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[crabby-gothgirl]

Naoko Takeuchi is basically the J.K. Rowling of Japan. Got it

I’m finally calling bullsh*t on the whole “Usagi is supposed to be chubby” arguments. I just don’t buy it, not even from Naoko. Her artistic skills improved but she didn’t make any alterations to Usagi’s figure in the reprint manga - not even ONE image… not even in her new color illustrations. There is no version of Sailor Moon where she looks even remotely chubby so in my mind, Usagi wasn’t ever chubby. The SMC art was the final nail in the coffin, imo. It would’ve been nice, though…

submitted by anon

[crabby-gothgirl]

My animation process (in a GIF!)

So you've learned the 12 principles of animation but don't know where to actually apply them? Fear not!! For here is my step-by-step process, very very condensed, into one singular giant GIF.

Hope it helps!

(You may need to open it in a new tab to read the text)

[crabby-gothgirl]

How To (Realistically) Make A Habit Of Writing

To clarify: Works with my autism. WORKS WITH MY AUTISM!!! I’ve been meeting my goals since I made them my New Year’s resolution! Anyway I’m so sick of all those ‘how to’ guides that don’t actually tell you what the process is they’re just like ‘just do it, but don’t burn yourself out, do what’s best for you!’ because you’re not telling me what I’m not supposed to be burning myself out over but okay, so I made my own. Hope this helps

1. Choose your fighter metric. What works better for you as a measurement of your progress; time spent writing or your word count? Personally I get very motivated and encouraged by seeing my word count go up and making a note of where it should be when I’m done, so I measure by that. At the same time, a lot of people are also very discouraged by their word count and it can negatively impact their motivation to write, and in that case you may be better off working from how much time you spend writing rather than where the word count is

2. Choose your starter Pokémon time frame. How often can you write before it starts to feel like a chore or a burden rather than something fun you look forward to? Many people believe that they have to write daily, but for some people this can do more harm than good. Maybe every two or three days? Weekly? Figure out what fits your schedule and go with it

3. Choose your funny third joke goal. Now that you’ve got your chosen time frame to complete your goal in, what’s a reasonable goal to aim to complete within that time frame based on the metric you chose? If your metric is your word count, how much can you reasonably and consistently write within your chosen time frame? If your metric is time spent writing, how much time can you reasonably and consistently spend writing within that time? Maybe 1000 words per week works, or maybe 10 minutes per day? The goal here is to find something that works for you and your own schedule without burning you out

4. Trial and error. Experiment with your new target and adapt it accordingly. Most people can’t consistently write 1667 words per day like you do in NaNoWriMo, so we want to avoid that and aim somewhere more reasonable. If you feel like it’s too much to do in such a short time frame, either give yourself less to do or more time to do it in. If you find yourself begrudgingly writing so often that it constantly feels more like a chore than something fun, maybe consider adapting things. And if you think that you gave yourself too much wiggle room and you could do more than this consistently, give yourself more of a challenge. Everything needs to suit you and your pace and needs

5. Run your own race. Don’t feel like you’re not accomplishing enough in comparison to others or not working fast enough to satisfy some arbitrary feeling of doubt. Everybody works at their own pace and slower work doesn’t mean worse work. You could be on one word per day and you’ll still see consistent results, which is still one word per day more than you could originally count on. All progress is progress, regardless of its speed

[crabby-gothgirl]

Gonna use this

Honestly? My main piece of advice for writing well-rounded characters is to make them a little bit lame. No real living person is 100% cool and suave 100% of the time. Everyone's a little awkward sometimes, or gets too excited about something goofy, or has a silly fear, or laughs about stupid things. Being a bit of a loser is an incurable part of the human condition. Utilize that in your writing.

[crabby-gothgirl]

“You’re not going to master the rest of your life in one day. Just relax. Master the day. Then just keep doing that every day.”

— Unknown

[crabby-gothgirl]

Can anyone relate to having a mother who doesn't care about them?

[crabby-gothgirl]

Truer words couldn't have been said

“Let me tell you this: if you meet a loner, no matter what they tell you, it’s not because they enjoy solitude. It’s because they have tried to blend into the world before, and people continue to disappoint them.”

