the word. ScreenWRITER. valid. You write fanfictions? Valid, and you're not cringey. You have NO idea how much I worship fanfiction writers for writing what canon won't give us. You're writing but don't want to be published? You're still valid. As long as you write, you're valid, because that's the whole point of being a writer.

6. Don't follow every single tip

There's a reason why they're called writing tips, not rules. You're not meant to follow every single one of them, they're only meant to guide you on the way. Some will be useful, some won't, depending on yourself. So please, don't be pressured to follow every writing tip you see.

The “I’d rather have you hate me than lose you forever” trope will always hit hard

is there any flowers/plants that symbolize or relate to discomfort and dissatisfaction? im trying to draw something for an art project and i wanted to draw plants/flowers in it that hold symbolism to them

Hey kookoojellyfish! Most of these mean either directly, but allow potential association because neither discomfort nor dissastifaction exist as single meanings here.

agnus castus – coldness, indifference

aloe – bitterness and pain, bitterness, grief, religious superstition

balsam (red) – impatient resolved, touch me not

bee ophrys – error

belvedere – I declare against you

bindweed (great) – insinuation, importunity

burdock – importunity, touch me not

convolvulus (major) – extinguished hopes

corchorus – impatient of absence

eglantine – I wound to heal, poetry

geranium (fish) – disappointed expectations

henbane – imperfection, fault, for males to attract love from females

hogbean – defect

hortensia – you are cold, carelessness

humble plant – despondency

ice plant – your looks freeze me, rejected addresses

lint – I feel my obligations

love-lies-bleeding – hopeless not heartless, deserted love, desertion

meadow sweet – uselessness

mimosa – sensitiveness, sensitivity

ranunculus (wild) – ingratitude

sorrel (wild) – wit ill-timed

straw (a single, broken) – dissension, rupture of a contract

sweetbrier (european) – I wound to heal, poetry, imagination

tiger-flower – for once may pride befriend me, cruelty

Discomfort could be represented by poisonous plants in art. They don’t mean it, but they most certainly cause it.

– Mod Jana

Disclaimer

This blog is intended as writing advice only. This blog and its mods are not responsible for accidents, injuries or other consequences of using this advice for real world situations or in any way that said advice was not intended.