Tag: writing resources

niobiumao3:

“Instead of tall, say he’s 6 foot 7″

Nothing pulls me out of a story faster than this kind of specificity. If there’s a POV character in play who can tell those things because it’s a trait of theirs–they’re a tailor, they’re a physical trainer, whatever–that works, but otherwise, it’s the kind of hyperdetail which is best not used unless it’s relevant to the story.

If a character’s extreme height is relevant, talk about it in other ways and sprinkle it around. Don’t say they’re 6′7 and expect that to be sufficient; it’s not. Describe them ducking through average doorways, sitting awkwardly in short furniture, complaining about their feet dangling off the end of the bed, about needing to shop at the extreme end of Big’n’Tall. Maybe the actual height comes up in dialogue or something, but it should be a facet of the story, not the way you tell people the character is tall.

“Instead of walk, try shuffle of amble or lope.”

None of those words means walking. None of those words means walk.

“Instead of flower, say daffodil.”

If the POV character would know it this makes sense–but they might not. This is an important thing to keep in mind when describing just about anything. Is your character ignorant of flowers? Maybe they have no idea what Amaryllis are, they just know them as “those huge trumpet-shaped flowers their parents always got around Easter and put in transparent vases with gaudy glass beads and a little water like a plant-themed science experiment”. Or a Lancer Evolution is ‘the neighbor boy’s absurdly loud, bright blue, thrumming car that crept over the neighborhood speedbumps’.

People might not know things, and it’s really important to their characterization to think about how they view those things they don’t know.

doodlesanddandelions:

allthingslinguistic:

ladysparklefists:

idk I just love how we Young People Today use ~improper~ punctuation/grammar in actually really defined ways to express tone without having to explicitly state tone like that’s just really fucking cool, like

no    =    “No,” she said. 

no.    =    "No,” she said sharply.

No    =    “No,” she

stated

firmly.

No.    =    “No,” she snapped.

NO    =    “No!” she shouted.

noooooo    =    “No,” she moaned.

no~    =    “No,” she said with a drawn-out sing-song.

~no~    =    “No,” she drawled sarcastically.

NOOOOO    =    “No!” she screamed dramatically.

no?!    =    “No,” she said incredulously.

I’ve been calling this “typographical nuance” and I have a few more to add: 

*no* = “No,” she said emphatically. 

*nopes on out of here* = “No,” she said of herself in the third person, with a touch of humorous emphasis.

~*~noooo~*~ = “No,” she moaned in stylized pseudo-desperation.

#no = “No,” she added as a side comment.

“no” = “No,” she scare-quoted.

wtf are you kidding no = “No,” she said flatly. “And I can’t believe I have to say this.”

no no No No NO NO NO NO = "No,” she repeated over and over again, growing louder and more emphatic. 

nooOOOO = “No,” she said, starting out quietly and turning into a scream.

*no = “Oops, I meant ‘no,’” she corrected, “Sorry for the typo in my previous message.”

I cannot express how strongly I absolutely love language and writing and communication but if anyone asks why I will be showing them this post from now on

the-brightest-witch-studies:

image

Word Counter – Not only does it count the number of words you’ve written, it tells you which words are used most often and how many times they appear.

Tip Of My Tongue – Have you ever had a word on the tip of your tongue, but you just can’t figure out what it is? This site searches words by letters, length, definition, and more to alleviate that.

Readability Score – This calculates a multitude of text statistics, including character, syllable, word, and sentence count, characters and syllables per word, words per sentence, and average grade level.

Writer’s Block (Desktop Application) – This free application for your computer will block out everything on your computer until you meet a certain word count or spend a certain amount of time writing.

Cliche Finder – It does what the name says.

Write Rhymes – It’ll find rhymes for words as you write.

Verbix – This site conjugates verbs, because English is a weird language.

Graviax – This grammar checker is much more comprehensive than Microsoft Word, again, because English is a weird language.

Sorry for how short this is! I wanted to only include things I genuinely find useful.

How to praise writers and influence fics

icybluepenguin:

I’ve seen a lot of posts recently reminding readers to leave feedback on fics, which is great!!  Writers deserve all the love they can get.  Likes, reblogs, comments, messages, these are the lifeblood of writers.  They are proof that people are reading, that they’re enjoying, and that they want more.  

But maybe readers don’t know what to say.  Maybe you’re new to Tumblr, new to reading fan fiction, shy, or just not sure how to say what you want to say.

Let me start by saying, no matter how popular the blog or how cool you think they are, everyone loves a compliment.  If you’re worried about sounding silly or bothering people, let me assure you- a message will make your writer do a happy dance (depending on the writer, they may actually get up and dance.  I have.)