— Jodi Picoult, My Sister’s Keeper

[crabby-gothgirl]

This is absolutely beautiful

i didn't fall in love; i sprinted toward you with a deliberate intention to embrace every part of you. falling implies chance, but loving you was a conscious choice, a journey pursued with open arms. it's a declaration that my love for you isn't a mere accident; it's a purposeful and unregrettable pursuit.

— @fiercethorns

“sprinting in love”

[crabby-gothgirl]

All About Readers Reports

Last thursday I got a message from Lawoyin asking if I have any tips for writing better readers reports. The short answer is: Yes, yes I do!

The long answer is quite a bit longer.

First, for those of you who may not be sure, a Readers Report is a tool used by literary agents and acquiring editors to neatly summarize a manuscript for those who haven’t read it. In agencies, reports are most often completed by assistants and interns for the benefit of the agents (who don’t always have time to do all of their own reading). In publishing houses, editors (or their assistants) will write a report if they have a manuscript that they would like to acquire. In publishing houses, you need approval to acquire a manuscript, and giving a readers report to the other editors is the first step.

Now, when I say that readers reports are meant to “neatly summarize a manuscript,” I don’t necessarily mean “neatly summarize the plot”. Every company that I’ve written reports for has included a plot summary with their formula, but not all agencies and houses work that way. More importantly, you have to summarize the strengths and weaknesses of the project both in the manuscript itself and in its marketing potential.

Here’s the structure of a readers report at my company:

A tagline for the manuscript

A brief breakdown of the sales handle (Title, genre, word count, author, and any important credentials the author has)

2-3 paragraph plot description

2-3 paragraph analysis of strengths and weaknesses

Ultimate recommendation for or against representation/publication

The breakdown of the sales handle is pretty self-explanatory–the author or agent should have included all of that info in the query–but here are some tips about how to improve on the rest of the components.

Keep reading

[crabby-gothgirl]

Got perma-banned from Reddit for calling out a pedophile, they still won't let me have my account back

Hello. To anyone who manages to find this post (probably no one will but I still need to get this off my chest). Please help my reblog this story. This needs to be shared.

I have been permanently "suspended" from Reddit-which is a bullshit term that they have called my ostracization because their sentence is never going to let up.

5 months ago, I saw a comment on Reddit where a person was dangerously promoting the idea that minors can start having sexual arousal at a young age, therefore they are capable of consenting to an adult having sex with them.

I of course told this person to immediately desist. They refused, so I unleashed a diatribe of hurtful words (not even ashamed to say I frankly told them to go choke on their own vomit).

And how did Reddit admins choose to handle the situation after I reported this aggressor's comments invoking harm on children?

My comments were reported by the pedophile for "inciting bodily violence". My account was the one that got preemptively IP banned from Reddit, from my main and even my alt account which had nothing to do with my main account.

I traveled out of the country recently and got a new IP. I am a struggling artist and writer and wanted to use the account solely to get advice on character design and storyboarding tips for my current project. Reddit somehow managed to track my IP change and they banned me once again, on an account that had nothing to do with my previous account.

If anyone can find this post, please reblog. Please help me spread the word on how horribly corrupt Reddit's admin team is and how they use their so-called "terms of service" to protect the well-being of online predators and other creeps rather than the people who are in need of most protection.

[crabby-gothgirl]

[crabby-gothgirl]

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My childhood in 3 minutes ❤

[crabby-gothgirl]

YA books about POC by POC #ownvoices

 for the people who keep telling me they cant find diverse #ownvoices books by people of color or that there are none. 

