emberparkerwriteblog

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Hey, I’m really sorry about your phone and everything that’s going on, I would definitely follow you again if you made another blog

Omg, thank you so much. All of this means so much to me, the support I am getting. I'd really like to talk about what is going on so I will probably make some posts on my new blog about it to explain everything

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I realized that I wasn't following you and was like "????" but ofc I will follow you when/if you make a new tumblr!! Just be sure to dm/follow me when you doo

Probably you were following me on my second blog, I have two😁 I only tagged those that were in my follower dash (both of them)

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IMPORTANT!

A lot has been going on in my life, much crazy nerve crushing shit. Everybody knows that I have depression and anxiety, but the worst thing is that my whole family is a shit hole. So because my family keeps getting worse and worse everything keeps going ...well... Worse. Haha okay back to business.

So my phone is broken, yes the one I am currently typing on, and I need a new one. So my boyfriend is giving me an old phone of his but the problem just is that the password for tumblr is gone and with my new phone I couldn't get into tumblr. I can't change the password because it requires the old one... So I will delete my tumblr and try to get the same or similar names. The Name "Ember Parker" is really important to me since Ember is the name of my second favorite character of my own books and Parker is the last name of my favorite character. Or maybe on my new account I will switch that which would be "Emery Silverton" so either way I will make it as possible as possible that you can find me. If you like you can follow me then again and I will also note all the people I follow so I can keep them.

I'm not telling you this because I want pity. I'm teeling you because you all mean so much too me. Especially my writerblr followers because my writing is the only thing that can bring me any joy in my life at the moment, well except my boyfriend @hydclour 😘.

I think you deserve to know what is going on, even though I am not gonna go into detail because that would be too much. I'd just really like to know or to have you back as my followers or the people I follow.

This is not easy for me, to lose my blog. The only thing saving this is the hope that I can come back to this because you decide that you want to follow me again. I can't tag all of you, so please understand if your name is not gonna come up. It's really late and I am under SO much pressure, I just want at least the phone shit to be over.

It would mean so much to me if you could message me or drop an ask to tell me if you will follow me again

@xxbleeding-worthless-ghostxx @halrose @thel3tterm @niki-writes @waterfallwritings @flawlesssin @cookiecutterwrites @patsy-busby @rosesvertes @elizaaaa-v @cold-something @cursed-b0y @satanxiety @someoneyoudontknowexists @madnessandsadnesscontrolmylife @trickstersquill @grudgeghirl @snowdropwrites @theswordofpens @quilloftheclouds @verborgene-wahrheiten @zee-hartly @music-understands-my-pain @tempestuous09 @manofcons @lobotomizedskull @wesiinna @day-before-i-met-you @beddapaparedda @menus8-com @maikosworld01 @wesleyandro @hamburgertuesday @ghost-winds @blissfulxecstasy @rlv29 @hiraeth-mira @jecikapecika @ruki-nozaka @definitlynotafiredemon @kaiasinclair @devoworak @chavawrites @p-oine @adaughterofathena @theliteraryarchitect @panicaid @write-all-about-it @a-wise-man-once-told-me

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“Start writing, no matter what. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on.”

— Louis L’Amour

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gentle writing reminder that not every line has to be pure gold!! in fact, not every line should be all profound and deep. you have to set things up, and simple action and dialogue and description will happen and that’s okay! not every word you write has to be earth shattering!!!!! writing and building worlds takes a lot and you cant expect every sentence to be profound. this is okay! this is normal! what’s important is getting the words out and writing what needs to be written, and i’m sure there will be some gems in there!

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ways your characters can show varying emotions

to show sadness (grief, sorrow):

- sharply sucking in a breath

- hiccuping from crying so hard

- uncontrollable sobbing

- slumped shoulders, head down

- weather can be used to show emotions — not just rain, but a shining sun and birds chirping contrasts well with a grieving character

- depending on the person, sadness can result in lashing out at others for no reason or shutting everyone out

to show anger (rage, frustration)

- red face, fists clenched

- narrow eyes

- sharp comebacks, gritting teeth

- the air around them is tense

- others may be silent, ignoring whoever they’re angry at

- inhales

- angry. tears.