Here’s the basic ways of communicating with writers on Tumblr:

Likes and kudos- these are great, they’re the high-fives in this world.  They’re the “hey, nice” nod.
Reblogs- even better, because they mean exposure.  More people see the story and that makes us really happy.  A reblog with a comment is amazing, especially one that entices others to read.  These make a writer’s day.
Comments and messages- these are the thing that keeps us going.  Most of us have anon turned on- and if we don’t, just let us know you want a private reply.  (And, if your writer has anon off, it probably means they’ve been getting hate and deserve extra love.)
Recommendations- recs are like coming in to work to find someone baked your favorite cake and left it on your desk.  Recommendations make your writer feel so loved and valued!

So, that’s all good, but what do you actually SAY to writers?  It doesn’t have to be much or take a lot of time.

A simple “This is great/funny/hot!” is wonderful.  "Best fic I’ve read this week!“  "Funny as hell and cute too.”  "You have to read this, it’s awesome!“  "I can’t wait for more of this.”  "I hope you keep going!“  These are great in reblogs and in messages.

Even better is specific feedback.  We love specific feedback, because it tells us what readers liked and what they didn’t.  Want to influence our next fic?  Tell us what you liked about this one and I bet you it will keep showing up!  Specific feedback is just telling the writer what you liked.  It doesn’t have to be long or complicated, either.  (But if you write a lot, we will love you so much.)

Was there a character you liked?  Talk about them:  "I love how you wrote X” “Y was so funny!”  "OMG I wanted to STRANGLE Q!“  "You can really feel X’s frustration.”  "Y has so much depth, they’re a really well-rounded character.“  "R says so much with so few words, it’s amazing.”

What about a part or line you enjoyed?  "That bit in the park- LOVE IT.“  "I have never read a better description of a cup of tea.”  "The way you wrote about his fear, that was heartbreaking.“

Was there a part that made you feel something?  Happy, sad, angry?  "That last sentence killed me, he’s so broken.”  "I wanted to jump around when they finally kissed!“  "This chapter was so tense, my heart was pounding by the end.”

Did the characters or plot or setting remind you of your life?  "I live in Brussels, that’s just how that street looks.“  "When Y talked about R, I knew exactly how he felt.”  "You captured that lost, aimless feeling perfectly; I’ve so been there.“

Are there unanswered questions?  Mention how much you want the answers.  "I can’t wait to find out what’s in the basket!”  "That was a cliffhanger ending, wow.“  "How is she going to explain THAT?”  (some writers are touchy about  predicting, though, so stay away from “I bet he’ll throw that letter out.” or “X is clearly coming back.”)

A few closing notes: be enthusiastic if that’s your style, go crazy with exclamation marks, smileys, caps!  Tell a writer if you’re rereading their work- very little makes us happier than knowing our writing has the staying power for a second, third, sixth, tenth read.  Did a reread give you a new insight or feeling about the fic?  Tell us!  We will be so excited to hear.  And remember, recommendations are wonderful- putting up a random post tagging your favorite writers or fics you’re enjoying will show the writers that they’re writing is more than a flash in the opan and they’ll get some new readers too!

We can’t do this writing thing without you guys.  So thank you so much!  Without readers, we’re just talking to ourselves.  We love and appreciate you for reading- but we need to know you’re doing it.  We need feedback like we need air.  Don’t let your favorite writers suffocate! 🙂

Reblog if you are a fanfiction author and would like your readers to put one of your fic titles in your ask + questions about it

1: What inspired you to write the fic this way?
2: What scene did you first put down?
3: What’s your favorite line of narration?
4: What’s your favorite line of dialogue?
5: What part was hardest to write?
6: What makes this fic special or different from all your other fics?
7: Where did the title come from?
8: Did any real people or events inspire any part of it?
9: Were there any alternate versions of this fic?
10: Why did you choose this pairing for this particular story?
11: What do you like best about this fic?
12: What do you like least about this fic?
13: What music did you listen to, if any, to get in the mood for writing this story? Or if you didn’t listen to anything, what do you think readers should listen to to accompany us while reading?
14: Is there anything you wanted readers to learn from reading this fic?
15: What did you learn from writing this fic?

adiwriting:

irresistible-revolution:

tlcinbflo:

biotictrash:

Since Tumblr has I guess rolled out their completely ineffective solution to replies going away, I doubt I’m the only fic writer who is very reasonably angry about this.

Replies were a great way for fic writers to hear from their readers. It was little pressure on behalf of the reader, and so immensely appreciated on behalf of the writers. Even if it was just a brief “omg this was so sweet!” or “fuck u for making me cry real tears”, it meant the world.

Messaging someone privately, even IMing them, is scary. I know there are fic writers who I almost look at as celebrities, like “oh god they’re so good and their story has so many notes and kudos and follows they have no time for a peasant like me”, and while that’s not really the reality (and especially not in the ME fandom since it’s really chill), it’s still really daunting to approach someone that personally to talk about it. Replies offered a nice middle ground, where if you didn’t want to share something on your blog, you could still let the writer know how good their work was. But now… nope.

