#WHAT TO DO

[tanaor]

Want to know how to hook you reader from the first moment??

(✨ Easy and quick tips to make your first chapter memorable✨)

There have been endless the number of times that I have wondered about the correct formula of starting an history, and although I've learned that in writing there is no one correct way around it, I have gathered some of the tips that helped me the most. That being said, let's get to the tips!!

Introduce them to the mc. Show the reader who they are and what they are facing (can be internal conflict or something instant). Don't start from the pov of a character they won't see again.

Show what the readers are going to feel through the book, the "vibe" that you spent countless Pinterest boards crafting. Do you want them to feel afraid? Happy? Hopeless? Perhaps cozy?

Don't introduce more than three characters at once, and try not to be confusing. Your readers are already lost when your story begins, so try to guide them gently. A confused mind always says no.

Start with something that will later affect the story and move your characters forward. Ask yourself: does this first scene have an impact on the characters or the plot? If no, you can try making it more impactful or starting somewhere else.

Get your readers' curiosity triggered. At the end of the scene, there must be something they want to know to continue reading. It doesn't have to be a cliffhanger, but something like "will the protagonist go on the quest?" or "what are they gonna do now that they don't have any shelter?". The "now that they ..." formula always works for me!

That's all for now, and thank you for reading! As always, happy writing :)

Other tips for writers: previous | next

[breelynnsblog]

Deciding On What I Should Do! 🤨🤨🤨

[wintermav]

Chewing on glass atm ✨

[hafwen]

A guide for employers: What to do if Immigration comes to your workplace

Preparation Checklist

Before an Immigration Action:

Find a qualified immigration lawyer now – before anything happens.

Make a written Response Plan. Practice your plan with the workers. Practice what to say, what to do.

Provide a Know-Your-Rights training for all your staff.

Train your staff:

Do NOT run away if ICE agents show up. Running away could give ICE a legal reason to arrest workers.

Do NOT give ICE agents permission to enter your workplace.

Do NOT answer questions or give any information.

You and the workers have the right to stay silent and to ask to talk to a lawyer.

Give the workers a list of lawyers or organizations that can provide high quality, free or low-cost immigration legal advice.

Connect with an immigration response network in your area.

During an Immigration Action:

If ICE agents enter a public area of your business, say: “I am the employer. You cannot go to other areas of the workplace without my permission.”

If ICE agents try to enter a private area, say: “This is a private area. You cannot enter without a judicial warrant signed by a judge. Do you have a judicial warrant?”

Encourage your staff to video or take photos during an immigration action (if they are willing).

If the agents have a judicial warrant signed by a judge, ask for a copy and read it. Make a copy if you can. You can still decline to give consent for the search.

Watch the agents carefully. Keep track of what they do. See if they are following what is written on the warrant. For example, the warrant may limit the areas the agents can search.

If ICE agents try to question you or the workers, remind the workers they have a right to stay silent and to ask for a lawyer.

When immigration agents leave, record or write down everything you saw. This will help you remember the details when you talk to a lawyer later.

[pitsazawr]

I'm a big fan of the way you draw pre-mh Alex, he's just....he's just a little guy.....he's just a little guy and nothing bad ever happens to him

maybe something is happening on the right that will change alex-

[yukifvss]

Uhhhh... .Guys what happened to Kalim

[grandline-fics]

I was wondering if Corazon would make an appearance in Immune to your charms or is it set after that?

That's a really good question and it's something I keep bouncing between in my mind.

Since they're on Dressrosa during Immune To Your Charms it would mean that everything that happened on Minion Island has already happened. At the minute I'm placing the timeline set that it's still at least a few years before Law and Luffy enter the scene. So if I were to have Cora appear it would be part of a separate timeline where he survived. So either:

Law and Cora managed to get the Ope-Ope No Mi and escaped without Doflamingo ever knowing it was them which leaves Cora to come in and out of the story if needed.

Same events but Cora was saved at the last minute from his injuries and Doffy believes his brother is dead.

Similar events again but Doffy allows Cora to leave with his life but tells everyone he's dead. The only person who'd know the truth would be Vergo since he's still in the Marines and would keep tabs on what Cora's up to

Or something else entirely?

I've been a bit indecisive on this point but this ask has come at a good time for me to be able to write them out and consider them more and get people's opinion on things 💕

[corporationsarepeople]

On what to do now

(Shared by Ben Lowe on Bluesky)

A dear friend of mine asked me:

"Ben ... serious question: What the fuck do we do? We ordinary citizens without access to any real levers of power."

I wrote him a lengthy reply which he said he found helpful, so I thought I'd share it.

"Hey friend, it's indeed a dark time. This is fascism which relies on people being frozen with fear, and thinking they are powerless, and thinking they are alone.

One thing I’ve been trying to remind people is there is very little you can do, but that does not mean there is nothing you can do.

The Talmud says that when a wedding procession and a funeral procession come to an intersection at the same time, the funeral must yield to the wedding.

Because above all, we who are alive should celebrate life and being alive, and that we are still here in the world.

So the very first thing you can do is make sure people around you aren’t overwhelmed, that they can breathe, that they have sources of strength, that you find and recognize and allow moments of joy.

The second part is to refuse to be powerless. Look around your community. See the people and institutions that fascism threatens, and take steps to protect them. On a day to day basis, one of the most important ways of defending against what is coming are also some of the most mundane.

Yes, go to rallies and yes make calls and be visible and take actions of direct resistance. That all matters.

But between those moments, if public transit and libraries go unfunded, coordinate to give people rides and volunteer or loan your books. Tutor or pick up trash or perform public music.

