katywritesbooks - Tumblr blog

[katywritesbooks]

There are still 2600 of you?!

I've barely posted in 2 years and there's still that many of you?!

[katywritesbooks]

So.... is writblr still a thing?

[katywritesbooks]

My FAVOURITE author VE Schwab talking about the shiny new ideas we get whilst we’re writing.  ENJOY

[katywritesbooks]

It’s that time of year again if anyone fancies it! 

September Writing Challenge

As I could not find a September Writing/Prompt Challenge I decided to make my own! Below are 30 words to be used as prompts. They can be used in ANY way. Think outside the box or do exactly as it says on the tin. What you write can be any length, have any characters. 

Anyone else who decides to give it a go, can you let me know! I’d love to follow all your work :) #septemberwritingchallenge

1. Sun 2. Rain 3. Anniversary 4. Lies 5. Dance 6. Pink 7. Swimming 8. Cat 9. Footsteps 10. Thunder 11. Apples 12. Ink 13. Trees 14. Holiday 15. Glass 16. Sheep 17. Books 18. Heartache 19. Castle 20. Cake 21. Ice 22. Boat 23. Blue 24. Field 25. Run 26. Bench 27. Hunger 28. Whisper 29. Cage 30. Passenger

So, I am going to crack on with the first one now! Hopefully this gets the creative juices flowing again!

[katywritesbooks]

The point of a twist is to enrich a story, not feel superior for outsmarting your audience.

@ The Magicians writers

[katywritesbooks]

I miss you guys!

[katywritesbooks]

[katywritesbooks]

I'm curious--how do you guys go about creating your OCs?

[katywritesbooks]

My character Gage is a demon lawyer. It makes COMPLETE sense

Who wants to hear my new conspiracy theory about lawyers

[katywritesbooks]

[katywritesbooks]

the other day it gave me "Come Buy Knit" instead of combine it

Really, voice-to-text? Goodnuf instead of good enough? Really?

[katywritesbooks]

✨ Some Herbs, Flowers and Plants in Witchcraft✨

ALLSPICE: increase energy, love, healing, luck

ANGELICA: protection, purification

Benefits for health: improve digestion

ARTEMISA: dream divination, clairvoyance

AZUCENA: sentimental improvement, progress, peace  

BASIL: economic success, money, prosperity, peace, protection, happiness, purification, tranquillity, love

BAY: fosters loving vibrations, protection, wards off negativities in a home, success, wisdom, divination

BAY LEAF: protection, purification, healing, strength, good fortune, money and success

BIRCH: protection, purification

BLACK PEPPER: protection, courage  

CALENDULA: happiness, prosperity, love, psychic power, harmony

Benefits for health: treat skin irritation (like eczema, bruises, scars, scrapes)

CARAWAY: protection against negativity, health, mental abilities, fidelity

Benefits for health: antitheft

CARDAMOM: passion, sex, intimacy  

CARNATION: cosmic energy, magic, disease, protection, strength energy, luck, healing

 White: peace, healing

Red: sex, love, passion

Yellow intellectual movement

Rose: disappearance of disagreements  

CHAMOMILE: brings love, healing, relieves stressful situations, prosperity, peace, healing, harmony, happiness

Benefits for health: sooth stomach problems, calm headache, calm nerves

CHICHWEED:

Benefits for health: astringent,  cooling (topically), demulcent, relieves itchiness

CINNAMON: aphrodisiac, passion, love, luck, prosperity, success, raises spiritual vibrations, purification, energy, healing, protection

Benefits for health: antimicrobial, aromatic, astringent, mild stimulant, relieves wind

CLOVE: protection, purification, mental ability, healing

COFFEE: intellect awakening  

COMFREY: health, healing, protection during travel, prosperity

CUMIN: protection spell

DAFFOIL: luck, fertility, love

DAISY: love, flirtation, hope, innocence

DANDELION: divination, interaction with the spirit world, wishes

Benefits for health: bitter tonic, diuretic, liver cleanser,  mild laxative

DILL: good fortune, tranquillity, prosperity, lust, protection

ELACAMPANE: protection, luck, dispels negative vibration, plant spirit communication

EUCALYPTUS: health, healing  

FENNEL: longevity, protection,  healing,  purification  

GARDENIA: harmony, healing, love, peace

GARLIC: protection against evil eye  

GERANIUM: protection, happiness, mental clean up, fertility, love, healing, courage

