ducklingsdisaster

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Character Development: 50 Questions

What does your character do when they think no one’s looking?

What’s the one thing your character would save in a fire (beyond the necessities)?

Who’s on speed dial?

Your character gets turned down for their dream job. What’s their second choice?

What would they tell their ten-year-old self?

Where would they want to go on a first date?

What’s the best advice they’ve ever received?

What’s the worst advice they’ve ever received?

What’s one physical detail they’d change about themselves?

When was the last time they were held? By who?

What’s their favorite thing about their favorite season?

Their wallet gets stolen. What do they do?

Prioritize: Love, money, power, knowledge?

What’s something nobody knows about them?

What’s in their fridge?

What (creature, object, substance) are they most disgusted by?

What’s their second worst habit?

What are the victory conditions for their life?

In the end, your character fails to save the day. Assuming they survive, what do they do?

Your character is charged with a crime they didn’t commit. What do they do?

Your character is charged with a crime they did commit. What was the crime?

How would you describe your character’s life in one sentence?

What important statistic would they want displayed above them?

What’s the first thing they would buy if they won the lottery?

What profession do they most respect?

What childhood injustice did they never get over?

How would they handle having a panic attack?

Your character is burdened with an inconvenient superpower. What is it?

If they died and could come back as any person, animal, or object, what would they be?

What’s the best meal they’ve ever had?

Where would they stand at a dinner party?

Who would they invite to the dinner party?

What makes a perfect day for your character?

If given the opportunity, would they want to know how and when they died?

What’s the one thing they’ve always wanted to do? Why haven’t they done it yet?

What do they tend to joke about?

What’s off limits?

Whose wedding would they cross the world to attend? Whose funeral?

What impossible choice did they make that turned out to be the right one? The wrong one?

Your character has someone to hype them up. What would they say to get everyone excited about your character?

What recurring dream does your character have?

What is the meaning of life to your character?

What book does your character pretend to have read?

Someone takes undeserved credit for your character’s work. What do they do?

What controversial belief or view does your character hold? Why? Do they hide it?

Your character is at a theme park. Where do they go first?

What’s your character’s favorite name?

What’s the biggest compliment they’d give themselves?

How does your character feel about bugs?

If your character could hit a reset button on their life, would they?

Source ⚜ More: Notes & References ⚜ Writing Resources PDFs

[ducklingsdisaster]

Friday Five

Write a piece that contains the following five elements:

hope

an old song

sand

handwriting

the attic

Try to incorporate all five senses (sight, hearing, touch, taste & smell) in your piece. Use the five elements listed above in any way you like.

[ducklingsdisaster]

Found the blog @powered-by-imagination today, great resource for writing prompts!! I wrote a little something (799 words) by mixing together three different prompts. This was a really fun exercice, I missed doing this! I don't think it's one of my best works, but I enjoyed writing it AND considering I haven't written regularly in years, any word is a good word. :') Here is what I wrote:

I did not realize how much it would change me, dating Kohjirö.

I wasn't scared of him getting bored and leaving. I didn't fear his annoyance. I hadn't felt so safe in a relationship in what felt like forever. He did not lie: he showed me I could be easy to love. I was easy to love. And yet.

As my boyfriend was spreading sunscreen on my back, unease crawled along my spine while the sweet scent filled up my nose. My skin was gooey and gross, the soft wind failing at drying it, but that was not my issue. A conversation we had earlier kept circling through my mind.

That annoying fly of a thought could be summarized in a single sentence: “I wanna go back to my family.”

My head fell back as I closed my eyes.

“Ah, careful! Your hair's gonna be full of sunscreen.” Kohjirö stopped his motions, to gently move my hair away from my back and on the front side of my shoulders instead. I shook my head weakly.

“Don't care.”

My eyes were still closed.

“Love… Is there something wrong?” Slight worry was audible in his voice. He caressed my arms, his long nails leaving pink trails after them.

Under the parasol, by the sea and with that breeze, the weather was ideal. The moment couldn't have been better. And yet.

Guess it was time to have a difficult conversation. At least, there weren't too many people around. I knew myself, and I could do without causing a scene.

