kurosakiamiwrites-blog - Tumblr blog

[kurosakiamiwrites-blog]

[kurosakiamiwrites-blog]

for all you writers out there:

donjon has tons of generators. for calendars. for demographics of a country and city. for names (both fantastical and historical) of people, nations, magics, etc.

this site lets you generate/design a city, allowing you to choose size, if you want a river or coast, walls around it, a temple, a main keep, etc.

this twitter, uncharted atlas, tweets generated maps of fantasy regions every hour.

and vulgar allows you to create a language, based on linguistic and grammatical structures!!! go international phonetic alphabet!!!

[kurosakiamiwrites-blog]

I’ve been stuck for a while without being able to write anything and then today I said: “well, let’s just make them do something that wasn’t in the plans” and TADAH! I’ve written!

Also, have a cosplaying!Reborn from a future WSCS chapter:

“Oh, good,” Renato says, and Harry turns to look at him. He gapes again as he finds the man dressed like any wizard Harry had seen back in Diagon in his first visit to the place, robes and pointy hat included. When did he have the time to change? And why the fake mustache?! “Then my sources were accurate. What do you see, Harry?”

[kurosakiamiwrites-blog]

Wisps of Smoke Teaser

For a very future chapter of Wisps of Smoke and Colourful Souls (khr/hp; future Harry/Reborn; Soulmate!AU)

The little bit of awareness he had gotten back disappears completely as he’s drowned in a wave of pure, unadulterated hate. He gathers his energy, his will, his magic, and he’s just about to do… something with his Flames that he will never be able to take back, when a sense of calmness crashes into him as if from above, merging into his agitated Flames and sinking into his core.

The white noise fades, little by little, and he blinks, feeling a little drowsy and out-of-sorts. He’s being held. By who?

“Are you okay there, Harry?” a known voice asks, and Harry squints as he tries to focus on the blurry face hovering over him. Nice hair, strong eyebrows, brown eyes—

“Cedric?” he asks, frowning. His voice comes out all wrong and slurry.

“Sorry, sorry. This is—I did something, but I’m not sure what, and now you and that,” he looks nervously to the side, and Harry remembers there was someone else there with them, “that man are kinda sleepy? Well, no, you are, he’s out cold, and—”

“Cedric. Ced.” Harry blinks quickly, trying to wake up his brain. His eyes finally focus and he can see Cedric’s expression, full of fear and confusion and determination, and there, barely visible around him, a shuddering hint of blue.

[kurosakiamiwrites-blog]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: 機動戦士ガンダム 鉄血のオルフェンズ | Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Kudelia Aina Bernstein/Atra Mixta Characters: Kudelia Aina Bernstein Additional Tags: Post-Canon, Canonical Character Death Series: Part 2 of Janelle Monáe Lyrics Prompt Table, Part 3 of 100 Fandoms Challenge Summary:

The bracelet was a promise. A promise to love and be loved, a promise of belonging, and it might have seemed childish and ridiculous from the outside, a dream of youths on the brink of tragedy, but—

It meant the world to her, back then when everything around her was falling apart.

[kurosakiamiwrites-blog]

7-7-7 WIP Game

Go to your current WIP. Find the seventh line on the seventh page and copy and paste seven sentences below. Then tag seven other writers to do the same. 

(Because it sounded fun, so why not?)

From the rewrite of Wisps of Smoke and Colourful Souls I started in January!

And the second, well. The incident at the zoo during Dudley’s birthday convinced Renato it couldn’t be Flames, because if there was any kind of Flame that gave their users ability to talk to animals—or snakes, whatever—the fact would be already widely known in the underworld.

So Renato was pretty sure that Harry’s abilities did not rely on Dying Will Flames at all, and had accepted that fact long before the boy’s birthday arrived.

That’s probably the only reason why he isn’t overly surprised when Harry lets him know the night of July thirty-first that a suspicious letter had arrived for him that morning, claiming that he is a wizard and that he has been enrolled in a school for magic.

Magic, of all things.

“And what did you do?” he asks, curious about the way Harry handled the situation.

“Um,” Harry says sheepishly.

Tagging whoever wants to do this!