So where does this leave fic writers?

With little to no feedback. 

One of the biggest issues regarding fandom artists is the blatant lack of love for fic writers. It’s rare that their fics get reblogged, because it’s not physical art that looks pretty on your blog. Sometimes its big walls of texts and slipped under a read more. Sure, it doesn’t look pretty like sexy fanart does, but that reblog means exposure. It means new readers. It’s more people who can see your fics. And writers are highly, highly discouraged from ever asking for commissions the way an more traditional artist would. So we do this for free. Fic writers give often times novel length works of art that are so spectacular and full of talent and feelings, for completely free.

Sharing your work online is hard. It takes serious guts to put something you’ve worked on online and have people read it. And as much as people tell artists “do it for you!!!1!”, the reality is that it’s more than that. If a writer who has never posted a fic before posts something and gets zero notes on it, do you think they’re going to feel really inclined to share anymore? Probably not. Most writers thrive off of feedback and seeing the appreciation from their writers. If you don’t let them know how grateful you are, or how much you love their work, then they might very well go away.

Do yourself a favor and imagine a fandom without fic writers. It would be a sad, sad place. 

So please, do your absolute best to show your fic writers you love them. They’re pouring their heart and soul and anxiety into projects, beating themselves up about it, not for a single penny. The closest fic writers will often get to a paycheck is hearing someone tell them they love their work. And it means the world.

Reblog their work, put your love in the tags, message them individually about it, leave reviews on FF.net or AO3, let them know.

You truly have no idea the impact it will have on their day, week, or even month.

Fuck, this is so true.

also its even harder to get exposure now with the shitty new tumblr #tag update, so please show fic writers love anyway that you can!

This is so incredibly true! I didn’t realize til I switched fandoms how hard it is to get fics read/seen when you aren’t already well known in a fandom. It can be so disheartening to write and not get much/any comments or feedback.

I’m just as guilty as the next reader. So I’ve decided to take the time out to message all the authors I love and let them know- no matter how scary that may be. And I’m actively leaving comments now on AO3 whenever I read a fic there. Reblogging fic recs takes 2 seconds and another 5 to write a quick OMG ADORABLE in the tags. It might not look pretty like art does, but I know it means the world to authors cause it means the world to me.

Project Feedback anybody?

pun-cat:

tassiekitty:

ranetree:

extravagantshoes:

cellostargalactica:

IT’S NOT ‘PEEKED’ MY INTEREST

OR ‘PEAKED’

BUT PIQUED

‘PIQUED MY INTEREST’

THIS HAS BEEN A CAPSLOCK PSA

THIS IS ACTUALLY REALLY USEFUL THANK YOU

ADDITIONALLY:

YOU ARE NOT ‘PHASED’. YOU ARE ‘FAZED.’

IF IT HAS BEEN A VERY LONG DAY, YOU ARE ‘WEARY’. IF SOMEONE IS ACTING IN A WAY THAT MAKES YOU SUSPICIOUS, YOU ARE ‘WARY’.

ALL IN ‘DUE’ TIME, NOT ‘DO’ TIME

‘PER SE’ NOT ‘PER SAY’

THANK YOU

BREATHE – THE VERB FORM IN PRESENT TENSE

BREATH – THE NOUN FORM

THEY ARE NOT INTERCHANGEABLE


WANDER – TO WALK ABOUT AIMLESSLY

WONDER – TO THINK OF IN A DREAMLIKE AND/OR WISTFUL MANNER


THEY ARE NOT INTERCHANGEABLE (but one’s mind can wander)

(HIGH/LOW) WAISTED – HAVING TO DO WITH ONE’S WAIST

WASTED – PAST TENSE VERB FOR THROWING AWAY SOMETHING, POPULARLY USED TO DESCRIBE A VERY DRUNK PERSON

ALSO

REGARDLESS – NOT REGARDING THE THING, E.G. “REGARDLESS OF THAT…”

IRREGARDLESS – REGARDING THE THING, REVERSES “REGARDLESS”

AND

“FOR ALL INTENSIVE PURPOSES”
“FOR ALL EXTENSIVE PURPOSES”
“FOR ALL INTENTS AND PURPOSES”

THANKS

please DO NOT assume that just because my character is doing something that i as the writer

thedevilsbartender:

  • approve of it
  • am romanticizing it
  • have a kink with regard to it
  • think it is okay for anyone to ever do ever

because sometimes my character does things that I absolutely cringe at and which are almost painful to write.

but my writing a villain does not make me a villian

understand that it is fiction and I do not condone the wrong actions that sometimes are written out on my blog for in-character purposes.