etjwrites

[etjwrites]

petition to bring back saying "huzzah!" when something goes your way and "alas." when it doesn't

[etjwrites]

I really like my current profile pic, but it's a little out of date now. I'll definitely have to update my author pic in the next book I write.

[etjwrites]

The most human thing a character can do is contradict themselves.

The cynic who still carries a childhood stuffed animal.

The liar who craves honesty.

The overthinker who makes reckless decisions.

The heartbreaker who believes in soulmates.

The pacifist who holds lifelong grudges.

The tough guy who cries during old movies.

The thrill-seeker who's terrified of commitment.

The grump who’s unfailingly polite to waitstaff.

People aren’t consistent. Your characters shouldn’t be either.

[etjwrites]

Fantasy Guide to Political Structures

A Horse! A Horse! My X for a Horse!

Let's be honest, fantasy authors love their kingdoms and empires. You can throw a rock in a bookshop or a library in the fantasy section and you will 99.99999% hit a fantasy book that will be set in or mention either of those structures. But what are they really? What's the difference between them all? Are there any more examples of structures that would suit your WIP better? Are you using the right terms? Let's have a closer look.

Duchy

A Duchy is a small territory ruled by a Duke/Duchess. While Duchies can be found in kingdoms, some duchies were sovereign states in their own right. Duchies are usually small by land mass but some duchies such as Burgundy were extremely powerful and influential. Independent Duchies were usually apart of a kingdom but grew so powerful that they eventually broke away to become a sovereign state in their own right. An example would be modern day Luxembourg, historic Milan and Burgundy.

Principality

A principality is territory ruled by a Prince/Princess. A principality is typically smaller than a kingdom and in some instances, can be apart of a larger kingdom or be a sovereign state. Principalities have a history of having broken away from a larger kingdom or eventually becoming apart of a kingdom. A principality within a kingdom is ruled by a Prince/Princess, usually an heir of the monarch and can be used to train them up to assume the throne in the future. Examples include Monaco, Liechtenstein and Andorra.

Kingdom

A sovereign state/country that is ruled by ruling King or a Queen. A kingdom is much larger and more powerful than a principality. Kingdoms can be feudal, meaning they are ruled in a strict hierarchy or an autocracy where the monarch rules alone with minimal input from the government or constitutional where the monarch is more of a figurehead and the government has a good chunk of control. Examples include England, Thailand and modern day Spain.

Commonwealth

A Commonwealth isn't a popular choice in fantasy but it is an interesting structure. A Commonwealth in its most basic form is a collection of states that are linked by either a shared culture or history. A Commonwealth can be a politically power or an economic power, with every state allowed to participate as much as they like. Not one state leads the others, it is all one group of equals. A Commonwealth can be a good idea for a group of nations that are more powerful together with them keeping their own independence.

Federation

A Federation is a political structure that is made up of united states or countries that are under a single government but each state is still independent and rules itself. Each state can have different laws, different cultures and economies but they all answer to the single government. Examples include the United States of America.

Republic

A Republic is a territory that is ruled by leaders and heads of state that have been elected on merit and by choice of the people. Republics are not just countries but can also be much smaller areas such as cities. Republics are democratic in nature, with the people having a say in who leads them in accordance to a constitution. There are many kinds of Republic: presidential, parliamentary, federal, theocratic, unitary. Examples of Republics include the Republic of Ireland and the city of Florence.

Protectorate

A Protectorate is a country/region/territory that is independent but relies on a larger, more powerful state for protection either in a military or diplomatic sense. A Protectorate was often used by Empires in order to maintain control over an area without annexing it. There are many reasons a larger state and the protectorate would agree to this, mainly the protectorate is much smaller meaning it is far more vulnerable to attack or it has very little power when compared to other states. A Protectorate allows the territory some power to rule itself but the larger state may feel the need or desire to interfere in the dealings of the territory. Examples of protectorates include the client kingdoms of the Roman Empire like Egypt before its annexation and Puerto Rico.

