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Latest Posts by the-writer-muse - Page 7
putting my 2022 goals here so i can hold myself accountable to finish them by next year:
create a writing schedule and stick to it
begin and finish draft 1 of Pawn
begin draft 2 of Of Souls and Swords
tell me about your 2022 goals, if you have any!
Indie Authors to Support
@abbiepayne.author01
How could I make a post about indie authors and not include Abbie? She already has many titles to her name, and many more to come! The one I’m currently looking forward to the most, however, is Call Her Captain, her upcoming YA sci-fi novel that releases March 22, 2022. It showcases a found family in space, a majority-female cast, and a forbidden sapphic romance, not to mention this beautiful cover!
@j.v.montague
If you didn’t already know, Jay just released his debut short story, The Stolen Dagger, and I can safely say it’s one of the best indie books I’ve ever read. The humor was absolutely on point, the story itself was entertaining and fast-paced, and the main characters had so much depth and personality! I’m looking forward to seeing more of Montoya and Rose in the future!
Ariana Tosado
I recently discovered Our Mistaken Identity by Ariana Tosado and it was an extremely entertaining read! I liked and related to many of the characters, and their dynamics felt very natural and well-developed to me. The concept of this story was fascinating as a whole, and I’m happy that I picked it up. I hope to read the sequel, The Hunter in the Room, too!
@so_many_ocs
Radio Apocalypse is one of my most anticipated indie reads of 2022! From the synopsis, I feel sure that it’s going to be one of my favorites, as well. If you’d like to learn more about it, I suggest you visit the official page, @radio.apocalypse.novel. But that’s not the only book Kayleigh has--they have also published Defy and Unchain, a dystopian duology that I'm really excited to begin soon!
@mcpending
MC is another self-published author I’m really excited to delve into. Untouchable, her debut, is a dystopian novel that follows protagonist Tessa as she attempts to survive in a world where she is less than nothing. I only recently discovered MC, but I think she has a great sense of humor and just a great personality overall, and I can’t wait to read Untouchable!
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
is there anything more satisfying as a writer than dropping the title of your wip in your wip?
wait are there writers who draft in times new roman
are you guys ok
i think my wip should make a new year’s resolution to write itself i mean why am i the only one who has to put in the work
the feminine urge to spend the rest of my life traveling the world and visiting libraries dressed in dark academia clothes is kinda unreal rn
Fluffy Winter OTP Prompts
1. Character A explains one of their winter holiday traditions to Character B
2. A sees snow for the first time
3. A and B have a snowball fight (bonus if A flirts with B to distract B)
4. A teaches B how to ice skate
5. A and B go sledding
6. The power unexpectedly goes out during a blizzard and A and B make a blanket fort
7. A and B give each other gifts in a gift exchange
8. A didn’t put on enough layers when they went outside, so B lends them their coat
9. A and B go caroling, but only one of them is actually good at singing
10. A wants to hibernate. B won’t let them
11. A and B bake/cook together
12. A and B make snow angels
13. A forgot their mittens/gloves outside, so B warms up their hands
14. A is looking for a last minute gift and enlists the shop owner, B, for help, but quickly ends up getting distracted by them
15. A is torn between making fun of B’s ugly Christmas sweater and admiring how good they look in it
16. A buys/makes B’s favorite warm drink
17. A introduces B to their family
18. A’s car breaks down and B pulls over to help them
19. A knits a sweater for B
20. A and B have a holiday movie marathon
21. A writes a message in the snow that B can see from their bedroom window
22. A and B watch the winter constellations appear in the night sky
23. A loves the cold. B...not so much
24. A and B share a bed to “conserve body heat”
25. A and B write letters to each other
26. A didn’t like the holiday season, until they met B
27. A and B make paper snowflakes together
28. A and B argue over the appropriate times to put up and take down holiday decorations
29. A and B cuddle by the fireplace
30. A thinks their new haul of scented candles is amazing. B thinks it’s a fire hazard
31. A and B get stuck on a ski lift together
Writing double agents
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@bluebxlle_writer on Instagram
1. Motive
Before everything, you need to establish why they became a double agent. The most common reason is probably their leader commanding them to infiltrate the enemy, but there are other reasons why someone can be a double agent :
• They have something to do /someone to see in the enemy organization, but they're forbidden to associate with the enemy, so they volunteered to be a double agent as an excuse to enter the enemy's base.
• They only want to be on the winning side, so they became a double agent so they can switch sides whenever.
• Alternatively, they became a double agent voluntarily to prove their loyalty.
2. Mannerism in enemy organization
How does your character act in the enemy organization? Do they act like their true selves? Or do they mask their true nature and act calmer and kinder in order to avoid suspicion? This point will help with the characterization of your double agent.
