writingmaniaa

[writingmaniaa]

gender-neutral name ideas

Archer, Ash, Ashley, Aspen, August, Avery, Bailey, Baker, Billie, Blair, Briar, Brooke, Cameron, Carmen, Carter, Casey, Charlie, Dakota, Delta, Drew, Eddie, Eden, Ellis, Emery, Erin, Finn, Flynn, Frankie, Gene, Glen, Grey, Harley, Hayden, Hunter, Jackie, Jayden, Jean, Jordan, Kai, Kameron, Kelsey, Lake, Landon, Leah, Lee, Leslie, Lindsay, Maddox, Marley, Mason, Micah, Morgan, Nico, Nolan, Nova, Ocean, Owen, Paige, Parker, Payton, Piper, Quincy, Quinn, Ray, Reagan, Reed, Reece, River, Rowan, Sage, Sam, Sawyer, Skye, Sydney, Taylor, Teagan, Tony, Tori, Umber, Val, Venice, Vick, Wallace, Weston, Wren, Zephyr

[writingmaniaa]

questions to ask when creating fictional religions

How was the religion founded

Where is/was the religion most popular

What are members of this religion called

What words/phrases are common for members of this religion to use

What are some typical (first and last) names for members of this religion

Is this religion polytheistic, monotheistic, or atheistic

For polytheistic religions:

How many gods/deities are there

What do they control/rule over

Are certain gods/deities viewed as more important than others

Are certain gods/deities worshiped more in particular regions

Do certain gods/deities go ‘out of fashion’ or are they continuously worshiped

Are their separate churches/temples for different gods/deities

How are all the gods/deities connected

What other mythical creatures can be found in this religions (i.e. angels, demons, nymphs, spirits, etc.)

Where do members of this religion go to worship (i.e. a church, temple, mosque, etc.)

When do these worship services take place and how long are they

Can a member of this religion worship at home or are they required to go to a place of worship

What language is spoken during worship

What are some different rituals, holidays, and events practiced by this religion

How are these events celebrated

What clothing/dietary restrictions or requirements are part of this religion

How are these restrictions enforced

Do members of this religion believe in sin

What is considered sin

What is the punishment for sin

Does this religion believe in an afterlife/multiple afterlifes

Does one’s actions during life determine their afterlife

What do funerals look like in this religion

How do members of this religion teach their values to their children

Do their children have extra schooling to educate them on their religion

When do members of this religion come of age

Is there a specific event held when a child comes of age

What role are adults expected to play in the community? What about children and teens

What are this religion’s views on gender roles

What are this religion’s views on gay marriage

Is this religion strict when it comes to enforcing roles in society

Are there varying degrees of devotion

Are there different sects/groups/cults within this religion

If so, how and why do they differ and where are they most popular

How much (political) power does this religion have

Are members of this religion oppressed/viewed as outcasts

What are this religion’s views on atheists/other religions

Does this religion have holy texts or are their traditions passed down orally

If this religion does have holy texts, how have they been rewritten/altered over time

Who originally wrote these holy texts and when/where were they written

How do people change this religion to benefit their personal agendas

[writingmaniaa]

Death Note review~

Okay so before we get into the review, I just want to warn you guys that I haven’t written many reviews so don’t be surprised if this is a disorganized mess. I’ll try to gather my thoughts the best I can but I can’t make any promises.

Anyways, I finished Death Note last weekend and I thought I’d share my thoughts! Death Note is a very well known show, and I’d heard of it before I ever got into anime. The concept seemed pretty interesting to me, but my judgmental idea of anime combined with my absolute loathing of subtitles stopped me from ever getting around to it. I finally caved in and watched it, and I’m so glad I did!

I’ll include a brief explanation of the plot as well as a spoiler-free section in case any of you haven’t watched it. After that I’ll get into some of my more spoiler filled thoughts later.

Basically, one day a bored “god of death” named Ryuk drops a magical notebook into the human world to see what will happen. This notebook, known as the Death Note, will kill anyone whose name is written inside. The notebook is found by an average high school student named Light Yagami. It doesn’t take long for him to start using the notebook’s abilities to do what he believes is the right thing. He decides to use the notebook to kill criminals and create a crime-free utopian world. The story follows Light as he tries to evade being caught by the police, led by his father and a detective named L, while enacting his plan.