[kurosakiamiwrites-blog]

Besides Fantasy Name Generator and Behind the Name, are there any other naming sites you'd recommend?

i’ve recommended some of these before, so bear with me if anyone has seen these! i’ve used these sites for years bc they work incredibly well. 

this site has a great “creative” option for those people who want their names to sound more fantastical 

this site has a ton of fantastic lists as well as a name hunter option 

this site allows you to come up with different spellings for any given name, as does this one 

this one allows you to punch in origin and gender 

this site is a particular favorite bc it allows you to enter suffixes, prefixes, certain letters you want the name to contain, the gender, the meaning/origin, and the number of syllables in a name

this one has a selection of uncommon names

this one is fairly standard, but it’s definitely worth a look

this one is also fairly standard, but it’s useful

this one is fantastically organized by origin or ethnicity

and this is one i particularly like perusing

i hope these help! :)

[kurosakiamiwrites-blog]

Y’all I read a lot of scripts. And the one note I give over and over and over and over to the point that I can pretty much copy and paste it from one review to another…. let your characters lie. Let them omit, stumble, and circumvent. Allow them to be completely unable to express what they’re feeling. Make them unable to admit a truth. Let them sit in silence because they can’t think of anything clever to say! Let them say the exact wrong thing!

Dee Rees talks about it in her BAFTA lecture (which you should ABSOLUTELY WATCH): that what your character actually says should be three degrees of separation away from what they mean to say.

I read script after script after script where characters articulate their needs, desires, and objectives with perfect accuracy off the cuff 24/7 and there is not one single human person on this planet who is actually able to do that. This is the #1 thing that’s going to make your script sound stilted and the #1 thing that’s going to make shit difficult on your actors. Let them shut up, and let them lie.

[kurosakiamiwrites-blog]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: 镇魂 | Guardian (TV) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Shěn Wēi/Zhào Yúnlán Characters: Zhào Yúnlán, Shěn Wēi, Zhāng Shí, Members of SID Additional Tags: Fix-It, Post canon Summary:

The Hallows correct a wrong.

[kurosakiamiwrites-blog]

Guide To Writing Faded Love

WORDSNSTUFFBLOG.COM HAS NOW LAUNCHED!

– This is a thorough guide to writing love that has faded, either quickly or over time, and hopefully you romance writers will find it useful. There’s some general tips outlined, some common questions answered, and some resources linked at the bottom. Happy writing!

You can also find this article (and more) at wordsnstuffblog.com

Patreon // Ko-Fi || Masterlists || Work In Progress || Studyblr || Studygram

The Slow Reveal

It’s important to slowly reveal why the love faded, and the manner in which it did. Was it a slow, slippery fall into a routine of just.. not trying? Was it a quick burst of passion that lead to quick commitment and then ended up being extremely short? Reveal that to the reader, and do it carefully. Tug at their heartstrings, and make them feel it. Don’t reveal it too quick either. Show them the good days, and then show them rotting. It’s that much more bitter sweet that way.

Bring The Characters To Unpack The Big Issue

It’s important to remember that your story will actually read by real people, and whether or not you mean for it to, the story will send a message. It’s vital to keep in mind that no matter the ending to your lovers’ story, they need to be the ones to propel it. No exterior factor can fix or break a relationship. Financial struggle, infidelity, distance, difference, and betrayal are not the causes of a failed relationship, or a faded love. A good rule of thumb is to think “if this factor couldn’t bring the love back, then it couldn’t drive it away either”, and that will always bring you to the conclusion that the only thing that can resolve an issue is the lovers themselves.

Let The Characters Grow, Even If Apart

Not all faded love comes back. Not all faded love stays dull forever. What’s more important than the love returning, is the fate of those who felt it in the first place. Both characters should learn something important, and both characters should be on the path to where they’re meant to be by the end, even if that isn’t with each other.

Love Is A Choice, Not A Chance

I know this is a difficult thing to understand, especially with the way love it typically framed in fiction, but at the heart of every larger-than-life romance, is the choice that was made to conceive it. Love is preserved in the choices people make to keep it alive. There isn’t a person out there who would tell you that they had a perfect love story without any compromise or conscious decision to stay and conserve it. If the love has gone away, it’s not because the couple was unlucky, it’s because one or both of them made a choice. Explain what choice(s) that was and why it was made in the first place.

The Little Things Build Up

It is never one big event or argument or struggle that makes love fade. It’s lots of little things, that each partner overlooks because “it’s not a big deal”, “they’ll get over it”, or “we’ve been through worse and gotten through it”. Show this, and make it hit home. This is the time to insert relatability, and the time to make the reader reflect on their own relationship(s), past or present. 