I put my head back up, and took a difficult sip of lemonade. Bubbles fizzled on my tongue, the sour taste of lemon giving me courage. Once the bottle was back in the cooler, I finally spoke:

“Are you… are you really gonna go back to Kalinka?”

“Oh, so that's what's been bothering you.” He marked a pause. I was glad he couldn't see my face. “Well… I thought about it a lot, and yes.”

I squeezed my eyes shut, and my fists grabbed a handful of sand along with the beach towel we were sitting on.

“Please don't go.”

“Huh?” Clearly taken aback, the silence told me he was choosing his words carefully. “Love… I'm sorry, but my decision is already taken. I want to go.”

“Kohjirö…” I put on my sunglasses, their mirror lenses hiding my dangerously watering eyes. Then I turned around, finally facing him. “I just… I don't know how I'll live without you. Everything has been so much better since we started dating… I'm terrified of going back to how things were before.”

A gentle smile grew on his face. He softly stroked my cheek with the knuckle of his index finger.

“You won't. You really changed, you know? You learned how to say no to people. You learned to ask for more than the bare minimum. I think that now, it’s time you learn how to live on your own. You're more than your partners.”

“But—”

“I know you can do it.”

“But I don't want to! I… I wanted to spend more time with you!”

He laughed quietly, his teeth as sharp as ever.

“Don't be greedy now. We've known each other for almost ten years. You'll live.”

I pouted. He continued:

“I really miss my parents. You simply can't imagine how it feels, to be separated from them for decades, and to know that if you try to come back you might, no, you will get killed. Please, love. I need to spend time with them.”

I nodded. Insisting would be selfish.

“Will you…” I looked down at the towel. “Will you miss me?”

He smiled, before taking my glasses off. I tried to turn my head away, but he stopped me, long hands grabbing my face and forcing me to face him. Then, softly, slowly, he dropped three kisses on my face.

One on my forehead.

One on my nose.

One on my lips.

Once he was done, he planted his eyes in mine.

“Of course I will miss you. You're one of my closest friends, now partner, and one of the kindest, most gentle men I know. Of course I will miss you.”

I closed my eyes once more, holding back tears. My throat was tight. Was I as strong as he said I was? Would I actually survive without him?

“When will you come back?” I eventually asked.

“I don't know. Maybe in a few months, maybe in a few years. But you'll see me again. There are too many people I love here.”

I dropped my face against his chest. Over the sound of chatting people and crashing waves, I couldn't hear his heartbeats. We remained wordless for a moment, until I broke the heavy silence.

“I will miss you too.”

[ducklingsdisaster]

Monday Monologue

Choose one of your characters and have them tell a story in their own words.  Try to get inside your character’s head and write in first person point of view.  For an added challenge, pick a character whose perspective you don’t normally write from.  

* Your story does not have to be a monologue. You can include other characters and as much or as little dialogue as you like.

This week’s prompt is: I didn't realize how much it would change me.

[ducklingsdisaster]

Sunday Sparks

Sparks of inspiration can come from anywhere.  I am constantly viewing the world through a storyteller’s eyes, and my ideas are inspired by everything from the most commonplace situations of daily life to the most unexpected occurrences.  

This blog’s Sunday feature is Sunday Sparks, a series of prompts to help get you thinking in new directions about your characters and their lives and interactions.  These prompts will be broad and non-specific on purpose, The challenge will be to use your creativity in interpreting them and to craft a story or a scene inspired by them. 

This week’s prompt is: a character begs another character not to leave

[ducklingsdisaster]

Friday Five

Write a piece that contains the following five elements:

sunscreen

anxiety

lemonade

a lover

the number three

Try to incorporate all five senses (sight, hearing, touch, taste & smell) in your piece. Use the five elements listed above in any way you like.