This show does a really good job of twisting the plot in directions I wasn’t expecting. As I mentioned before, the concept of a killer notebook seemed interesting to me, but I was skeptical if the show could keep its intrigue for 37 episodes. A couple episodes in and it felt like Light was already caught. However, the close game of cat and mouse between Light and L is what kept me hooked for so long. I was always on the edge of my seat, waiting for Light to slip up one too many times and be caught by L. Another thing I found very interesting was Light’s descent into madness as his god complex grew as the story progressed. Light went from being an average teenager to a serial killer frighteningly fast, and I loved watching him struggle to keep his “normal kid” persona intact.

Another thing I liked about the show was actually something that made me hesitate to watch it in the first place. Anime is known for being over dramatic at times, and I’d seen people point to Death Note as an example of this. Many scenes, particularly the potato chip scene (you probably know the one even if you haven’t watched this show), seemed tiresome at first. I absolutely adore them now, and I think that the intensity and drama of scenes like the potato chip scene really add to the show.

I can’t really go into depth about the things I didn’t like about the show without spoiling some things, but I’ll try to sum things up the best I can. The later episodes did seem to drag a little bit, and from what I’ve heard many people agree with me on this. That’s not to say that they were awful, but there was definitely a drop in quality for the last twelve or so episodes. Another thing I didn’t like was the female characters, especially Misa. Her entire character revolved around her obsessive love for Light. All she seemed to do was get manipulated into doing his bidding. Overall, it felt like she was just in the story for fanservice, and her obnoxious personality was rather irritating at times. One of the few other female characters, Kiyomi Takada, also had a similar problem. Her entire character revolved around her loyalty and adoration of Light; she seemed to have no story of her own without him. I’ll go over more things I disliked in the spoiler section, but that’s all for now.

Other than those problems, the show was pretty great! I’d definitely recommend it to anyone who likes intense shows like this. It’s on Netflix if you haven’t watched it, so go check it out!

Now I’ll be getting into some spoilers, so proceed with caution!

As I mentioned before, there definitely seemed to be a change in quality around episode 25, namely due to L’s death. He was always my favorite character, and when I realized that he was going to die I was somewhat disappointed. As for Near, he felt like a cheaper version of L. He wasn’t completely awful, though. I liked seeing him succeed in places that L failed, but it almost seemed like the writers regretted killing L and they wanted to bring him back in a way. There was a point where Near said something along the lines of “there’s a 7% chance that Light is Kira,” and I actually had to close my computer and take a deep breath because of that (is it normal to feel such a burning rage towards a fictional character?). Despite how emotionless L was at times, Near was much colder and calmer than him, which is why he was able to catch Light in the end. His character wasn’t completely awful, but he felt like a cheap addition to the story at times.

I want to talk about the ending and the last episode, because I have a lot of thoughts on that. From episode 1, I could tell that Light was going to die at the end of the show, so it was no surprise when he actually did. I was, however, pleasantly surprised at how undramatic his death scene was. For a show that overemphasizes mundane things like eating chips and playing tennis, I was expecting some grand monologue from Light accompanied by him dying in the most exaggerated way imaginable. I was definitely not expecting him to die silently in a stairwell from a heart attack, though it felt very poetic that Light was killed by the Death Note in the end.

In regards to the actual events that lead up to his death, I really liked how one tiny slip up on Light’s part led to his downfall. It really made me think about how differently the story would have gone if small details had been changed early on. Would Light have never been caught or would he have been discovered much sooner? Intriguing questions like these are why people are still theorizing about this show fifteen years after it came out.

There were a couple other thoughts I had on the last episode. First, I absolutely loved Matsuda shooting Light like ten times in a row (though I still don’t understand how he was able to run away after being shot so many times). It was great to see him stand up against Light and his reaction seemed very natural for the situation.

