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[elkheadmagic]

How to improve your writing style : a 5-steps guide.

Intro : I love the 5-steps format, don’t mind me. Again, this essay is based on my personal experience.

Read in different genres. Ok, I know you’ve probably heard this advice more than you can count but did you ask yourself why it is so important ? You probably wonder ‘‘How reading some historical fiction will help me writing my sci-fi novel ?’’ For that simple reason my friend : they meet different purposes. You don’t know how to describe a castle ? It’s okay, historical fiction got your back. Because it aims at something more realistic and accurate, it would tend to be more specific and detailed when it comes to describing clothes, furniture, places and so on. Why ? Because, most of the time, THEY ACTUALLY EXISTED. Take a closer look at how it is done and draw your inspiration from it (but please avoid plagiarism it’s bad - and illegal)

Take notes and CLASSIFY them. To make reading somehow useful, you have to actually make it concious, which means you have to write things down to remember them. When I come across a description I like, I tend to takes notes of the figures of speech that are used and class them, so when I have to write a similar scene, I have an idea of what have been already used, and weither or not it achieved its goal. I am NOT talking about COPY another author’s style !!!! It’s about finding inspiration and new approaches. I also tend to take notes of the new words I wish to incoporate into my writing. The thesaurus is my new bestie.

Rewrite the same scene from different POVs. First of all, it’s fun. And it’s a really good way to spot quirky formulations. For instance, if you describe a ship, the captain’s POV should be different from that of a simple observer. The first one would be naming each part princisely whereas the other would only be admiring the surface without knowing anything. If the caption is the same for both POVs, maybe you should consider write your passage again (or have a good reason, like a strong amateurism for the mere observer). It’s go hand in hand with coherence - but it would be an essay for another time (maybe).

Read your text aloud. I put major emphasis on that one because it’s as underated as reading books for various genres. You have no idea how much we DON’T speak the way we write. Even dialogues are crafted in our stories - so make sure to give them proper attention. (i even read my email aloud but-). I KNOW how cringey it might be as I am doing it MYSELF but the benefits are worth the 35-minutes shame I endure from my own mess. Before you can shine, you have to polish (shout out to the one who said that first if it’s not me).

Take a step back. I strongly advice you to let some time pass before reading your text again and profreading it. It will cast a new light upon your work and with fresh eyes you’d be more likely able to spot what needs to be erased or rephrased.

That’s all for me today. Since I would be entering my proofreading phase for my writing contest, the next essay would probably about proofreading (with examples from my own novel ?). Unless someone wants me to write on a specific subject first.

Gentle reminder that I’m still French and not a native so please forgive my dubious grammar and outrageous mispellings.

[elkheadmagic]

NaNoWriMo's reasoning for encouraging AI:

1. Some people don't have a community to help them write.

- So we think stealing other people's work and using that to get horrible suggestions for your own work is fine.

2. Some people don't have the talent/practice/ability to write like they want to.

- So instead of encouraging practice (which is the only way to get better), we think just filling in the blanks with a literal bullshit machine is just as good.

3. Some people have problems accessing tools to write properly.

- Yes, accessing an AI generator is much easier than opening Notepad on your PC.

[elkheadmagic]

“dude… give her space. For you it’s been 30 years. You’ve had time to grieve and accept you lost your sister. For her though…. she just learned she’s be gone for three decades and hasn’t aged a day. You’ve got your teenage sister back but to her…. to her your a 45 year old stranger”

[elkheadmagic]

You have such a good idea and it's really interesting. You should ignore your doubts, ignore the internet advice, and write 300 words of it right now.

[elkheadmagic]

sanctuary of light 💡

(Nasta, our oc from UTROBA personal project)

[elkheadmagic]

artists, please put big watermarks and signatures and urls in your work it doesn't ruin it and I like being able to find you when some moron reposts your stuff!

[elkheadmagic]

stealing this poll to add more options. feel free to reblog

[elkheadmagic]

Mix Up Your Writing Routine

If your writing feels stale, try changing your routine. This can provide fresh perspectives and new inspiration.

Change Your Writing Tools, Switch from typing to handwriting, or vice versa. Write at Different Times, If you usually write in the morning, try writing at night.

Alter Your Environment: Write in a different room, go to a park, or visit a coffee shop. Try a New Medium, If you usually write on a computer, try using a typewriter or writing in a notebook.

[elkheadmagic]

Some of the stickers that will be back in stock on my new shop drop this Sunday at 2PM PST!! All the NEW items will be posted on Sunday!

[elkheadmagic]

Keep seeing these “booktok is ruining reading” and “ewwww dark romance” video essays and it makes me giggle because like this is exactly how the nineteenth century population reacted to gothic literature.

“Oh my god, don’t let your daughters read the Mysteries of Udolpho, they’ll become novel-addicted, sexual freaks!”

It’s crazy how humans do the same things over and over again.