3. Relationships in enemy organization
Another way to emphasize your double agent's character is by establishing their relationships with the members of the enemy organization. Do they act cold, not wanting to get attached to anybody there because they view attachment as a weakness and a distraction to their infiltration mission? Or do they try to make lots of friends to build trust among the members of the organization?
4. Loyalty
This is also a very important aspect to consider, because being a double agent can either mean that the character has a strong loyalty to one side, has no loyalty at all, or has a shifting loyalty.
Strong loyalty - self explanatory! It means they will always remain loyal to one side and one side only.
No loyalty - Like emphasized in the previous number, a double agent with no loyalty tends to switch sides easily. A good example of this is Double Trouble from SPOP - they betrayed the Horde and joined the princesses the second they sensed that the princesses had a winning advantage.
5. Writing shifting loyalty
Shifting loyalty is much more complex to write about rather than simply being loyal or unloyal, so I'll have to explain it in another point. There are a few reasons why a double agent can be loyal to one side at first, but then have their loyalty gradually shift to the other side :
They realized that the enemy organization is working for a better cause, and after much battle with their morality, they decided to shift their loyalty from the "bad" side to the "good" side.
Alternatively, they were loyal to the "good side" and had a better moral compass at first, but they underwent a corruption arc and decided to shift to the "bad" side out of selfish means.
They were influenced by friends they made in the enemy organization and decided to change sides.
The leader of the enemy organization treats them better than anyone in their organization did, and they grew to respect the enemy's leader.
Ways to indicate shifting loyalty :
They begin to report to their leader less and less, hiding more info from them.
They start questioning their moral compass, often having an inner struggle on their decisions.
They begin to let their guard down in the enemy organization, establishing more relationships with the people there.
They begin to wonder where they truly belong.
6. The betrayal
When your character is revealed as a double agent to their friends in the other side, there are 2 things to consider :
How the character acts :
Do they feel guilt, apologizing and saying that they had no choice? Or do they act condescending, grinning cruelly and saying "you shouldn't have trusted me"?
How their friends act :
Do their friends look genuinely shocked and hurt, still denying their betrayal? Or do they immediately frown, saying "We knew it was you, you filthy traitor"?
This stage will say a lot about your double agent's character and morality, and their relationship with the people from the enemy organization.
all i want for christmas is for my wip to write itself
Worldbuilding stuff:
If your story has an idle nobility class, their culture shouldn't just be different from the general population, it should be an over-the-top caricature of the common folks' culture. Whatever the population generally agrees is ideal, fair, admirable, or good, the nobility will take into stupid extremes.
Contrary to the beliefs of many, people are actually not at all happy when they're idle - a person with no assigned task or duty will go out of their way to come up with one. And all around the world, whenever there's been an upper class with nothing to do, they've started to compete with each other over stupid shit, but always stupid shit that the culture they live in considers positive qualities.
From the noblemen in Europe challenging each other to a possibly lethal duel over insulting someone's hat, to a Chinese noblewoman being moved to tears by the beauty of someone's calligraphy, bored elites everywhere have always wanted to outdo each other in their expressions of possessing all the noble traits that this culture in particular holds in value.
You can, and should, use this as a way to highlight what the actual values of this society is. In a setting where being religious is held as an admirable trait, there is nobility coming up with new ways to one-up each other in their expressions of worship. Society that values art and music will have them competing over who hires the most artists, and who employs the most talented musicians. Aggressive, war-like people will have fuels to the fucking death over a stupid hat.
Literally anything can be competed in, and bored people with far too much time and money in their hands will become competitive over the most ridiculous things. This isn't just an useful tool in worldbuilding, but also a fun one.
Writing Cliffhangers
Intro
Credit: https://getproofed.com/writing-tips/5-tips-on-writing-a-cliffhanger-ending-for-your-novel/
Ah, cliffhangers. Writers love them, readers have a love-hate relationship with them. I don’t have any statistics for this, but I would say that generally, all book series have at least one cliffhanger ending. Cliffhangers convince readers to continue a series, often leaving off at a critical point where the characters and world are in peril. However, cliffhanger endings can also come off as gimmicky, or as a cheap marketing ploy to get you to buy the next installment in a series. So how can you write a cliffhanger ending correctly, have it make sense, and have it belong? Here are some tips!
1. To cliffhanger or not to cliffhanger
Not every tale has to end on a moment of tension, so a cliffhanger ending isn’t always right for your story. Ask yourself:
What do other books in your genre do? Are cliffhanger endings common?
How else could I end the story? Would it feel more natural to do so?
What would a cliffhanger ending leave unresolved?
If you’re using a cliffhanger as a gimmick, you risk annoying your readers. And you should never end on a cliffhanger just because you don’t know how else to end your story! Only do it if it fits with the story you’re telling.