- kicking, punching, slapping

to show shock (hurt, confusion)

- wide, confused eyes

- freezing in place

- collapsing to their knees

- silent and blank-faced

- ignoring everything else happening around them

to show happiness (joy, delight)

- bright eyes

- crinkles around their eyes from smiling so much

- laughter!

- optimism

- playful, laid back nature

- the weight being lifted off their shoulders

- relaxed sigh

if you’d like me to do more of these, please like and reblog, and follow for more!

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How to write about Grief:

There is no right or wrong way to experience grief. Just as there is no right or wrong way to write it. Everyone is different, each set of circumstances are different. 

The point of this post is to show you how different people react in different ways, and give points on how you might write that, depending on your character and story.

Reactions to Grief

Numbness: Your character may go into auto-pilot and be unable to process the events that have unfolded.

Anger: This can be aimed at other people, at a Higher Being, or at nothing in particular.

Unsteady: Your characters may be unsteady. For example, unable to stop their voice from shaking or they may find it difficult to stand.

Focusing on Others: Your character may disregard their own feelings because they are so overwhelmed and instead concentrate on someone else’s well-being. 

Seek out routines: Amid upheavals, your character may seek comfort in tasks that are familiar and “safe,” such as working, cleaning, making their bed, making absurd amounts of tea or taking a morning walk.

Pretending that Everything Is Okay: Grief is viewed as an emotion that should cease or be concealed once the funeral is over. So people mention the news in an offhand comment, then talk and laugh as if all is right with the world.

Denial: Some people deny the reality of death and convince themselves that the news is a joke or can’t be true.

Reactions from people surrounding your character:

People may avoid your character as they do not know what to say or simply can’t find the right words.

Some may even go as far as to cross the street when they notice your character approaching.

Even people that the character has known for years may act strange or standoff-ish, simply because they don’t know what to say.

On the other side of that, some people may be overly helpful and friendly.

It is not uncommon for estranged friends, family or others to suddenly reappear in a person’s life after they have experienced grief. 

Either because those people want to offer their support and love  or because they’re being nosy and they want to be kept up to date on the “drama”.

Most people will move on from the event fairly quickly if they weren’t emotionally invested. 

Some people may even get annoyed at your character for still being upset weeks or months later.

When talking about the person they have lost:

Your character may recall a memory or tell a story about their loved one, these are possible reactions. (I have encountered all of them.)

Your character may being to cry or get upset at the thought of the person they have lost. 

The person they are talking to may become awkward and avert eye contact when your character brings up the person they have lost. 

Others may ask or tell your character to stop talking about the person they have lost. They may roll their eyes, cough awkwardly, or cut off your character mid sentences so that they can change the subject.

Some people may ask inappropriate questions about the circumstances in which the character’s loved one passed away. Depending on the personality of your character then may react differently. 

Other things to note:

Grief is not constrained by time. 

One of the main problems with grief in fiction is that a character is typically heartbroken for a couple scenes and then happy again. But grief does not evaporate because the world needs saving. 

Allow your character to wrestle with their grief. 

Your character may feel guilty. Your character may feel a twinge of guilt when they laugh or have a good time with someone else; when they do something to remind them that they’re alive, and their loved one isn’t. 

Grief is a game changer. A previously outgoing character may withdraw and isolate themselves. Some people may take grief and/or bereavement as a sign that life is too short; they may make big decisions in an attempt to make themselves feel better and grow away from their pain.

Sometimes grief can help you find your purpose.

At first grief can be all consuming. It hurts and you can’t really control it. It may seem unrelenting. Eventually the grief will become easier to deal with, your character may find the days to be better, but that doesn’t mean that when the grief hits it doesn’t hurt any less.

For most people, grief never really goes away. “Sometimes you have to accept the fact that certain things will never go back to how they used to be.”

It is rare that a person will ever give a long speech about their feelings, a lot of people struggle to even find the words. But that’s okay. Show the reader how your character feels, rather than just telling them.