contemporary + romance

- asian authors -

born confused - tanuja desai hidier

girl in between - pintip dunn

i believe in a thing called love - maurene goo

enter title here - rahul kanakia

if you could be mine - sara farizan

its not like its a secret - misa sugiura

my so-called bollywood life - nisha sharma

none of the above - i.w. gregorio

since you asked - maurene goo

starfish - akemi dawn bowman

tell me again how a crush should feel - sara farizan

this promise i will keep - aisha saeed

to all the boys ive loved before - jenny han

qala academy - tanaz bhatena

when dimple met rishi - sandhya menon

written in the stars - aisha saeed

tiny pretty things - sona charaipotra & dhonielle clayton

- black and african authors -

all american boys - jason reynolds & brendan kiely

allegedly - tiffany d. jackson

american street - ibi zoboi

the boy in the black suit - jason reynolds

dear martin - nic stone

the hate u give - angie thomas

little & lion - brandy colbert

peas and carrots - tanita s. davis

the sun is also a star - nicola yoon

this side of home - renée watson

tiny pretty things - sona charaipotra & dhonielle clayton

pointe - brandy colbert

when i was the greatest - jason reynolds

you dont know me but i know you - rebecca barrow

- latinx authors -

the education of margot sanchez - lilliam rivera

the inexplicable logic of my life - benjamin alire sáenz

juliet takes a breath - gabbi rivera

north of happy - adi alsaid

we were here - matt de la pena

when reason breaks - cindy l. rodriguez

yaqui delgado wants to kick your ass - meg medina

high fantasy + urban fantasy

- asian authors -

the bone witch - rin chupeco 

the forbidden wish - jessica khoury

forest of a thousand lantern by julie c. dao

huntress - malinda lo

not your sidekick - c.b. lee

prophecy - ellen oh

the reader - traci chee

serpentine - cindy pon

silver phoenix - cindy pon

soulmated - shaila patel

the star-touched queen - roshani chokshi

- black and african authors -

akata witch - nnedi okorafor

promise of shadows - justina ireland

shadowsharper - daniel josé older

- latinx authors -

labyrinth lost - zoraida córdova

shadowsharper - daniel josé older

historical + historical fantasy

- asian authors -

an ember in the ashes - sabaa tahir

everything i never told you - celeste ng

outrun the moon - stacey lee

under a painted sky - stacey lee

- latinx authors -

burn baby burn - meg medina

iron cast - destiny soria

shame the stars - guadalupe garcia mccall

magical realism

- black and african authors -

into white - randi pink

- latinx authors -

the girl who could silence the wind - meg medina

summer of the mariposas - guadalupe garcia mccall

the weight of feathers - anna-marie mclemore

wild beauty - anna-marie mclemore

when the moon was ours - anna-marie mclemore

sci-fi

- asian authors - 

forget tomorrow - pintip dunn

the amaterasu project - axie oh

the girl from everywhere - heidi heilig

want - cindy pon

- black and african authors -

binti - nnedi okorafor

the blazing star - imani josey

the fifth season - n.k. jemisin

love is the drug - alaya dawn johnson

orleans - sherri l. smith

is that enough? they’re out there. you just have to be willing to look.

All Book Recommendations | My Book Blog 

[crabby-gothgirl]

National Novel Writing Month

Otherwise known as NaNoWriMo.

What is it?

As some of you know, and others were able to guess, it’s an event that starts every November 1st here in Internet Land where you try to write a 50k novel in a month by setting up a daily word count goal. There’s a website for the event, which you can check out here. You can sign up on the site to participate, but it’s not a requirement.

I am actually participating this year in a sense. I’m going to be using the month to finish the current draft of my novel, but for those of you who are starting one fresh, it may seem like a tall order. So, to help you guys out, I’ve complied some links from this blog and from others in the community. If there’s a post you really like that I missed, let me know. There are likely a ton. These are just some of the ones I had bookmarked.

Slithering Ink Resources

Character Development Questionnaire 

Character Motivation Questionnaire

Writing for Beginners 

Plotting Methods for Meticulous Plotters

Organize Your Plot: Outlines

Writing Character Voice

Creating Chapters

Prologues

Character Development: The Basics

Community Resources

Forming a Plot for NaNoWriMo

Chuck Wendig’s NaNoWriMo Crash Course

Fixyourwritinghabit’s Plot A Month Series

Write World’s 20 Things About NaNoWriMo

All Things NaNoWriMo

Last Minute NaNoWriMo Prep

Survival Guide

Clevergirlhelp’s NaNoWriMo Planning Guide

Inktype’s NaNoWriMo Planning Guide

Writing Cafe’s Guide

To NaNoWriMo or Not?