Empire

An Empire is a collection of nations that are united under one sovereign head of state or government. An Empire is formed by one nation steadily taking control of other nations, either through straight invasion and colonization or acquiring them through marriage and other less violent ways. An Empire is powerful mainly because it can drum up more resources, more influence and more military power. An Empire might impose the traditions, beliefs and culture of its principal nation - the nation that started it all - onto its colonies for better control and feeling of uniformity. Empires never last, that is something to always remember. Empires will eventually fragment due to the vast size and sometimes revolt among the conquered states. Examples of empires include the Roman Empire, the Byzantine Empire, the Ottoman Empire.

[etjwrites]

Haha, I love it

local woman has a crush and is very annoyed by it

[etjwrites]

Woke up with exactly how my story needs to end in my mind this morning, quick opened my laptop, and ended up writing 600+ words of the last chapter. 🤩

[etjwrites]

People don’t always say what they mean. They tell themselves they’re fine when they’re breaking. They say “I don’t care” when they do. A character’s actions should sometimes contradict their words. That’s where tension lives.

[etjwrites]

Oh no, that's not proper high tea. 😔

Proper high tea, the host provides everything and you don't have to pay. That's what makes teatime fun, is that you get to go and enjoy yourself and don't need to worry about the cost.

hate getting invited to high tea because it costs too much for what I end up eating which is like 10% of what's there because I'm not a fan of pastries and the little sandwiches often have fillings I don't like

[etjwrites]

A while back I made a video about how to get your iphone to read kindle books aloud to you. As time has passed, updates mean the original method I demoed has to be tweaked to allow this neat hack to keep working.

This video goes over that, though I do recommend watching the original video first for additional context. 📝

[etjwrites]

Take time 4 U. @mingoapparel

LISTEN NOW: https://beacons.ai/donjones

#DonJones #DonJonesMusic #AlwaysActive #VaporwaveHipHop #UKHipHop #IndependentArtist #AvalancheSZN

[etjwrites]

x

[etjwrites]

Numbers that can’t be divisible by 5 are funnier than numbers that can be divided by 5 because they’re needlessly specific. Except in some cases for very small or very large numbers.

The answer to life, the universe, and everything being 42? Funny because it’s needlessly specific.

Patrick from SpongeBob looking at a store stacked with hundreds of mattresses and saying there’s ten of them? Funny because it’s a small number.

If a character wishes to estimate how many soldiers are approaching a nearby town and you want to make it funny you can do one or the other or you can combine the two.

My lord, there are five soldiers coming, we must strengthen our defenses!

Or

How many soldiers are there? Nine thousand, three hundred and forty seven, sir. I counted twice. They lost one the second time to falling off a cliff.

Or

There’s sixteen soldiers approaching, sir. Only sixteen? Yes. It’s a good number, sixteen. Divisible by four.

[etjwrites]

We’ve had a cat fiasco

[etjwrites]

[etjwrites]

lighthouse study. started in sketchbook and finished in procreate

[etjwrites]

My biggest tip for fanfic writers is this: if you get a character's mannerisms and speech pattern down, you can make them do pretty much whatever you want and it'll feel in character.

Logic: Characters, just like real people, are mallable. There is typically very little that's so truly, heinously out of character that you absolutely cannot make it work under any circumstance. In addition, most fans are also willing to accept characterization stretches if it makes the fic work. Yeah, we all know the villain and the hero wouldn't cuddle for warmth in canon. But if they did do that, how would they do it?

What counts is often not so much 'would the character do this?' and more 'if the character did do this, how would they do it?' If you get 'how' part right, your readers will probably be willing to buy the rest, because it will still feel like their favourite character. But if it doesn't feel like the character anymore, why are they even reading the fic?

Worry less about whether a character would do something, and more about how they'd sound while doing it.