Common Struggles

~ Couples who recognize early on that the fire is going out… There are three types of couples: the ones who try desperately to fix it before it gets critical, the ones who let it simmer and get worse, or the ones who give up immediately. Determine which type your couple is based on their personalities and motivations, then go from there.

~ Depicting faded love vs. evolved relationship dynamic… Faded love is just that. When two people love each other, it’s easy to tell that they’re more comfortable than they are bored or even unhappy. Show this through the little things, and through the way both parties react in mundane situations. 

For instance, when choosing a paint color, two people who love each other may bicker, but it would show that they’re both confident that no matter the outcome, it will be a compromise and that the tension won’t long because, in the end, it’s just paint. For a couple whose love has faded, the paint would act as a channel for bigger issues, and the argument wouldn’t really be about paint. That would show in the way their argument escalates.

~ Showing the confusion between love and infatuation… This isn’t always the case for faded love, and for the most part I’d say it usually isn’t because time passing is a major factor in this category of failed relationship, but two people failing to differentiate these two things can often lead to what is mistaken for faded love. Your love can’t fade if you were only ever infatuated with each other, so be careful in this territory. 

Stories that are meant to be about faded love, but are based on infatuation that went too far, often fall flat, and the necessary trends that are exclusively for faded love will leave a nasty taste in the reader’s mouth. Arguments between two people who loved each other, but now don’t, are completely different than ones between two people who thought they were in love, but never were. The latter often comes across as abuse, rather than tragic loss of true connection, because the tropes don’t work.

~ How do you show what love fading feels like?… You have to have experience, or have a really practical imagination. Simply, put yourself into different shoes, even if they’re yours from the past, and trust your instincts based on what you have been through. We all know someone who has experienced this in some form, if not ourselves, so don’t be ashamed of asking for others’ stories and recollection. Emotional research is just as valid as any other, and just like representing a mental illness, you will be representing this experience differently than anyone else has ever felt it, so accept that. 

~ Parents hiding their situation from the kids… This is a tricky one, because this area is where it gets real, and it starts insinuating aspects of your perspective. A lot of  why a lot of couples who don’t love each other stay together (realistically) is religion, traditional values, and shame. These are viewed very differently by any given reader, and is the easiest spot to push some buttons and accidentally push your personal voice through to the point of them noticing. 

That aside, I would approach this, like the emotional aspect, from an empathetic angle. Imagine how the kids would feel, how the tension would build, why it would build, how the parents would feel, how the parents’ interactions with the kids would be impacted, etc. Simply, put some time aside to think long and hard about this situation and all its implications.

~ How would a couple revive their love for one another?… That depends on the individuals in the relationship. As I said before, there are three ways a couple would respond to this, and the way they respond greatly impacts the way they would solve the issue. Some would fight for a while and wait for the love to just.. come back. Some would simply call it quits. Some would be in complete denial. You decide, and base it on the characters’ personalities and motivations. Not just what they want in general, but what they want out of the relationship, because whatever they have to fight for is what will determine they strategy they use to do so.

Resources

Angst Prompts

How To Make A Scene More Heartfelt

20 Mistakes To Avoid When Writing Young Adult Fiction/Romance

A Guide To Tension & Suspense In Your Writing

Writing Arguments Between Characters

Pros and Cons of Different Points Of View

Tips On Writing Intense Scenes

Resources For Romance Writers

Useful Writing ResourcesUseful Writing Resources II

Resources For Describing Emotions

Giving Characters Bad Traits

Support Wordsnstuff!

FIND MORE ON WORDSNSTUFFBLOG.COM

If you enjoy my blog and wish for it to continue being updated frequently and for me to continue putting my energy toward answering your questions, please consider Buying Me A Coffee, or pledging your support on Patreon.

Request Resources, Tips, Playlists, or Prompt Lists

Instagram // Twitter //Facebook //#wordsnstuff

FAQ //monthly writing challenges // Masterlist

MY CURRENT WORK IN PROGRESS (Check it out, it’s pretty cool. At least I think it is.)

Studyblr || Studygram

Check out my YouTube Channel!