Don’t pause the plot to deal with the aspect of grief. This could overwhelm the readers and drag the pace down. In reality, life doesn’t just stop due to grief, the world keeps spinning and things still need to be done. Use the character’s grief as a backdrop for the story’s events.  

Yes, grief affects the character’s day-to-day life, goals, and relationships. But it shouldn’t drive readers away or stagnate the story. Instead, should engage readers and produce empathy that keeps them turning pages.

You don’t need to tell your readers that everything will be fine. You don’t need to provide all of the answers.

“Skirting grief and treating it lightly is easy. But by realistically portraying it through a variety of responses and its lasting effects on the character’s life, readers will form a connection with your characters.“

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WORDS TO USE INSTEAD OF: BEAUTIFUL

Do you ever find yourself over-using the word “beautiful” to describe things/people/etc in your writing? Try using these words instead:

stunning

gorgeous

breathtaking

mesmerizing

lovely

beauteous

cute

alluring

charming

dashing

pretty

majestic

ravishing

dazzling

striking

adorable

enticing

captivating

dreamy

astonishing

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How to: write pain

Don't make paragraphs about it - battles are supposed to be fast-paced

Describe:

- the object used to harm the character

-where the injury is

-how long the character had had the injury

-how deep the cut is (for blades)

-whether or not the wound triggers other things (dizziness, bleeding)

There are different kinds of pain

punch/blunt force trauma:

-how it feels: aching, a single spike of pain before it fades into an ache, throbbing, numbness

-effects: swelling, bruising, broken bones, unconsciousness, dizziness, concussion, internal bleeding.

stab wound/cut

-how it feels: stinging (shallow wounds), burning

-effects: bleeding (the blood from arteries is a brighter red, like vermilion, the blood from veins is dark crimson), dizziness from the blood loss, unconsciousness, infection (if left unattended), death

gunshot

-how it feels: depends on the caliber bullet, from how far away they were shot and in what place

-effects: same as stab wounds

Things that an injured character may have/do

-heavy, harsh, ragged breathing

-panting, gasping, crying, grunting, hissing, groaning, whimpering, screaming, shrieking, clenching their teeth

-ears ringing, unable to speak

-pressing their hands on the injury to try and stop the bleeding, trembling, eyes rolling up into their head

-vision blurring, room spinning

Where to hit in a fight

temple and jaw - good for a knockout punch, but are near the skull so it will be dangerous if you miss (it can broke/dislocate your fingers)

nose/eyes - messes up the senses and distracts the opponent

neck: can mess up breathing, talking and the spinal cord

inner elbow: can disable the opponent's arm

solar plexus: hard to hit but very effective

liver: causes immediate pain, dizziness and loss of breath

kidneys

groin

outer/inner thighs

knees

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But not getting into a fight stops the injury for both the opponents :)

(thank you very much for all the support!!! i appreciate every single reblog/like/comment 💕 I'm happy I could help you)

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Things to Consider when Creating a Magic System

What are the drawbacks of using magic? Does it have mental, physical, and/or emotional consequences for the user?

What tools are needed to harness magic? Wands? Spells? Magical artifacts?

How do people learn magic? Instinct? In school? From family members?

Can everyone use magic or are only certain people capable of using it?

Is the capability to use magic hereditary? What about different ways of using magic (transformation powers, teleportation, etc.)?

What is impossible for magic to do?

How long does it take to master different magical skills?

Can creatures other than humans learn magic? Are different creatures better at using different kinds of magic?

Does it require spells to be spoken, written, or thought?

Is it possible for someone to lose their magical abilities?

How do characters’ emotions affect their ability to use magic? Do their emotions affect the magic’s intensity or controllability? 

How does the strength of a person’s magical abilities change as they age?

Can people normally perform any kind of magic or can they only perform things that fall under their specialty? Are their exceptions?

What rules restrict magic use in society?

How do people’s magical abilities impact their career prospects?

What kinds of magic are the most feared or seen as the most powerful? Which are seen as mere jokes?