Arguments Against NaNoWriMo and Why They’re BS

[crabby-gothgirl]

Starting Your NaNoWriMo Journey

Whether you’re new to NaNoWriMo or you’ve done it a few times, the whole thing can still feel pretty daunting. Since we’re only a couple days away from the start of a new one, I want to encourage you to set some goals and make sure you’ve done some planning before diving in. When you only have a month to complete a project, you’ll want to make sure you’re organized and excited.

Here are a few tips for making your NaNoWriMo journey an enjoyable one:

Pick a Project

I like participating in NaNoWriMo and I’ve penned a few novels through it, but I don’t always use it for the same thing. The point of NaNoWriMo is to motivate yourself to get something done or started. Sure, finishing the first draft of your novel is usually the goal, but I plan on using next month for editing an already completed novel. Maybe you’ll use November to work on your outline or finish some project that’s been nagging at you. Use November for writing and make it about you. Push yourself to cross that finish line.

Print a Calendar

Find a November calendar, print it out, and keep track of your accomplishments. When you can cross those days off, jot down your word count, or write something encouraging—all those things can go a long way. Make note of any obligations you might have so you can adjust accordingly.

Enlist a Friend

NaNoWriMo can be very personal, but you don’t have to do it alone! Even if you don’t have a writing friend, there’s a huge online community. Sign up for your NaNoWriMo account, find other participants on Twitter, and start a conversation! Everyone will be going through something similar in November.

Jot Down a Timeline

Figuring out how many words you want to write a day or taking note of any other goals is an important step during NaNoWriMo. If you’re writing your first novel, work on an outline or prepare yourself for when NaNoWriMo begins. Knowing where you want your story to go can be a big help.

Stay Organized

Clean off your desk, find a calm writing space, and take care of yourself. Don’t let the rest of your life fall apart because you want to finish the first draft of a novel. Eat right, take a long shower or bath, focus on your mental health, and have conversations with other writers. This is supposed to be fun! If you’re working from an outline, make any adjustments before you go to bed that night so you’re prepped for the next day. Enjoy yourself.

-Kris Noel

[crabby-gothgirl]

[crabby-gothgirl]

To all the Writers Suffering from Depression

It’s okay. Your desire to write will return. Your desire to do other things you love will come back, too. You’re not weak. You’re just having a hard time right now. Try not to add self-judgment on top of everything else. Depression is hard enough without blaming yourself for it.

We (in the US specifically) live in a productivity-obsessed, emotion-phobic culture which blames individuals for “failing” when they are anything but hyper-productive and relentlessly optimistic. This cultural narrative so pervasive that it’s difficult to see the high standards we set for ourselves for what they really are: Complete and total bullshit.

Despite the rampant cultural garbage that teaches us to interpret emotional ups and downs as an aberration, MANY writers and artists (and people in general!) struggle with depression and other mood “disorders.” It is not uncommon for us, among other things, to go through periods of hyperactivity followed by depressive episodes in which we get very little accomplished. I am not saying you shouldn’t try to alleviate your depression or work to find ways to minimize your suffering in the short or long term. I’m just saying there’s nothing wrong with you, and you aren’t alone.

I’m going to say that again:

If you’re having a hard time writing or enjoying writing right now because you’re depressed, you aren’t alone.

I wish I had some kind of magical answer. I don’t. But I do know that accepting your depression and loving yourself anyway beats the hell out of berating yourself for feeling like this. So, with that in mind, this might be all I have to offer:

I think you’re doing a great job. I’m sorry you feel like shit. I’m on your side whether you’re writing or not; whether you feel good or not; whether you’re being “productive” or not; whether you wanted to get out of bed this morning or not. You’re still a writer to me, even if you’re not writing right now. You don’t have to prove yourself to me or anyone else. I love you, and I hope you feel better soon.

//////////////

The Literary Architect is a writing advice blog run by me, Bucket Siler. For more writing help, check out my Free Resource Library, peruse my post guide, or hire me to edit your novel or short story. xoxo