[ducklingsdisaster]

Monster Person #267

Monster who has a heart, and that's a problem

[ducklingsdisaster]

Monster Person #664

Monster who can't look you in the eye

[ducklingsdisaster]

Vent art

[ducklingsdisaster]

Writing Worksheets & Templates

will update this every few weeks/months. alternatively, here are all my tagged Writing Worksheets & Templates

Chapter Outline ⚜ Character- or Plot-Driven Story

Death & Sacrifice ⚜ Magic & Rituals ⚜ Plot-Planning

Editing: Sentence Check ⚜ Writing Your Novel: 20 Questions

Tension ⚜ Thought Distortions ⚜ What's at Stake

Character Development

50 Questions ⚜ Backstory ⚜ Character Creation

Antagonist; Villain; Fighting ⚜ Protagonist & Antagonist

Character: Change; Adding Action; Conflict

Character: Creator; Name; Quirks; Flaws; Motivation

Character Profile (by Rick Riordan) ⚜ Character Sheet Template

Character Sketch & Bible ⚜ Interview your Character

Story-Worthy Hero ⚜ "Well-Rounded" Character Worksheet

Worldbuilding

20 Questions ⚜ Decisions & Categories ⚜ Worksheet

Setting ⚜ Dystopian World ⚜ Magic System (AALC Method)

Templates: Geography; World History; City; Fictional Plant

References: Worldbuilding ⚜ Plot ⚜ Character ⚜ Writing Resources PDFs

all posts are queued. send questions/requests here.

[ducklingsdisaster]

If you clicked on and read a fanfiction that had tags or a description that upset you and you were upset by it, that's your responsibility, not the author's responsibility.

If you were reading a fanfiction and you got to an unexpected part that disturbed you and you kept reading after you were disturbed, that was your choice and your responsibility, not the author's.

No one is forcing you to read fanfiction that upsets you. The back button is your friend.

If you are reading a piece of fanfiction it's because it interests you. Horrified fascination counts as interest. No fanfiction is holding you hostage and forcing you to read it.

[ducklingsdisaster]

The “That’s immoral you shouldn’t write that, we need to get that taken down” discourse on tiktok right now is PISSING ME OFFF

Wdym you want censorship for a literal ARCHIVE are you fucking stupid

Ao3 was literally founded to preserve works that were largely getting taken down due to censorship

Censorship is the opposite of what Archive of Our Own stands for

The TAGS and WARNINGS are there for a REASON. Use them and stop complaining

The universal rule—don’t like, don’t read

It’s THAT simple

[ducklingsdisaster]

90% of arguments about media could just be solved by saying “different people like different things in their stories” and leaving it at that

[ducklingsdisaster]

started a new fanfic tonight. first time writing since july. 🥲 i call this a win

(it's soft sakuatsu smut)

[ducklingsdisaster]

a few reminders because i’m tired and angry

fandom is a hobby, not a form of activism

adult women aren’t inherently creepy for being in fandom and having hobbies apart from raising babies and doing taxes

the vast majority of people pushing back against the worrying trend of instigating harassment over fictional characters and relationships aren’t incest supporters or pedophiles, actually

liking a m/f ship doesn’t make someone a dirty heterosexual invading your space

preferring gay ships doesn’t make you ‘’woke’’ and good

no one owes you a disclaimer that they are a good person who recognizes that their favorite fictional villain’s actions are evil and that they don’t condone those actions irl

liking a fictional villain is in no way comparable to advocating abuse/murder/genocide/etc and you’re a fucking idiot if you believe that

just because a woman is attracted to a fictional villain doesn’t mean she’s promoting toxic relationships or going to end up in a toxic relationship. assuming women can’t tell fiction and reality apart stinks of internalized misogyny 

some rando’s a/b/o fanfics have none of the level of influence that popular tv shows and movies spreading propaganda have

no one owes you a detailed description of their traumas and mental health problems

abusive relationships are not the same as enemies to lovers ships

y’all need to chill the fuck out over people, relationships, actions and events that don’t actually exist and learn how to enjoy and discuss them like normal people

fandom is a hobby, not a form of activism

feel free to add more

[ducklingsdisaster]

ai does not belong in creative spaces. period.

[ducklingsdisaster]

[Image Description: A Tweet that reads: Hey, you. You're valid for writing fanfiction. Someone has stayed up late reading your words on their phone with auto-rotate off. Someone has dropped everything when they got that update email. Your work has made someone happy and you do it *in your spare time*. You're awesome. End ID.]