Speaking of reactions, I feel like we should have learned what happened to Misa after Light’s death. Her entire life was centered around him, so obviously that would have been a big deal for her. The most we got was those shots of her sitting alone on a train during the credits, but we were never told what happened to her after the story ended. I would have liked to see a little bit more of her, especially toward the end of the story, when it felt like she was just written out of the plot.

I really loved Ryuk’s final words as he writes Light’s name in the Death Note, along with him ending up being the one to kill Light. Ryuk never really seemed to care about Light, he was just hanging around because Light had the Death Note, but with Ryuk’s final words, it did feel like he enjoyed spending so many years with Light and that he would miss their time together once it was over. Like I said earlier, it felt very poetic that Light was killed by the very thing that started the story in the first place.

I’m not the type of person who cries over shows and movies easily. There have been times where I forced myself to cry over a certain character’s death, but I rarely genuinely cry over these things. However, if you slap a sunset in the last episode of a show, I’m going to tear up. There’s something so final about sunsets. To me they represent the end of an era, as well as a bittersweet sense of longing and regret. When Light was running from the warehouse, I did start to feel myself tearing up. Everything from the quiet swelling of the music, to the flashbacks to the first episode, to the sounds of Light’s panting and crying just really hit me in the gut. This scene was so great to me because of what it didn’t have. There was no monologue, no haunting chorus or intense music, no dramatic action shots. This scene conveyed the regret and longing that Light felt in his final moments through the visuals of the sunset, the quick flashbacks, and his body language; as well as the subtle yet emotional music and Light’s desperate panting. I think it’s a great way to close a great story.

Despite its flaws, Death Note excels at telling a memorable and captivating story. That’s why you see clips of the show being used as TikTok audios a decade and a half later. Everything from the characters, to the plot, to the soundtrack and animation add up to make a great show. I’d probably give it four out of five stars. I had some issues with the show, but overall it’s definitely something I’ll be rewatching in the near future.

[writingmaniaa]

writing terms

WIP — Work In Progress. Basically whatever project or story you’re currently working on. “I finally finished the first draft of my WIP.”

OC — Original Character. Any characters that you create from scratch! “I love my OCs but I can’t wait to kill them all off!”

MC — Main Character. Similar to an OC, but just the most important character in your story. “I’m going to traumatize my MC so much!”

WC — Word Count. Basically how many words you’ve written in a particular story or WIP “My WC is so over my target goal.”

Protagonist — A character who sides with your MC. A character who is on the side of “good” (can be shortened to protag). “He was your stereotypical YA protagonist.”

Antagonist — A character who sides against your MC. This character can be a villain, or someone who poses a minor threat to your MC. (can be shortened to antag). “Everyone knows that the antagonists are better anyways.”

Nanowrimo — Short for National Novel Writing Month. It is an event that takes place every November where writers from all across the world try to write 50,000 words in one month. They also have smaller events in April and June called Camp Nanowrimo (can be shortened to Nano). “Look who’s going to lose Nano for the third year in a row.”

Cliche — An overused and/or unoriginal element to a story. “That book was so cliche.”

Trope — Similar to a cliche but with more positive connotations. It may be very common, but it’s still enjoyable. “The enemies to lovers trope is literally my favorite.”

Ship — When you want to characters to be in a relationship (can also be used as a noun). “I ship those two together so much!”

Worldbuilding — The process of creating the world where your story takes place in order to make it more believable. “The worldbuilding in LoTR is insane!”

Outlining — The process of developing the plot of your story and planning out future scenes and chapters. “I suck at outlining.”

Character Development — The changes that a character undergoes as a story progresses. “His character development is so crazy. He’s a completely different guy in the last book!”

Plotter — A writer who creates a very detailed outline and knows exactly what’s going to happen during their story. “I’m too much of a plotter to make it up as I go.”

Pantser — A writer who does not outline or plot their story ahead of time (basically “flying by the seat of their pants”). “I’m a pantser through and through.”

Plantser — In between a plotter and a pantser, these writers may create an outline, but it’s not very detailed. “I guess I’m more of plantser than anything. I have a short outline but it’s not much.”