How do people use magic to help with everyday tasks?

Can magical energy be stored for later use?

What objects or other factors can amplify someone’s magical powers?

When do magical abilities initially manifest? From birth? At a certain age? Under certain conditions?

What is the first spell a character is likely to learn?

What happens if a spell is performed incorrectly? Nothing at all? A weaker version of the intended results? Pain?

Can different spell casting methods be used to obtain the same result? What are their advantages and disadvantages?

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do i need to say more

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Narrative Anchors: How to hold your readers’ attention, wherever you take them.

One of my old fiction professors, Tom, used to always grab coffee with us students whenever our story had been workshopped.

We’d meet at the downtown coffee shop, where we fought the flocks of students for a table, pulled out a couple wrinkled copies of the story, and discussed feedback over bland coffee.

It was during one of these discussions that Tom pointed out something I’d stumbled into doing well. (He’s very good at that.)

“I think this is great, Mike,” he said, tapping my story on the table. “From the opening line, the question is whether these two will sleep together, and that grounds us. If my attention ever wavers, I can always fall back on, ‘Oh, well have they slept together yet? No, not yet? Okay, cool. I still know where we are, then, and where we’re headed.’ That makes the story easy to follow.”

This wasn’t, admittedly, a major focus of our conversation. We moved on to discuss more important things (like the story’s key flaws), but somehow that comment stuck with me over the years.

And now, looking back, I realize it was the first time I started thinking about something I’d eventually call “narrative anchors.”

What’s a narrative anchor?

It’s something I made up. But trust me, it’s helpful.

In short, I consider narrative anchors to be the craft elements you include in a story to ground your reader. On the one hand, they can help you craft a story that rings with simple, crystal clarity, and on the other hand, they can empower you to challenge readers with fresh, creative storytelling, without ever losing them at sea.

I put narrative anchors into three categories:

Plot Anchors

Character Anchors

Style Anchors

Plot Anchors

Plot anchors are a clearly defined situation, goal, or destination for a story. Tom (above) pointed out a situational plot anchor in my story, but you’ll find plot anchors everywhere. For example, in Avatar: The Last Airbender, Aang needs to master the four elements and defeat Fire Lord Ozai. We know from the beginning that defeating Ozai is the end-goal, so we feel grounded at every stage of the story, knowing where we’re going.

Moby-Dick, by Herman Melville, is another great example. Ahab is hellbent on hunting down the White Whale, and we never lose sight of that goal, even as the narrative stretches across hundreds of pages.

That’s the point of a plot anchor: to give your reader a clear direction, so they always know where they’re going.

Character Anchors

These anchors are the clear motivations and arcs you give your characters. Disney does this well in their musicals, always using an “I want song” (more about those here) to clearly declare what their main characters want: Mulan wants to express her true self, Hercules wants to find where he belongs, and so on. The rest of the story then circles around that character’s pursuit of their “want.”

When readers have a strong understanding of your character’s motivation and journey, they have a much easier time following the story as a whole.

Style Anchors

Style anchors are my handy little catch-all for every other craft choice you make to bring clarity and simplicity to your work. Style anchors can include: short chapters or paragraphs; simple and accessible language; straightforward writing forms; clarity of description; engagement with the five senses; using a smaller cast of characters; sticking to a single POV; and so on.

Cool. So when (and how) do I use these narrative anchors?

Tip 1: Don’t start with anchors. Start with the story. Take your idea, begin developing the characters and plot, and start writing.

Tip 2: As you write and revise, start thinking about anchors. Ask yourself what kinds of anchors you already have in place, what others may be helpful to add, and whether or not you’re doing enough to ground your readers in the story.

Tip 3: Consider your audience. Readers of popular fiction will want to be reasonably grounded, so you should try to always use at least a few anchors. But if your audience likes super artsy, experimental fiction, you may be able to get away with fewer tethers.

Tip 4: That being said, don’t be afraid to challenge your readers, whoever they are. If you want to get creative, go for it. If you want to experiment with form, language, plot, character arcs, or whatever, PLEASE do!