2. Type of cliffhanger
A cliffhanger ending can take many forms. Common types include:
Leaving the story in a perilous situation
Creating ambiguity about what happens next
A character revelation that contradicts something we thought we knew
A thought-to-be resolved situation turns out to be unresolved still
All these will create a situation where the reader wants to know more, but make sure to pick an ending that will work with the rest of your story!
3. Your story must be complete
Even if you end on a cliffhanger, your story still needs to feel finished. Simply stopping before the grand finale where the hero confronts the villain won’t work: it will feel incomplete, like you’re just teasing the reader.
Instead, focus on resolving the main conflict (i.e., the thing that has driven the narrative forward) in your story first. After that, you can introduce the cliffhanger ending to set up the next story or create a sense of ambiguity.
4. Set up your cliffhanger ending
While a cliffhanger ending may involve a twist, it shouldn’t come completely out of the blue. Rather, you should plant the seeds throughout your story. For instance, if your story ends on the protagonist discovering a shocking piece of information, you’ll want to leave clues for the reader earlier on.
This might be a passing comment made by a minor character, or a warning that the protagonist ignored to continue their quest. But it should be something seemingly innocuous that takes on a new meaning when its significance is finally revealed, leading to your cliffhanger ending.
5. Hint at the future
Finally, if you’re planning a sequel to your novel, give some hints about where the story might go next. For example, your story might end with the protagonist victorious, only to discover the antagonist was just an agent of an international spy ring. You could end there, with your lead character shocked at their discovery, leaving the rest ambiguous.
But you could also hint at what might come next. Maybe the protagonist swears revenge. Maybe they realize they need to go on the run. Or maybe they discover a conspiracy and set out to reveal it to the world.
You won’t want to overdo this--nobody likes a massive, suspense-destroying infodump at the end of a story. But hinting at the future is a great way to engage the reader’s imagination and set up the next installment of your story!
this is your daily reminder not to correct other people’s grammar if they’re not asking you to, especially if it’s something they can’t help :)
About My Side WIP
Intro
By now, most of you have probably know that that I’ve been planning a new book, and I’m happy to finally introduce it to everyone as my side WIP! It explores a lot of themes and topics that are very close to my heart. I hope to be more open about this WIP, and I’m very excited to share it!
Putting this much info about my WIP online is a huge admission and gesture of trust, but I trust you guys. I hope you’ll continue to prove that my trust is not unfounded.
Basics
Title: Pawn
Main character: Alice Lee
Age group: Middle-Grade/YA
Genre: Fairy-tale retelling of Alice In Wonderland / Alice Through the Looking Glass, fantasy
Elevator pitch: The Chronicles of Narnia meets Legendborn in this Asian Alice retelling
Synopsis:
As children, Alice Lee and her older sister Evie created Meer, an imaginary world where they would finally belong. But as the two sisters grew older, they grew apart--in both emotion and imagination.
Four years after she first abandoned the fantasy land of Meer, Alice’s life forever changes in a horrible accident that leaves her injured and Evie dead. She has no memory of what happened that night, and she fears that there’s something more to the truth. Now, one month after the incident, she still doesn't remember her past.
But her past hasn't forgotten her. When she encounters an old friend from Meer, Alice discovers that the imaginary world of her childhood is very real—and in trouble. The Red Queen and the White Queen who ruled the land all those years ago are suddenly and brutally enforcing their reign. Her old friend is part of the rebellion that fights back against them--and he suspects that Evie’s death was no accident.
Hoping to find answers about her sister’s death and her own scars, Alice soon finds herself involved in a deadly game where the Red Queen and the White Queen control the chess pieces. One wrong move will cost Alice the board and any chance at reclaiming Meer. Will she ever be more than a pawn in a game? Or will she play straight into her enemy’s hands?
Inspiration
I’ve always wanted to write a retelling, but there were so many stories to choose from. In the end, though, there was really only one I could begin with, and that was Alice in Wonderland.
Lewis Carroll's Alice consistently expresses a confusion about her own identity and a stubborn adherence to logic, despite her travels being distinctly illogical. She clings to her old self in a world where she's someone new--someone other. I often write Asian heroines, and it wasn’t too hard for me to make the connection between that and identity of the self.
How do others define us, how do we break free of those definitions, and how do we define ourselves? Those are some of the big questions in my WIP. It’s set both in the real world and in a fantasy world, so it gives me more room to explore modern issues.
That’s not the only thing I want to do in this book, though. Alice just appeals to me as a stubborn, practical heroine who’s very set in her ways until her circumstances change completely. I found myself asking questions of the original story: What if Alice’s sister had found Wonderland first and introduced it to her? What if Alice rejected it? What if it changed, completely and irrevocably? And what if Alice was then forced to return and face her past?