Mary Sue — A (typically female) character who is flawless and/or overpowered (male Mary Sues are sometimes called Gary Stus). “I realized that my MC is a Mary Sue, so I’m rewriting her character!”

Feel free to add more!!

[writingmaniaa]

side plot ideas

a character reconnects with a long-lost family member

several characters make a band together

a character has to overcome a fear

two characters explore a new city together

several characters build/decorate a new house together

a characters uncovers secrets about their past

two characters compete to win a tournament/competition

several characters go on a road trip together

an antagonist falls in love with a side character (or vice versa)

two characters study for a test/exam together

a character is injured and the others have to nurse them back to health

a character is wrongly convicted of murder

one character teaches another one how to play a sport/instrument/game

a character bonds with a small child/animal

several characters discover and explore an abandoned building

[writingmaniaa]

questions to ask when writing characters with superpowers

Were they born with powers or did they get them later in life? If they did, how and when did they get these powers?

Do other people in their world have superpowers or is this character unique?

Are they praised or bullied for having superpowers? Do other people see them as a gift or a danger to the world?

How did they learn to use their powers? Did someone teach them or did they figure it out by themself?

What repercussions come with using their powers? Does it make the character tired? Is it dangerous or life threatening?

Is it possible for the character to lose their powers or for them to become weaker?

Do they use their powers for good or evil? Are they viewed as a hero or a villain by others?

Who knows about their superpowers? Is it a secret or do they use their powers openly?

Does this character like their powers or not? Do they wish they had a different power? Do they wish they had no power at all?

How has having superpowers impacted this character’s daily life? Their job or education?

Does their superpower modify their body? Does it change them mentally?

Can this character lose control of their powers? If so, what causes this and what are the consequences?

Do certain conditions have to be met in order for the character it use their powers? (i.e. it must be raining, they have to be well-rested, their powers can only be used on a full moon, etc.)

Does this character look up to others with superpowers?

Do they look down on others for having weaker powers/no powers at all?

Do they feel inferior to people with stronger powers?

Has having superpowers positively or negatively impacted their life?

Have people tried to take advantage of this character due to their superpowers?

[writingmaniaa]

writing exercise: getting your ideas onto paper

If you’re anything like me, you can easily visualize each scene in your WIP. and I’m talking about shot-by-shot, multiple different angles, really just a cinematic masterpiece. But I’ve always struggled to take that and put in down on paper. Here’s an exercise for fixing that problem!

Choose a scene from any movie or show that you like. If you struggle with action scenes, choose an action scene. If you struggle with dialogue-heavy scenes, choose one of those.

Watch through the scene as many times as you need. Then choose what perspective to write from. Once you’ve done those two things we can begin :)

Write what happens in the scene. Include the actions and dialogue that happen, but also focus on the characters’ expressions. What are they thinking? How do they feel about what’s happening? Make sure that these details are true to the character and the situation they’re in.

This exercise can also help you develop character voice, especially if you’re writing the scene from first person perspective. Think about the character’s age, upbringing, way of talking, and personal views, and be sure to include these in your writing.

That’s it! You can do this with as many scenes as you want until you feel more confident in your writing abilities! Good luck and happy writing :)

[writingmaniaa]

Character arcs

Character arcs are on of the main things that can make or break your story. Having an active character with an engaging arc will draw your readers into your story. Likewise, a passive character or bland arc can be a dealbreaker for your audience.

So how do you write a character arc? There’s plenty of specific types to choose from, but today we’ll be focusing on a more general form of arc.

Wants vs. needs

At the beginning of their arc, every character should have a ‘want.’ This is when the character believes they need, even if they need something else. The character’s want is often misguided or based in fear.

Throughout the course of the story, the character should realize that their want is not what they truly need.

Take Tony Stark from the movie Iron Man. At the beginning of the movie, his want is to be carefree and irresponsible. After being kidnapped and forced to see how his weapons were being used to harm innocent people, he realized how wrong his want was, and instead needed to become Iron Man and take responsibility for his actions.

Active vs passive characters

A character needs to make a series of choices throughout the story in order to have a well developed arc. These choices are what makes a character active, or in control of their actions and the plot.