[kurosakiamiwrites-blog]

Things about wearing ballgowns that your research might not teach you

Inspired by my experiences in the opera I’m starring in right now, in which I wear a big ol’ Baroque-style ballgown that I was NOT prepared to deal with. I felt like writing some of this stuff out might be helpful to other writers since we all adore pretty dresses and being particular about random details. If your character wears a big fat ballgown on a regular basis, they’ll be used to most of these things and might not even think about them, but it’s worth remembering this stuff on our end! I’m firmly convinced that part of Cinderella’s magic makeover was a time-stopped tutorial on how to survive wearing one of these things. 

I’m not gonna go into detail about basic stuff that you can learn from Google, this is more about the physical experience of the dress, so like… don’t take my word as gospel. Just take it as an interesting perspective, that might prove useful if you’re hoping to write that fancy ball scene or (BIG OOF) dressing a character in one of these outfits who’s not used to wearing one. 

Despite what the YA writers tell you, corsets are actually pretty damn comfortable when they’re adjusted correctly! Like, they’re better than bras, they make your boobs look great AND they don’t have itchy underwires. There have been a few periods during which lacing corsets ultra-tight was trendy–the Victorian era where fainting was considered fashionable comes to mind–but that doesn’t apply to all of fashion history. 

My experience with corsets is that they limit your range of motion at the waist, you have to lean over at the hip instead, but you end up with great posture. Plus they can do wonders for your figure, depending on the style. 

Corsets can be laced up to suit your needs! Fashion may be fashion, but if you’re writing a fictional character in a gown who still needs/wants mobility, they could always have their attendants lace them to a looser setting. They don’t have to be restrictive. There are a lot of things preventing my mobility or breathing in this gown but the corset isn’t one of them. 

Depending on the fashion, your sleeves might limit your range of motion a lot. Synthetic modern fabrics are a gift, and we tend to take for granted how freely you can move your arms in a lot of modern clothing, but older or heavier fabrics will prevent you from doing certain things if they’re tailored closely to your body. Don’t expect to always bend your elbows particularly far, or raise your arms above shoulder height. 

In many gowns, you can do this, and you should be able to, but it’s not a automatic given.

The biggest challenge to moving around in a big ballgown isn’t the corset, it’s the skirt itself. Hoop skirts are HEAVY. According to my costumer friends, the gown I wear in the opera weighs in at around 45 pounds–as much as some Medieval suits of plate armor! That weight is concentrated in the skirt, which has 5 or 6 layers of material. You can easily research what those layers are, but no amount of Google prepares you to actually carry them on your body. You’ll mostly hold this weight on your hips and waist, where the skirt attaches to the rest of the outfit. It’s not actually that uncomfortable, it’s just a lot of stuff in the way of your usual movement. 

Also, I mean, it’s a big heavy skirt with lots of pretty layers that reaches all the way to the floor. It’s easy to accidentally step on it if you’re not careful, or if you’re moving too fast. 

Dancing in a ballgown is surprisingly strenuous, it’s why a lot of those fancy court dances don’t involve a lot of movement beyond basic small steps. You get sweaty fast, and your feet get tired. 

You can run in a hoop skirt, but you’ve gotta grab it like you see Cinderella do in the movies, and you can’t be gentle about that. You have to reach all the way through the layers and grab the hoops underneath the rest of the skirt. They can be tricky to find, and if you’re dainty and gentle because you’re scared of hurting the dress then you might never get a hold on one. 

Re: that last point, hoop skirts are basically giant suction cups. The more layers, the more suction. If you kneel down on the ground in one of these babies, it’ll be tricky to stand back up! Sitting in a chair may also have this effect, but it’s not nearly as intense, you’ll usually be okay. In order to counteract the suction effect, it helps to get a firm hold on one of the hoops in the skirt and lift it up just before you stand–this way, air can get in underneath you, and you won’t be stuck down. 

I’m not kidding about the suction. Seriously. I almost face-planted in my first dress rehearsal because I had no idea that the costumers were that serious. 

When you stand up in a ballgown after sitting or kneeling, it also helps to lean backwards. It’s counterintuitive, but the skirt is heavier in back than in front if you’re wearing a bumroll, so you’ll have an easier time if the front comes up first. 

You cannot put one of these on by yourself. You cannot put one of these on with only one person helping you. You’re gonna need at least two people to get all the layers of skirt on over your head, and one of them will also have to know how to lace up your corset. 