This is a very personal WIP, due to the topics and questions it incorporates. Honestly, it’s a very indulgent story, but it’s one that I enjoy a lot. I hope to share more about it and my process in the future. Thank you for reading!
f*ck a breakup, have you ever rated a book very highly and gone looking for the huge fandom it deserves, only to find out that it's small and/or inactive?
Before you put an author down for their grammar, punctuation, and overall ‘level’ of work, remember that:
Education is a privilege
Language is made up
grammatical and verbal entitlement is rooted in….. you can guess!
Education is a privilege!!
The only ‘bad writing’ is offensive or harmful writing!
It’s 1 am and I just… stories really were made to save us, huh?
My writing advice for new writers
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@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.
While writing an adaptation of a character who in mythology time used a sword, I'm wondering would it be ineffective to still make them use a sword but a thinner flatter type. Or is it just better to just stick to a knife?
I'm not going to harp on it, but, "mythology time," is a weird way to phrase it. Usually you'd say, "a character who used a sword in myth," or. "in their myths," not, "in mythology time." This is because there is no fixed, "mythic era," in history.
Myths vary, but it's often impossible to pin down a specific moment they come from. The British give us a pair, one example and one counterexample. The myth of Robin Hood is remarkably easy to pin down, because it includes historical figures. It occurs sometime in the 12th century. (Worth noting, the written records regarding Robin Hood first pop up in the 14th century, so it may have been floating around in a oral form for a couple centuries before anyone recorded it, or none of the previous written records survived.) In contrast, it's basically impossible to pin down a specific timeframe for the King Arthur legends, because there's no historical frame of reference. There's a lot of academic study on the subject, but while you can say that Robin Hood is set in the 1190s, you can't say the same for King Arthur.
Mythic characters are a little tricky to work with. By their nature, they have a well established backstory and identity. Messing with that is feasible, but requires some care. It also requires passing familiarity with the myths they appear in.
For example: If you wanted to write a modern incarnation of Hercules, it would ring a bit off to have a character with a warm and loving parents.
Artificially creating a mythic character (for a fantasy setting) is a lot more complicated. This requires you to create a character who left enough of a legacy on their world that they're still a household name millennia later, conveying those stories to the audience, and then also introducing a modern version of that character in the setting, without the entire work being very heavy handed or cliché, is quite difficult, and time consuming.
And, I still haven't talked about your main question, their weapons.
The artifacts of mythic characters often have legacies that, in some cases, outstrip their owners. In spite of being inanimate objects, they're characters, with their own identities, that extend far beyond simply being, "a sword." I'm reminded of multiple starships in different settings named Excalibur, and even, just the name, is evocative.
This is where the real danger is, you're talking an artifact, where the name alone, is (supposed) to be enough to cue the reader in to the significance of the object. (Having said that, I recently had to explain the significance of Gjallarhorn to a friend, so, depending on the object in question your results may vary. There are a lot of mythic artifacts, and not all of them carry the same name recognition.)
If your mythic hero has a sword, chances are it has a name, and probably a legacy of its own. Mythic artifacts in a modern setting may be the original object, or the, "soul," of the artifact in a new object (the rules for this are dictated by the author), but, "downgrading," a mythic artifact is something you probably don't want to do without a lot of careful consideration.
-Starke
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writing characters with one eye
i can pretty much guarantee that ↑that↑ is not a heading you see everyday.
now i will not be giving advice on writing cyclopses, (though it may be sort of the same thing) i still hope this will be helpful for some people out there that are looking to provide a more diverse cast to their wip!
i have never ever ever read a book, watch a show movie etc etc that involves a character with one eye. (aside from those badass characters who wear eye patches bc they lost sight in one eye in some badass way)
for context: i am one of many people who was born with microphtalmia, an eye disease that results in one or both eyes develope smaller than normal at birth. i myself was born with a smaller left eye, which resulted in my left eye being removed exactly twenty days after birth.
microphthalmia (along with many other eye diseases) typically leads to being half or fully blind. i lucked out and only lost my left eye which i am so so thankful for.
i would really really love to see more representation for my community in literature, especially so people would come to see that being half blind isn’t as unusual and weird as people make it out to be.
without further ado, i present to you, a list of information, facts, and first hand experiences from yours truly!
i’ve had prosthetic eyes made to fit my eye socket for about fifteen years (i’m 16 lol) (the first 6ish months after the surgery i never had a prosthetic)
in my life i’ve had four different prosthetic eyes made because just like other people, my eye socket grew alongside the rest of me, meaning the prosthetic needed to be made bigger
i’ve had my current prosthetic for four years now, the past ones lasted about 2-3 years at a time. this one will probably last me through the rest of my life unless i need/want a new one
as opposed to most media/assumptions, my prosthetic (along with most prosthetics) is PLASTIC (people always think it’s glass) and only half a circle!!