GINGER:

Benefits for health: fight cold, calm stomach, suppress nausea

HAWTHORN:

Benefits for health:  antioxidant, heart  tonic,  lowers  blood  pressure, relaxes blood vessel

HIBISCUS: divination, dreams, love and lust

HERBABUENA: money, prosperity  

HYACINTH: love, happiness, protection

INCENSE: Spirituality

IRIS: wisdom, valour, peace, harmony, love

IVY: protection, healing

JACINTO: overcoming old pains of love  

JASMINE: divinatory dreams, sexuality, moon, feminine energy, seduction, sensuality, love, meditation, spirituality, harmony, prosperity

LAUREL: success, glory  

LAVENDER: love, peace, restful sleep, clairvoyance, happiness, healing, money, passion, protection, relief from grief, longevity, meditation, harmony, tranquillity, purification

LEMON: happiness, love

LEMON BALM: love, success, healing

Benefits for health: antidepressant, antispasmodic, insect repellent, relaxant, relieves  wind, topical  anti-viral

LEMON VERBENA: love, purification

LILAC: protection, banishing negative energy

LILAS: purification, love  

LILY: helps memory, love, protection, elimination of hexes, rebirth

LILLY OF THE VALLEY: enhances concentration, mental ability, encourage happiness    

MADRESELVA: helps remove the vices and addictions

MAGNOLIA: love

MANZANO: love, happiness  

MARJORAM: happiness, protection, love, joy, courage, health, money

MIMOSA: divinatory dreams, love

MINT: avoid jealousy, dreams, protection, prosperity, joy, fertility, purification, love, success, lust, travel

Benefits for health: calm headache, stimulate appetite, aid digestion, antiseptic,  antispasmodic,  diaphoretic, mild analgesic, mild bitter, mild sedative, relives wind

MEADOWSWEET:

Benefits for health: antacid, anti-inflammatory, anti-rheumatic, astringent

MUGWORT: psychic powers, protection, increases lust and fertility, prophetic dreams, divination, relaxation, tranquillity, banishing, consecration (*Do not ingest, and do not even handle if pregnant*)

NAIL: Protection spells  

NARCISO: Love

NARDO: Love

NETTLE: protection, healing, lust

NUTMEG: Money, prosperity, good luck, protection, psychic abilities, happiness, love, health

PANSY: divination, communication, happiness, love

PARSLEY: Protection in general, power, strength, lust, purification, prosperity  

PATCHOULI: Money, sex  

PEPPERMINT: Purification

PINE: Health, Healing  

POPPY: tranquillity, fertility, prosperity love, sleep, invisibility, money, luck

ROMERO: Longevity, purification, prosperity

ROSE: Love, encourages closeness with nature, healing, divination, tranquillity, harmony, psychic ability, spirituality, protection, luck

Red: passion, peace, welfare  

Yellow: commitments  

White: spiritual love

ROSEMARY: love, lust, promote healthy rest, protection, improving memory, wisdom, health, healing, mental power, purification

Benefits for health: calm headache, stimulate circulatory, nerve and digestive tonic, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antispasmodic

SAFFRON: money, physical movement  

SAGE: longevity, wisdom, protection, dispels negative energy, purification, health, immortality,               wishes

Benefits for health: calm anxiety,  antimicrobial, antioxidant, astringent,         digestive tonic, oestrogenic, general  tonic,reduces sweating

SALVIA: money

SANDALWOOD: spirituality, healing, tranquillity, sexuality, desire.  

SNAPDRAGON: protection from illusion or deception, reflect negative energy

STAR ANISE: peace, tranquillity, awakening of psychic awareness , Luck, spiritual connection, psychic and magical power  

SUNFLOWER: sun, sun energy, happiness, success, health, associated with welcome and family, fertility

THYME : health courage. Eliminates nightmares, Attracts loyalty, affection, psychic abilities  

TULIP: prosperity, abundance, protections, love, happiness

VANILLA: sex

VALERIAN: protection, drives away negativity, purifies sacred space

VERBENA: calm headaches, eases stress, divination, prosperity, reversal of negative activity

VIOLET: peace, hope, harmony, protection, luck, love, sleep, tranquillity, encourage peace among people, calm nightmares, fertility, abundance

WATER LILY: happiness

YARROW: healing, divination, love, promotes courage and confidence

Resources: 

Wicca Herbal Magic by Lisa Chamberlain

Charms, Spells and Herbs by Esteban Portela

The Green Witch by Arin Murphy-Hiscock

Grimoire of a Kitchen Witch by Rachel Patterson

[katywritesbooks]

GUYS. DID YOU KNOW YOU CAN WRITE CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE FICS ON AO3

[katywritesbooks]

Anyone remember this? Should really go back through and edit it but ah well!