On the dressing end: lacing a corset is harder than you think it is. Even if you’re lacing it up loosely for flexibility or breathing room, you need a bit of force. You can’t be a wimp about this. Think about lacing a boot, you can feel inside the boot that it’s still not tight enough on your foot but you’ve gotta put muscle into the shoelaces to get them tight enough. 

Spinning Cinderella-style in a ballgown is basically mandatory. It’s actually good for the skirt, if anything gets wonky while you’re sitting or adjusting yourself then a good spin clears it right out! This is a justified opportunity for costume porn. 

You won’t fit anywhere. This should be obvious, but again, double down on your assumptions. A normal-sized door will not accommodate you. Palace hallways are the size they are for a reason. A suitor who wants to hold your hand will need to either stand inside your skirt or wait for you to extend your arm allll the way out. Hugging someone in a hoop skirt may knock them over. 

So yeah! Don’t take any of this as gospel, this is just my personal experience with wearing period costume, but a lot of this stuff never occurred to me when I was writing my own fancy ball scenes and it would have changed a lot of my writing choices. Feel free to add on with your own experiences or correct me if I’ve mis-described something! :)

[kurosakiamiwrites-blog]

SITES FOR WRITERS

Fantasy name generator

Fighter’s block - try to defeat a monster by writing

Child’s Traits Calculator ; predict a child’s appearance 

Child’s Traits Calculator ; predict other traits

Fifty Plot Twist Ideas For Your Work-In-Progress!

Name generator (Character, Baby, Last name, etc.)

Plot generator ; Inspiration for your next novel, film or short story

Character generator ; Generate Rich Characters in Seconds

Writing Exercises ;  This site provides (completely free) writing prompts and exercises to help you get started with creative writing and break through writing blocks. 

Notebook ; create your characters, worlds, objects, places, etc. and save them

Festisite ; Create a fake license, marriage certificate, credit card, ticket and you can find other stuff as well.

The most common last names in the US

Lists of most common surnames

List of most popular given names

List of the least common surnames [last names] in America, rank 16,001-20,000

Fantasy name generator (again)

Random Name Generator (Choose origins, gender, etc.)

Said is dead (Remember that you can use said, don’t use it to less.)

How Much Blood Can The Human Body Lose? 

How Long Can Someone Go Without Breathing?

The 6 Types of Collars Every Man Should Know by Name 

18 Different Types of Sleeves Design Patterns

What are the most widely practiced religions of the world?

Differences Between a Short Story, Novelette, Novella, & a Novel

Hemingway editor ;  It grades your writing by its readability. 

Zen writer ; writing without distractions (Might not be free after a while)

33 Ways to Write Stronger Characters

75+ bad habits for your character

30 SCENE IDEAS FOR CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT

10 Things Writers Don’t Know About The Woods

British and American terms

Free writing worksheets

Feel free to add more!

[kurosakiamiwrites-blog]

Resources and Advice for Depressed Authors

-  Four Tips for Writing When You Are Depressed: Exactly what it says on the tin.

- If routines help you, but you struggle to establish one with writing, you may just be expecting too much. Set an intentionally small goal, whatever that may look like for you, but then focus on reaching that goal every day. You may discover that when you aim for a light word count each day, you are able to overshoot your goal on many days, but still be able to reach it on the worst days. This in turn makes it easier to avoid self-judgement if you’re still working on the whole treating-yourself-kindly thing. Avoid sharing the specifics of this goal with people, especially people who write easily and people who have overblown confidence in your abilities as a writer, because nothing takes the accomplishment out of writing every day for 3 weeks in a row for the first time in your life like your dad saying, “Only xxx words a day?” 

-  Why Writers are Prone to Depression: a discussion of several famous depressed authors, some theories about why authors are disproportionately likely to be depressed, and some lifestyle choices that could potentially help a little. 

- “’Getting’ Yourself to Write” - an entreaty to stop and consider why you might be avoiding writing in the first place, a criticism of writing advice that focuses only on developing unquestioning self-discipline, some advice for treating yourself kindly as an author, and one of the most mindful Tumblr posts I have ever read. A round of snaps for @wrex-writes, everybody.

-  Why You Should Let Your First Draft Suck and some advice for getting your inner critic to shut up and get on with it until you can at least finish the first draft.

-  Why You Don’t Need To Worry About Hating Your Own Work: some potential explanations for why you hate your own work, and some ways to re-contextualize it.