Tip 5: But when you challenge readers one way, try to compensate by grounding them in other ways. For example, maybe your story lacks a clear plot anchor, but you include a character with a clear arc and motivation. Or maybe your story is incredibly challenging on a stylistic level, but you give readers a clear character motive and plot (this was my experience reading Moby-Dick).

Tip 6: If big anchors don’t fit, consider smaller ones. For example, if your story lacks a BIG plot anchor like defeating Fire Lord Ozai, maybe use smaller plot anchors to drive individual sections of the book. Or maybe instead of a BIG declaration of your character’s motive at the beginning, include little anchors for your narrator that act like breadcrumbs for their motives and development.

Tip 7: Mix and match anchors as necessary, because there is no magic formula.

Long story short?

Write the story you want to write — then use narrative anchors to keep your readers reading, wherever your story takes them.

Tom may not have said that all in so many words, but if I bought him a coffee, I bet he’d agree.

Good luck, everybody, and good writing!

— — —

Everyone has stories worth telling. If you’re looking for writing advice or tips on crafting theme, meaning, and character-driven plots, check out the rest of my blog.

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Remember, you don’t have to make your villain have a complex backstory and/or motivations. Sometimes a purely evil villain is a good thing.

If your villain is skinning puppies and beheading children, there’s no backstory in the world that really justifies that.

Sometimes villains that are evil for the sake of being evil are fine. And don’t let any hoe tell you otherwise.

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How to Convey an Established Relationship Quickly

I was once reading two story openings that were frankly amazing at conveying an established relationship in a matter of pages or even paragraphs. Many stories revolve around the protagonist meeting new people, such as in a typical Hero’s Journey plot. But perhaps even more stories (and often including even the Hero’s Journey to some extent) revolve around relationships that are established before the novel begins.

Many new writers have a difficult time conveying such relationships quickly, and to be honest, it can even be tricky for more experienced writers to figure out sometimes, especially if the relationship is very significant.

Whether you are working with best friends, significant others, parents and children, schoolmates, rivals, or downright enemies, here are several methods to help with that.

1. Communicate What’s Normal.

Every established relationship has been … well … established, meaning it has behaviors and attitudes that are typical in it. In one of the story openings I read, the protagonist had to deal with two, mean, cruel older sisters. First the meanness was rendered, and then validated through narration. In the second one, what was normal of two brothers was simply conveyed through the way they talked to one another. In both cases, I immediately had context for what was typical.

2. Refer to or Imply an Off-Page History.

Every established relationship has a history: how the characters met, what events have taken place between them, and how they got to where they are now. In some cases, they may have a “reoccurring history.” For example, every Saturday they happened to both be at the dog park, and that’s how they became friends (or enemies).

3. Have a Character Predict How the Other Will Behave or React.

This immediately conveys that these two people know each other very well. Again, it can be more reoccurring: “Samantha always got cranky when she ran out of chocolate.” Or a specific moment: “I could already picture Monica’s eye roll before I delivered the news.”

4. If the Relationship is Long-Term, Give Us a Sense of How it has Changed.

A lot can change between first falling in love and being married for ten years. Whether it’s a friendship, partnership, or even an enemy, naturally there will be some degree of growth or at least change. Give us a glimpse of how the relationship we see on the page now is different than it was before.

5. Round out Likeness with Foiling, or Opposition with Likeness.

One of the mistakes that is easy to make is to have participants in a positive relationship exactly the same, or participants in a negative relationship exactly opposites. But almost nothing can make a relationship feel more authentic and well-rounded quicker than having some of both. This means that even two best friends should disagree with or dislike each other to some extent, in some aspect. It’s better if you can even make them opposites in some way. On the other hand, with an enemy, there should be some similarity and likeness between the characters, maybe even admiration (even if the viewpoint character doesn’t want to admit it). This will immediately make the relationship feel more complex.

For a more in-depth look at these some of these points and at creating powerful positive relationships between characters, check out my article “Creating Relationships Readers Can’t Resist.”

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