Cass pre-Gage

Another snippet! I like this one too :D A nice big bucket of angst. Tell me what you think? Mainly, I want to know if you get a good reading on Cass’s personality or not. Sometimes I feel like all my characters are a bit same-y. So I’d love to know what you think! 

Warning for prostitution. Angst. Quite graphic…. Don’t like, I’d suggest not reading! It is some pretty dark themes.

Tag list: @sleepy-and-anxious @stone-goddess-writing @mezvii @bethwrotethis @paper-shield-and-wooden-sword

Keep reading

[katywritesbooks]

So pretty <3

Have some proof I'm still alive!

The anxiety is very bad and I am struggling a lot but ya boii is still alive!

[katywritesbooks]

Actually... Erm... I care about Hal’s writing. soooooooo feck off anon

Nobody cares about your writing, please stop

Nope. Got too much work to do

[katywritesbooks]

You want to know what’s crazy?

I did creative writing as part of my university degree and our seminar leader for fiction specifically told us: If JKR had handed in Chapter 1 of HP she would have received less than half marks. He said how the first book would not have received decent marks either. 

I write fantasy. Guess who else did not get decent marks in that module? Beginning to wonder if it was less about my work being bad and more about his dislike for fantasy writers. 

how to write like jk rowling

foreshadow foreshadow foreshadow

become a master of chekhov’s gun everything you mention should pay off a hundred pages later or a couple of books later! the diary they had to go back and get? it has voldemort in it! the locket they were polishing? it’s a horcrux! old irrelevant lady? actually a squib watching over you!

write buried clues! like the fact that ginny has a diary is buried under a list of things the weasleys forget and go bring back on the way the king’s cross or the fact that there’s a locket is listed among a ton of things they’re cleaning!

you can also downplay the importance of characters before the big reveal like how harry asks sirius about his brother and he brushes him off as a stupid young boy who joined the death eaters

speaking of characters, jkr says character is plot and that explains how she writes such strong characters take my favourite one for instance sirius black he’s the textbook case of ‘break your characters’ he’s in an abusive household for eleven years, then thrown into a war, and loses his best friend in the whole world, is wrongly imprisoned for twelve years and then jailed in the house of his childhood while everyone is working and YET he is unfailingly kind and doesn’t stray into the dark

and write flawed characters like the kindest, gentlest, wisest character dumbledore. he was not to be trusted with power. 

also speaking of characters, write killer motivations that aren’t always foregrounded classic example is snape’s motivation to lie to voldemort for years. is it right and good? debatable. is it powerful? yes.

next up, worldbuilding. jkr makes us forever in awe of her world and till date we’re all bemoaning the fact that we can’t go to hogwarts and YET there’s a dark side to that world it’s a distorted mirror of our own

write visual spectacles that make your readers go whoa. my favourite moment was the dragon breaking out of gringotts. it was emblematic of injustices in the wizarding world but boy did it make a good shot.

use extended metaphors

give! every! minor! character! their! own! subplot! even! if! it! doesn’t! make! it! into! your! story! standard example: dobby!

make us nostalgic. like hagrid taking harry out of privet drive in the last book just like in the first

in that vein, ring composition!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

be preoccupied with morality and mortality

take away everything your hero has. his parents. his father figure. his wand.

be unkind to your hero but let him win

give children everywhere something to hope for

finally, jkr said by writing harry potter, she came to know for sure that love is the most powerful force use writing to explore your convictions 

if you’re going to tell me what a terrible person jkr is, make your own post this is a writing blog and i worked really hard on scrutinising aspects of her writing which is objectively wonderful

how to write like jk rowing * how to write like shirley jackson

If you found this helpful, consider buying me a virtual coffee to keep me writing.