i’ve had three surgeries related to my eye
i do not have depth perception which makes doing certain things very difficult (estimating distance, how close/far i am from something etc)
driving is not affected too much, i just have to turn my head more than other people. i believe being blind in the right eye might be more difficult, but i couldn’t say
doing my make up is kinda easy, except for eyeliner is a pain in the ASS since most people close their eye to do it on their upper lid, but clearly i can’t close my right eye whilst doing it lol
my family as well as my friends and even myself often forget i have a prosthetic, which sometimes results in awkward/funny situations
i hate walking with people on my right bc i can’t tell where they are unless i’m constantly looking down at my/their feet
i sucked at basketball bc i had such a disadvantage (no depth perception, i could only see half the court, i was constantly turning my head) but professional swimming is much easier for me since it’s not a contact sport and doesn’t really require for me to be paying attention to a million things at once
i rarely have to take my prosthetic out, and if i do, it’s either to clean it, (we do get eye crusties on our prosthetics just like other people do when they have pink eye or sever allergies) it’s bothering me/really dry, or i want to take it out to show/scare people lol
a lot of people don’t realize when i first meet them that it’s fake bc my recent prosthetic is amazing accurate to my real eye. others notice and assume i have a lazy eye since it doesn’t move
for some reason people think i can’t cry out of my left (prosthetic) eye??? i still have a tear duct??? i actually think more tears come out of my left tear duct than my right lol
i am extremely self conscious about it, but i know there are other one-eyed beauties out there who aren’t which is amazing!! i try to live vicariously through them lol
i make sooo many jokes about my eye lol, and i’m usually ok w other people making jokes as long as they aren’t like overly rude/offensive, then i’ll feel a lil bad about my self
people never really made fun of it, but kids in middle school likes to wave things in front of my left eye/on my left side that i couldn’t see which got really annoying after a while
getting custom designed prosthetics are available, but they’re really expensive (so are normal lol) they costs thousands of dollars, just like other prosthetics do
i run into things that are on my left side ALL THE TIME it’s actually kinda funny lolol
i try to hide my left eye/turn more to my left side in photos bc my eyes aren’t always looking in the same direction, which really gets to me
i wear glasses for both protection and bc my right eye is -1.75 lmao but i did used to wear non-prescription glasses purely for safety
i do have contacts to wear during the summer, swim meets etc, for when i don’t want/can’t wear my glasses but need to see. bc of this, i have a second pair of glasses that have no prescription
if doctors/scientists managed to figure out a way to fix microphthalmia (a birth defect), or do a sort of eye transplant, i would not be able to have that done to me because all parts of my left eye have been removed from my body
microphthalmia is NOT the only disease that results in the haver losing sight in one or both eyes!! there are many others, but it is not my place to share any experiences for something i have not experienced!!!
for once i just want to see a clumsy character who has one eye that WASNT a result of some tragic event.
so please please please consider including a character with one working eye in your wip. it would mean the world to myself and all the other members of the community (there’s a lot of us, trust me) plus, i wouldn’t mind starting an acting debut playing a half-blind female protagonist, that would be so dope.
that’s about all i can think of for now! please send an ask or reply to this post if you have any questions, i’m willing to answer any!!! and if you happen to be a member of the one eye club, please add to this post!! that would mean the world to me:)
thank you guys for all the love on this post! it’s now my most popular one <3
“feminine urge” this and “masculine urge” that, what about the urge to stop procrastinating writing your wips?
Having done more research and not found this in the tags... What can be done to respectfully write a fantasy novel with indigenous cultures in it, as a non-indigenous author? Specifically ones that have suffered in the ways that those in the continental USA have? I've heard it's better to choose one tribe as a basis, I've heard it's better to use no tribe as a basis, I've heard you can use some aspects but not the whole, I've heard use nothing unless it's the whole. What's the best approach?
Coding Fantasy Indigenous Peoples
You’re getting conflicting answers because there is truly no right answer to this question, as with most things when it comes to representation. Some people will prefer one thing, others something else. If you’re trying to find the Perfect Path Without Backlash, it doesn’t exist. Sorry.
Also, just as a note, a lot of nations cross the border between Canada and the United States, because that border is artificial and colonial. So you might very well be looking at Canada even if you’ve picked an “American” tribe.