Weave the world you refuse to allow to be taken away from you.

And prepare yourself now to help people who will be singled out by malice or neglect. Think about what you can do for them. And meditate on what you will commit to and how much danger you are willing to put yourself in. Will you hide people in your home? Will you stand in front of police?

Will you still speak up if we’re told we’re not allowed to?

These are impossible questions, of course. But we should all ask yourselves in earnest, now, what the person we hope each of us is would do in those situations, and make commitments before those moments come.

Finally, do not allow those around you to believe any of us is alone. Community saves lives. Connection brings hope.

As someone who has spent many years singing with others, I've seen the combination of tone in harmony is only part of the beauty; so much of it is the feeling of shared creation, of being a part of a whole that, once joined, cannot be meaningfully separated into its constituent parts.

Help those who begin to despair understand they are not alone, that you love them and that their existence matters. And do everything you can to prevent the growth of hatred and dehumanization in those around you.

It is so easy to give in to hate, to stop trying to understand the other. Even as resistance may mean bearing witness to true darkness, we cannot stop seeing the humanity in those around us.

This will be hard, but we aren't going to build a better world after this until we're able to do so.

And there will be better things after this. It is on us to lay that groundwork, even now.

And while it's completely unclear today what that will take, the one certainty is that it will require not just hope but faith in humanity to bring that world about.

Faith in other people is an act of defiance, and they can't make you stop if you refuse to.

Sending you love and hope and stubbornness from Brooklyn."

(And I'm sending that to all of you, too.)

Benjamin Lowe

benjaminlowe.bsky.social

[recklessfiction]

The Many Happenings within the Palace

The Queen has given birth to a wolf. Her screams had echoed through the halls, only to be joined, after a moment, by the high, pitiable cries of the animal. He is a good lad, named Roderick by his grandfather. You wonder at the father, who, indeed, it could be, as the king died many years prior and was, decidedly, not a wolf.

A lord from a neighboring kingdom visited in the winter. His manner was jolly and his behavior most cordial. Many a lady had their eye on him, and you could see, through his swagger, that he knew it too. His face did nothing to deter them, as you had perhaps thought a skull might, but the ladies saw no issue with his lack of flesh. Indeed, they seemed to find the empty pits of his eye sockets most appealing.

A witch has put a curse on the princess. She sings, night and day, for hours on end, standing at the window of her boudoir. At first it was pleasant, a sweet voice rising over the city. All would stop to listen, enraptured by the sound of her songs. Then the fighting broke out, among heroes and kings, their minds lost to her voice like she was a siren. War would have broken out had the Queen not stepped in. The princess still sings, but her voice has become a mere croak and painful to hear; you cannot imagine the pain she goes through. The physician says she has done such damage to her throat that she will soon lose the ability to speak entirely if the curse is not reversed. You are still looking for a knight brave enough to go after the witch.

You have been given a quest to gain the favour of a dragon. On paper, he is no king, not even an earl or a lord, however he has claimed much of the land to the West as his own and the people have made no move against it, rather they seem to have accepted their strange new ruler with open arms. The Queen has asked you go to him, present yourself as an emissary of this court and ingratiate yourself with him. It is expected that you will be gone for some time but you have yet to start packing.

As it so happens, the court's jester, Harriett, has just pronounced herself to be Bjorg, the great goddess of Death. She did so during the new wolf-prince's christening, bursting into flame during a comical rendition of Ave Maria. Her face after this was a struggle to look upon, but her quips, though spoken with the voice of a dying old man, still had the court in shambles.

Another man has been lost to the woods, an old farmer just down the road from the Monastery. You saw him standing at the treeline when you went to look into it, but you did not dare approach, not when he was looking at you in that way, and certainly not when you saw the child standing just behind him. You told yourself you would not fall for their tricks, their temptations, again. But their attacks are beginning to move dangerously close to the Abbey. You will need to mention it to the Queen and the Bishop before you leave.

The Lady Carolina has finally presented herself to the court! You had heard that she had arrived perhaps four months ago, a ward of the Queen but no one had seen her. She had arrived in the dead of night and had been hastily brought to her rooms. There has been no concrete word of why she had come, only gossip to which you pay no mind. A fortnight ago, she joined in the anniversary celebration of the King's death. She is just as you thought she might be; lovely and with eyes that, while bright and bewildered, were intelligent and watchful. The rumours of her bright blue feathers and fine golden talons were not amiss either and you found yourself watching her for much of the night. It is a shame you will be gone on your quest before you have another opportunity to be introduced but perhaps when you return, you might inquire as to her health.

[rdamxq]

I'm cooked to the point where I'm deciding which exam to sacrifice cause it's too late to study all of them

[cuppasunu]

asking for ideas and opinions...

i have this thing in my drafts. it's a long, diary entry like thing that i can post as a drabble for my event that has a storyline and everything which is more or less an autobiographical account of my love life during college that may or may not still be ongoing.

the question is should this be a drabble or should i exploit this much real-life drama to be a fic idea later down the road. let me just preface that this story will not be unicorns, rainbows, and butterflies...

it's not a happy ending but it is a realistic one :)

(it's obviously longer in my drafts but this is a small snippet)

[heartzforyouxoxo]

i need to do history revision but i also need to support my girlies on tumblr #inaconundrum

[sara-the-wizard]

🎵For the first time in forever, I have finally made a puuuuullllll!🎵

(A Legit one)

Choose wisely! Or, not choose wisely. I can't stop you. :)

[stormwifewrites]

help I have an idea for a Veilguard longfic and I can’t decide if I want to be encouraged along this path or shaken back to sanity 😂

[mydownloadedfyp]

Not my vid