Edit: I inevitably got the porn-addict accusations for this post and I’d like to clarify that I’m very firmly asexual, I don’t like erotica, and I’m talking about this subject from a history standpoint. Because literary history is interesting, and it’s not hard to see the parallels. Also, calling anybody you disagree with “an addict” is weird.

[elkheadmagic]

[elkheadmagic]

one time a professor asked me if i’d ever wanted to write anything “more important” than romance. and i said no. i was put on this earth to write about sad people kissing. and if another writer ever came up to me and said they wanted to write 400 pages containing nothing but a character baking a single loaf of bread each day, then i would tell them to do that. people don't write something because it's important. they write about something and that is what makes it important

[elkheadmagic]

hi son 🏖️

“And enough loose change in their pocket to buy both ice cream.” Ping that like button, share to boost the signal, follow with notifications ON to locate the source, leave a comment to plot your dig, and unearth a subscription to my Patreon if MDiD is a treasure worth detecting! 🏖️ https://www.patreon.com/myDadisDracula

[elkheadmagic]

Celebrate Pride with Tor Publishing Group!

Rakesfall by @adamantine

They met as children in the middle of the Sri Lankan civil war. Later, in a demon-haunted wood, an act of violence linked them and propelled their souls on a journey through the ages. As they reincarnate ever deeper into the future, a truth emerges: Some stories take more than one lifetime to tell.

Running Close to the Wind by @ariaste

In this queer pirate fantasy, Avra Helvaçi has accidentally stolen the single most expensive secret in the world. To avoid capture, he flees to the open sea, where only his on-again, off-again ex aka pirate Captain Teveri az-Ḥaffār can help him survive, profit, and become a legend.

Cuckoo by Gretchen Felker-Martin

Something evil is buried deep in the desert. It wants your body and wears your skin. Welcome to Camp Resolution, a queer conversion center where everyone leaves a different person. In 1995, seven queer teens were abandoned here by their parents, but survived. Sixteen years later, they’re scarred and broken, but back to face an evil that threatens the world. 

Kinning by Nisi Shawl

In this alternate history where barkcloth airships soar and former colonies claim freedom from imperialist tyrants, the identity of the island of Everfair still wavers. Victorious in the wake of the Great War, a new threat looms. Can Everfair continue to serve as a symbol of hope for anticolonial movements around the world, or will it fall to forces within and without? 

Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea by @rebeccathornewrites

Can one of the Queen’s private guard and the most powerful mage in existence leave their lives behind to settle down in their new bookshop that serves tea? This cozy fantasy is steeped in sapphic romance and nestled on the edge of dragon country. 

The Fragile Threads of Power by V. E. Schwab

Once there were four worlds, nestled like pages in a book, each pulsing with fantastical power and connected by a single city: London. After a desperate attempt to prevent corruption and ruin in the four Londons, there are only three. Now the worlds are going to collide anew—brought to a dangerous precipice by the discoveries of three remarkable magicians.

Now available in paperback!

The Archive Undying by @emcandon

This is a story about misplaced faith, complicated love, so much self-loathing, and yeah—giant robots. Plugged into his AI god when its apocalyptic corruption renders him unfortunately immortal, sad gay disaster Sunai takes a die-again-or-die-trying approach to things. Unending life’s tough when intimacy is somehow scarier even than either of the warring police states set on turning you into a weapon or the rogue undead mecha-fragment of your old god that wants to eat you. 

Now available in paperback!

The Bell in the Fog by Lev AC Rosen

A dazzling historical mystery that dives into the shadowy, closeted world of the Navy, emerging in the gay bars of the city. It’s a whirlpool of missing people, violent strangers, and scandalous photos in 1952 San Francisco. 

Now available in paperback!

Celebrate Pride with more titles from Tor Publishing Group here!

[elkheadmagic]

[elkheadmagic]

Advanced Synonyms for Your Novel

Cold - frigid, icy, chilling

Hot - sweltering, scorching, torrid

Small - minute, diminutive, petite

Big - vast, colossal, gargantuan

Smart - intelligent, astute, savvy

Dumb - obtuse, vacuous, dim-witted

Fast - swift, rapid, fleet

Slow - sluggish, lethargic, dilatory

Old - ancient, decrepit, venerable

Young - youthful, juvenile, fledgling

Good - excellent, superb, stellar

Bad - dreadful, atrocious, abysmal

Strong - robust, sturdy, formidable

Weak - feeble, frail, flimsy

Funny - humorous, witty, comical

[elkheadmagic]

One in four children under the age of five are experiencing what study authors call “severe food poverty” which means kids are only being fed two or less food groups per day. “It amounts to 181 million children who are deprived of the diets they need to survive,” says Harriet Torlesse, a nutrition specialist at UNICEF and the lead author on the report. “If you think about these diets, they really don't contain the range of vitamins and minerals and proteins that children need to grow and develop.” Nutrition experts told NPR the numbers in the UNICEF report show the world is not making progress in tackling malnutrition and hunger. The covid-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, inflation and localized conflicts all added to food supply disruptions as well as an increase in food prices.

If you'd like to help, please take action with ShareTheMeal.