In my personal, singular Indigenous opinion, my process would look something like this:
1- Pick A Region First
Region will give you the environment that the tribe(s) live in (I’ll get to that plural in a second), which will then inform basically everything about how they built their customs. A lot of Indigenous beliefs are tied to natural resources and constrains of the land, so it’s very hard to code an Indigenous society without figuring out what sort of land you’re working with.
This applies even if you’re working outside of the Continental US, because even just within the States they’re subjugating wide swaths of Polynesia (including Hawai’i), Alaska, the Philippines, etc. Not to mention how many Indigenous groups there are around the globe being erased by their local states.
Indigenous peoples are everywhere. You don’t have to include them all the time, but they exist beyond Turtle Island.
2- See Who Lived There
And now, the plural. Because unlike a lot of Western places, there’s a lot more nomadic groups when it comes to Indigenous peoples.
So the region you picked could have multiple groups that cycle through the same landscape, and this will also inform the representation. Did they like each other? Or were they traditionally enemies?
How about in lands that changed hands a lot? Because the borders of what Native population owned what lands are flexible, and you can find areas where the region changed hands a dozen times over even just a couple hundred years. How will you handle that?
Now here’s your first fork in the road: You can combine the groups that were friendly (key word: friendly) with each other into one large group, or you can have multiple Indigenous groups in the worldbuilding that are mentioned in passing, like how x cycles through in certain seasons, and y in another.
I would not follow this fork if they were traditionally enemies. Because it’s just… not respectful to have two cultures that were incompatible enough they were enemies for large swaths of their history together. It does happen where traditional enemies sometimes live together for awhile, but if you’re an outsider, I’d keep them separate.
This does mean that if you’ve picked a region with traditional enemies, you’re going to need both groups. Because the “enemies” part will have also shaped the culture, like how many men were alive in ages where men were expected to be warriors. Cultures adapt for certain percentages of the population to die in war, after all.
This also provides an interesting avenue for your non-Indigenous population, because are they allied with one group? Both? How do they maintain relationships? If these non-Indigenous people are not colonial, then be very careful not to have them try to play both sides too hard, because helping both sides kill the other is a tool of colonialism. If they are colonial, they’re going to be doing this and it’ll be a villain move.
Personally, I’d toss more diversity instead of less because it helps avoid tokenism. Instead of having this One Token Nomadic Group, the One Token Indigenous Group, you have two, or three, and you’re showing a diversity of cultures instead of just throwing in Natives because you feel like you have to in order to be diverse.
But if you do want to blend (which might be useful, even if you just want to make a new culture that mixes “European” with Indigenous as people intermarry), I’d read this post: Pulling From Multiple Indigenous Legends
3- See what exists and what’s open
A lot of Indigenous practices are closed, meaning we don’t tell them to outsiders. At all. This doesn’t mean that those practices aren’t out there as appropriated pieces of “folklore”, but you need to be aware that some folklore is Indigenous and therefore should be closed.
Putting these closed practices in fantasy is generally considered a bad move (see: almost every non-Indigenous use of the w3ndigo ever), unless you can work closely with the tribe to figure out how to do it respectfully (see: Teen Wolf doing a Skinwalkers episode with the Navajo; ironically enough they did not work with the Cree when they had a w3ndigo episode, as far as I can tell)
I’d suggest reading this post: All Myths Are True, Native Spirits Invisible to Outsiders for how to include closed practices.
4- Magic gets its own point
The thing about fantasy is that you’re dealing with the supernatural, and in my experience on WWC, some of the biggest “uh” moments are whenever people don’t realize how culturally Christian their magic systems are, and how incompatible they are with Indigenous beliefs.
So you’re going to need a degree of research into Native mindset, and then extrapolate what sorts of things that make sense for them. This can fill in some blanks for not touching Native spirituality with a ten foot pole, but you are going to need extensive research to have it actually make sense.
Read through the tag and note every time I poke at the concept that Natives are more magically attuned, that there’s something like “the gods told me to”, or other little tiny “basic” things in a lot of fantasy that just don’t feel like they fit.
Or, come back after you’ve gone through steps 1 to 3 and can be more specific!
Still, I would suggest you do this sort of research anyway just to be respectful. Figuring out how magic works and dovetails with Native populations is just a nice side benefit.
Overall:
To very directly answer your questions:
Best way to respectfully include Indigenous cultures in fantasy: I’d prefer very little colonialism if any; no such thing as noble savage (aka: we are not “better” because we live closer to nature and don’t have the humdrum of Western society); complex, rich societies with social rules and the same level of care you’d give Western cultures; just generally considered valuable, complex, and sustainable.
Better to use one tribe and hard code or no tribes and blend: Whatever makes sense for the story, but I’d err on the side of trying to capture the feel of the area with the peoples who already populated it. Like, if you’re trying to work with an area that has a confederacy of tribes, you’d be better off coding multiple tribes within that confederacy because being part of a confederacy is usually pretty important to tribe leadership and general functioning of the group; if you’re writing an area with a lot of roaming nomads, you’d be better to have multiple nomadic groups; etc.