Passive characters often feel weak because they lack agency and drive. They are being controlled by the plot and other characters, and can often feel like a plot device rather than a fully-fledged character.

In order for your character to have a compelling arc they need to be an active character. They need to make their own choices and grow without the help of others. It’s okay for your character to be passive in certain circumstances, but they should be active for most of the story.

I hope this post helps you create engaging character arcs! Good luck and happy writing :)

[writingmaniaa]

Devika: i’m having problems with a guy

Sloane: ‘his dead body won’t fit it the back of my car’ problems or ‘i like him’ problems

Devika: i like him

Sloane: too bad, i could have helped with the other one

[writingmaniaa]

Silas: so where’s the cereal? i thought you went to the store

Keijin: *mumbles*

Silas: what was that?

Keijin: i couldn’t reach it! it was on the top shelf

[writingmaniaa]

Looks like a cinnamon roll but can definitely kill you: Cressida

Looks like a cinnamon roll and is actually a cinnamon roll: Keijin, Devika

Looks like they can kill you but is definitely a cinnamon roll: Silas, Amirah

Looks like they can kill you and can actually kill you: Theon, Sloane

[writingmaniaa]

Cressida: if i run and jump at Amirah, she will most definitely catch me

Cressida: *running towards Amirah* Incoming!

Amirah: NO! I’M HOLDING COFFEE—

Amirah: *drops coffee to catch Cressida*

[writingmaniaa]

Amirah: you’re violent

Keijin: yeah, but i’m also short so it’s adorable

[writingmaniaa]

Cressida: surgery is just stabbing people to life

Amirah: please never become a surgeon

[writingmaniaa]

Cressida: i’m not doing too well. i have a headache that comes and goes

Alarik: *walks in*

Cressida: oh, there it is again!

[writingmaniaa]

Devika: name a way to be nice to someone

Cressida: don’t kill them

Devika: setting the bar low, but i’ll allow it

[writingmaniaa]

Nanowrimo advice

Okay so this *might* be my first time participating in Nanowrimo, but I’ve gathered as much advice as possible and now I want to share it with you :)

(and yes, I’m aware that it’s October 29th lol).

First of all, Nanowrimo stands for National Novel Writing Month. It’s an event that takes place every November where writers from all around the world try to write 50k words in 30 days (about 1,667 words a day).

Figure out where and when you’re going to write

having a set time and place for writing will help guarantee that you meet your goal each day. Are you writing at your desk, on your bed, or at a coffee shop (socially distanced, of course)?

Figuring out what time is best for writing is also super helpful. Figure out how long it is going to take you to write your 1,667 words, and then add a little extra time. Also figure out what time you’re most productive at. 10 am or 10 pm? 3 am or 3 pm? (and yes, be prepared to lose sleep over this).

Write more than you need to (when you can)

1,667 words a day is a lot, and it’s hard to maintain that word count for a month. Maybe you’re super busy on weekdays, but you have a little extra time on weekends. Use that time! You’re not going to reach your goal every day, but if you have free time use it!

Outline!

It’s kinda too late to make an extensive outline, but having a general idea of what will happen in each chapter will help you greatly! I know some people have 10-15k word outlines, but just jotting down ideas on sticky notes will speed up your writing.

Think of your outline as a gps on a roadtrip. Sure, you can get to your destination without one, but it’s much faster and easier to know where you’re going.

Writing sprints and livestreams

I have a *very* short attention span, so writing in 5-10 minute increments is so helpful for me. I use the Flora app (a free version of Forest) to do my writing sprints!

Livestreams are another great way to stay productive while writing. If you can’t find a live livestream, you can rewatch old ones on youtube (I love watching Kate Cavanaugh’s livestreams).

Other tips

-writing in comic sans tricks your brain into thinking that your writing is more childish and lowers your expectations of your writing.

-finish each writing sentence in the middle of a sentence and write down what’s going to happen next so that you can jump back in later.

-you don’t need to reach 50k words if you don’t want to. Maybe aim for 20-30k words so that you don’t stress as much

That’s all I have for you today. I hope this helps you and good luck with Nanowrimo 2020!