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the gorgeous and the grotesque

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firemoon42:

  • Do an
    outline,     whatever way works best.
    Get yourself out of the word soup and know where the story is headed.
  • Conflicts
    and obstacles.     Hurt the protagonist, put things in their way, this keeps
    the story interesting. An easy journey makes the story boring and boring is
    hard to write.
  • Change
    the POV.     Sometimes all it takes to untangle a knotted story is to look at
    it through different eyes, be it through the sidekick, the antagonist, a minor
    character, whatever.
  • Know the
    characters.     You can’t write a story if the characters are strangers to you.
    Know their likes, dislikes, fears, and most importantly, their motivation. This makes the path clearer.
  • Fill in
    holes.     Writing doesn’t have to be linear; you can always go back and fill in plotholes,
    and add content and context.
  • Have
    flashbacks,     hallucinations, dream sequences or foreshadowing events. These
    stir the story up, deviations from the expected course add a feeling of urgency
    and uncertainty to the narrative.
  • Introduce
    a new mystery.     If there’s something that just doesn’t add up, a big question mark, the story becomes more
    compelling. Beware: this can also cause you to sink further into the mire.
  • Take
    something from your protagonist.     A weapon, asset, ally or loved one. Force
    him to operate without it, it can reinvigorate a stale story.
  • Twists
    and betrayal.     Maybe someone isn’t who they say they are or the protagonist
    is betrayed by someone he thought he could trust. This can shake the story up
    and get it rolling again.
  • Secrets. If
    someone has a deep, dark secret that they’re forced to lie about, it’s a good
    way to stir up some fresh conflict. New lies to cover up the old ones, the
    secret being revealed, and all the resulting chaos.
  • Kill
    someone.     Make a character death that is productive to the plot, but not “just because”. If done well, it affects
    all the characters, stirs up the story and gets it moving.
  • Ill-advised
    character actions.     Tension is created when a character we love does
    something we hate. Identify the thing the readers don’t want to happen, then
    engineer it so it happens worse than they imagined.
  • Create cliff-hangers.
    Keep the readers’ attention by putting the characters into new problems and
    make them wait for you to write your way out of it. This challenge can really
    bring out your creativity.
  • Raise the
    stakes.     Make the consequences of failure worse, make the journey harder.
    Suddenly the protagonist’s goal is more than he expected, or he has to make an
    important choice.
  • Make the
    hero active.     You can’t always wait for external influences on the
    characters, sometimes you have to make the hero take actions himself. Not
    necessarily to be successful, but active
    and complicit in the narrative.
  • Different
    threat levels.     Make the conflicts on a physical level (“I’m about to be
    killed by a demon”)    , an emotional level (“But that demon was my true love”) and
    a philosophical level (“If I’m forced to kill my true love before they kill me,
    how can love ever succeed in the face of evil?”)    .
  • Figure
    out an ending.     If you know where the story is going to end, it helps get
    the ball rolling towards that end, even if it’s not the same ending that you
    actually end up writing.
  • What if?
    What if the hero kills the antagonist now, gets captured, or goes insane? When
    you write down different questions like these, the answer to how to continue the
    story will present itself.
  • Start
    fresh or skip ahead.     Delete the last five thousand words and try again. It’s
    terrifying at first, but frees you up for a fresh start to find a proper path. Or
    you can skip the part that’s putting you on edge – forget about that fidgety
    crap, you can do it later – and write the next scene. Whatever was in-between
    will come with time.

harryhookhookedme:

iusedteabag:

A few days back on AO3 I found an unfinished, two chapter spideypool fanfic that was cute and had lots of potential and was also last updated two years ago. Two whole years! And it had only three comments, all of which on chapter one, none on chapter two. I enjoyed the fanfic, despite it being far, FAR from being finished and the chance of it ever updating again anytime soon was just about zero. So you know what I did?

I wrote a damn comment. On chapter two.

And I made sure that fucker was long and had a small theory of where I think the author would take the fanfic in the future. I let the person behind the fic know that I friggin LOVED the two chapters I got to read! That I would LOVE to see more! That I’d jump out of my skin in happiness and virtually hug them half to death if I saw that they updated it.

Let me remind you this fic wasn’t updated in two YEARS! I was the first to comment on it in a year. And the first to comment on chapter two! And you know what happened today?

I got a reply.

From the author of the fanfic.
And the author said how I gave them life for a project they had loved (still did) and that they were now working on a third chapter.
After two YEARS of not updating. Of not writing. And it makes me so friggin happy seeing what I did. What I caused.

With a single. Damn. Comment.

All that it took for me was to think a bit about what I wanted to tell the author and the comment it. All it took was one comment. And suddenly this person was inspired to continue a fanfic they had abandoned for TWO YEARS!!

I couldn’t be happier. I couldn’t be more proud.

Comment on people’s fanfics. No matter how few chapters there are. No matter how many years have passed since their last update. Comment. You like a fanfic? Comment on it. It’s that easy.

Friggin preach gurl

n3rdlif343va:

novemberhush:

katiehavok:

It’s okay to take a break.
– We all need time to recharge, and your fans will still be there when you get back!

It’s okay to go from fandom to fandom.
– Nobody is going to criticize you for following your muse, and if they do, then you know who not to associate with in the future!

It’s okay to have a niche.
– If smut is where it’s at, then write smut. If you’re all about the fluff, then schmoop away. If angst is what does it for you, then invest in tissues. Nobody has the right to tell you that you should be doing something else if that isn’t what interests you!

It’s okay to be critical of your own work.
– Just don’t allow yourself to become so self-deprecating that you freeze!

It’s okay to ask for help.
– If you’re unsure of a trope, concept, fact or universe, reach out to your circle of friends. Chances are, they’ll be more than happy to help you because they want to see you succeed!

It’s okay to ignore criticism.
– Constructive criticism is only constructive if it helps you. If someone says something that doesn’t assist or improve you in any way, then please feel free to ignore whatever nugget they are imparting, because chances are good they don’t have the best of intentions for you!

It’s okay to stop writing all together.
– Your fans will miss you (and chances are good you have way more than you realize,) but sometimes, you just gotta do you!

It’s okay to write with whatever method works for you.
– Long writing marathons where you bang out 12,000 words in one day? Great! Linear, dry style that means you occassionally get stuck because you can’t figure out this scene, but it’s all worth it in the end? Rad! Piecemeal work that you thread together at the end? Fabulous! As long as it works for you, there is no wrong way to write!

It’s okay to have fun.
– I think this goes without saying, no? But it seems that sometimes, authors need permission. So consider this permission to wile the hell out, and enjoy the ride!

I think there’s a few of us needing this right now, myself included.

I’m reblogging… And barely resisting the urge to tag all of the people who need to see this!!

vorchagirl:

ellipsicalelle:

Some people aren’t going to like what you write. Write it anyway.

Some people, people you know objectively suck at being a human being, will get more kudos, more comments, more recs. Write it anyway.

Some of your friends aren’t going to read what you write. Write it anyway.

Some of the people you support the most won’t support your work. Write it anyway.

Some people are going to say your characterization is 100% wrong. X would never. Write it anyway.

It’s been done before. Write it anyway.

Your writing might not measure up to the fandom greats. Write it anyway. (I can guarantee they didn’t measure up at some point either)

Some people aren’t going to rec your work. Write it anyway. (And make your own recs)

Write it anyway.

Write it anyway.

Write it anyway.

writeinspiration:

WRITING HELP/CHARACTER

How about some writing resources for those post-NaNoWriMo blues?