Some aspects but not whole vs the whole: Keep closed practices closed, and figure out where magic and your unique worldbuilding breaks how an Indigenous group would function in the world.
What’s the best approach: If you’re attempting to make Indigenous people feel seen in fantasy, then whatever means to that end is the best approach—while understanding there’s not going to be a solidly unified opinion that everyone will agree on, but at best broad generalities. In my opinion that is nailing down coding enough that the peoples from the region you picked can spot their own practices and mindset and know somebody cares enough to have found those details.
I personally err on the side of closer coding to irl than looser at least to start, just because the way my brain works I need a lot of details from the culture in the early stages of research, just so I can gain the confidence in what to put on the page and have it feel real.
Especially if you’re trying to unlearn a colonizer mindset through writing, and really trying to broaden your worldview, going towards an initial goal of closer coding will really help break apart the base assumptions about How Things Work, and you’ll develop the mental flexibility to write about differences more easily.
You can loosen up coding later, if you want to, once you’ve learned enough to know what you’re consciously adapting to your fantasy world instead of just throwing your ideas of how you think the culture works into the plot and expecting it to be accurate.
Hope this helps!
~Mod Lesya
how to outline your novel
every writer outlines differently, from hardcore plotters who go into heavy detail to laid back pantsers who prefer to go with the flow. this post will be about simple tips to plotting and you can interpret them as you will! personally, i am a plantser who tends to loosely outline my scenes before jumping into the writing part. that being said, i am working on documenting my wip info in one organized google doc :)
pros and cons
there are some disadvantages to the advantages of outline your book to be considered carefully.
benefits:
keeps your plot on track
helps you stay more organized
can help diminish writer’s block
clarifies the middle to avoid the “muddle”
drawbacks:
can produce a stilted narrative
may lead to more show and less tell
limits spontaneity and creative during the actual writing process, which can create an air of boredom
characters have less freedom in their choices, degrading their authenticity and taking away natural reactions
formulating the premise
the premise will be main plot of your story, which can be easily established by asking yourself these three simple questions:
who is the protagonist?
what do they want more than anything?
how can i prevent them from getting it?
there are also the five w’s (where, when, who, what, and why) that should be taken into account when crafting your premise.
character profiles
imo, making character profiles is one of the most fun things about outlining. this is where you compile all there is to know about each and every character in your book—from the main character to that baker who only appears once in the first chapter and is never seen again. start with basic attributes like:
full name
age
physical description (add every detail you can think of!)
personality traits
likes
dislikes
after that, feel free to go much deeper into a lot more personal things:
familial situation
important events in their past
insecurities
regrets
morals
religious beliefs
…the list goes on!
constructing and placing scenes
there are many different approaches to this part of outlining and it all depends on how specific you wish to be. from a loosely outlined note to a fully developed google doc, the possibilities are endless. there are a lot of different softwares and apps out there to help create your storyboard and outline, here are a few to check out:
Milanote (free)
Evernote (free version)
Dabble writer ($10/month)
Trello (free version)
Workflowy (free version)
Coggle (free version)
for every scene, i would advise at least a single sentence to encapsulate what happens in that scene. think back to the five w’s mentioned earlier and use this sentence structure if desired (you can modify it as needed):
[ when, where ], [ who ] wanted [ what ] but [ conflict ] because [ why ] so [ result ].
conclusion
so that’s it! i hope this helped you get a grasp on outlining at least a little i honestly feel like this post is a mess but- we’re gonna just take a moment to appreciate all the hardcore plotters and my fellow plantsers and the majorly underrated pantsers out there. you’re doing amazing sweetie and ilysm <3
"i'll get older but your lovers stay my age" alina starkov and"i'm a soldier who's returning half her weight" zoya nazyalensky and "you kept me like a secret" evelyn hugo and "i kept you like an oath" celia st james and "all i felt was shame" kaz brekker and "you held my lifeless frame" inej ghafa and and "you never called it what it was" severin montagnet alaire and "did the love affair maim you too" laila and "i'm in a new hell every time you double-cross my mind" helene aquila and "i'd like to be my old self again but i'm still trying to find it" laia of serra and "you lose the one real thing you've ever known" elias veturius and "check the pulse and come back swearing" roma montagov and "this thing was a masterpiece till you tore it all up" juliette cai and-
someone, reading my writing: wow great story!
me, sticking my hands in the plotholes: thanks it has pockets :)
1 Year Anniversary Post
Origins
I made this account a year ago, on November 29, 2020. I’d been in the writing community since August 2020, but I was only on my personal account at that time. Everyone was so familiar and warm and friendly, and I knew that this was a place I wanted to be, so I joined it. I can safely say that was one of the best decisions I've made! It’s been a wild ride ever since. I’ve learned so much about myself and about my writing, and I’ve met so many lovely people!
Thank you to...
Thank you to all the people who were with me from the beginning, including those who first shouted out my account when it was new. Not all of you are super active anymore, but I couldn’t have gotten started without you! Thank you to Brynn, Vega, Val, Cecelia, and Shel, who were all so kind and helpful to me in my early days (and still are)!
Thank you to my other friends and mutuals, including Maya, Jorja, Jay, Sailor, Liv, CJ, Emma, Yolanda, Noor, Liv, Daisy, Grace, Sam, and many, many more whom I'm forgetting right now. Thank you for listening to me, fangirling and ranting with me, competing for first in my comments and being all-around awesome people in general. You guys never fail to make me smile and I’m so, so grateful to have you all! You make all of this worth it.
Finally, thank you to the person reading this post. I literally would not be here without you. You are just as important as all of the other people I’ve mentioned so far. Thank you to all my followers--everyone who comments on my posts and answers my question stickers and supports me unconditionally. Thank you to the people who have shouted me out and reached out to tell me that you liked my account--you guys are amazing. I don’t think I can express how much all of your support means to me!
Here's to one year on Instagram, and here's to the next :)
“feminine urge” this and “masculine urge” that, what about the urge to stop procrastinating writing your wips?
i will never not be angry at white fantasy authors being like "this is fake russia and this is fake germany and this is fake scandinavia and this is fake netherlands and this is fake amsterdam" then turn around and be like "oh but there's only one fake collective african country and one fake collective asian country"
Meet the Writer
Intro
My first post on this account was a Meet the Writer post, but I archived it and then forgot about making another, basically a year later. I say “forgot,” but mostly I just have no idea what to put in a post like this. Even now, as I’m editing this, I’m still overthinking and trying way too hard. Maybe I just don’t like talking about myself, I don’t know. Anyway, I’m going to stop rambling now and get on with the post!
Basics
What I look like:
Name/Nickname: Calliope/Calli. Because of Internet safety, I don’t reveal my real name on this account, although I may in the future. I chose Calliope because 1.) I like it, 2.) it has a connection to Greek mythology, which I really like, and 3.) Calliope is the Muse of epic poetry, which seemed appropriate for a writing account!
Pronouns: She/her
Age: I’ve revealed my real age to some people, but I’m no longer disclosing that information, again due to Internet safety. I’ll only say that I’m a minor and a high schooler :)
Based in: USA
Misc: I’m a Virgo, an ESTJ, and a Cabin 7 camper
Reading/writing tastes: I write MG/YA fantasy almost exclusively, and my reading taste reflects that, although I like books in many different genres! I’m a plantser, I like writing in first and third person, and I typically write in past tense.
Likes: Reading, writing, singing, daydreaming, swimming, tea, mythology, aesthetics, the season of spring
Dislikes: Self-centered people, cold weather, walking in the rain, waking up early
Favorites
Color: Sage green
Books: I could give you an entire list, but I’m just going to limit it to some of my all time best reads. I recommend all of them!
Percy Jackson and the Olympians by Rick Riordan
Aru Shah and the End of Time by Roshani Chokshi
The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi
Blood Heir by Amelie Wen Zhao
Skyward by Brandon Sanderson
These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong
Tropes: Rivals to lovers, slowburn romance, found family, enemies to friends
Artists: Avril Lavigne, Sara Bareilles, Maggie Rogers, and Taylor Swift
Writing journey and WIPs
I’ve always loved reading, and it seemed natural to me that I should want to create my own stories as well!
I started writing in the third grade, but I didn’t actually get serious about it until I was in eighth grade. In 2020 I tried my first major project, which sadly crashed and burned within the first 10,000 words due to a lack of planning and inspiration. After that, I realized I was better suited to being a plantser than a pantser.
In November 2020, I had the idea for my first novel, Of Souls and Swords. Months later, I picked up that old idea, dusted it off, and began to plan. It took me a little more than two months to write, from July to September, and it was--and still is--the longest thing I’ve ever written, at nearly 50,000 words.
At the moment, I’m planning a new WIP! Those of you who are on my close friends list know what I’m talking about, and those who aren’t will soon ;)
Random facts
I'm hard of hearing
I sing in choir (I’m an alto)
I believe in Oxford comma and em dash superiority
I dislike geometry with a passion
I’m extremely directionally challenged (meaning I’m terrible at finding my way around places, even in my own hometown)
I only write poetry when I’m feeling angry, sad, or both