- How to Stay on Task: This is, technically, a guide for adults with ADD, not authors with depression, but I for one seem to have developed the concentration of a goldfish as some sort of bizarre coping mechanism for dealing with di/stress, so I believe it may be helpful anyway.

- Try writing in 15- to 20-minute bursts.

- 10 Affirmations for Creative Writers: Some basic writing affirmations, how affirmations work, and some advice to creating your own specific affirmations. (In addition to their tips, here’s one from me: the subconscious doesn’t respond to negations, so phrase your affirmations in ways that avoid words like “not” or “don’t.” For example, “I can stay on task!” will work better than “I won’t be distracted!”)

_______________________________________________________

That’s it for now. Y’all know the drill: If you have moderate to severe depression, seeking a  good therapist and possibly taking medication are the best things that you can do to manage your depression. Still, I don’t know how much writing-specific advice general therapists can give. I’ve never asked.

Also, even if you’re not clinically depressed, or don’t know if you’re depressed, these resources may still be helpful to you if you, too, want to write but have difficulty concentrating, lose motivation halfway through all your projects, and/or hate your own work despite previous excitement or positive feedback…. which all lowkey sound like symptoms of depression to me tbh, but who am I to label you when I can’t even confidently label myself? So go forth and accept yourselves and your work, darlings, and add on to this if you want because Azar knows I need the help too! <3

[kurosakiamiwrites-blog]

baby, we share dreams of happiness

Read on AO3.

My submission for @hpfemslash-minifest January prompt: bed sharing!

Rating: General Audiences

Pairing: Luna Lovegood/Ginny Weasley

Tags: Fluff, Pregnancy, Cuddling&Snuggling, Sharing a Bed

Summary:  It’s been a while since she had the luxury of time to just contemplate the beauty that is Luna in the morning.

Word Count: 825

[kurosakiamiwrites-blog]

[kurosakiamiwrites-blog]

not sure what should happen next in your story?

Embarrass your protagonist. Make them seem weak and vulnerable in some way.

Shoot someone. That always takes the reader by surprise. 

In relation, kidnap someone. Or, rather, make it seem to your protagonist like someone has been kidnapped. 

Have one of your side characters disappear or become unavailable for some reason. This will frustrate your protagonist.

Have someone kiss the wrong girl, boy, or person, especially if you’ve been setting up a romance angle. It’s annoying.

If this story involves parents, have them argue. Push the threat of divorce, even if you know it won’t ever happen. It’ll make your readers nervous.

Have someone frame your protagonist for a crime they didn’t commit. This could range from a dispute to a minor crime to a full-blown felony.

If this is a fantasy story involving magic or witchcraft, create a terrible accident that’s a direct result of their spell-casting. 

Injure your protagonist in some way, or push them into a treacherous scenario where they might not make it out alive. 

Have two side characters who are both close to the protagonist get into a literal fist-fight. This creates tension for the reader, especially if these characters are well-developed, because they won’t know who to root for.

Make your protagonist get lost somewhere (at night in the middle of town, in the woods, in someone else’s house, etc.) 

Involve a murder. It can be as in-depth and as important as you want it to be. 

Introduce a new character that seems to prey on your protagonist’s flaws and bring them out to light.

If it’s in-character, have one of your characters get drunk or take drugs. Show the fallout of that decision through your protagonist. 

Spread a rumor about your protagonist. 

If your protagonist is in high-school, create drama in the school atmosphere. A death of a student, even if your protagonist didn’t know them personally, changes the vibe. 

If your story involves children, have one of them do something dangerous (touch a hot stove, run out into the road, etc.) and show how the protagonist responds to this, even if the child isn’t related to them. 

In a fantasy story, toss out the idea of a rebellion or war between clans or villages (or whatever units you are working with). 

Add a scenario where your protagonist has to make a choice. We all have watched movies where we have screamed don’t go in there! at the top of our lungs at the main character. Make them go in there. 

Have your protagonist find something, even if they don’t understand the importance of it yet. A key, a document, an old stuffed animal, etc. 

Foreshadow later events in some way. (Need help? Ask me!)

Have your protagonist get involved in some sort of verbal altercation with someone else, even if they weren’t the one who started it. 

Let your protagonist get sick. No, but really, this happens in real life all the time and it’s rarely ever talked about in literature, unless it’s at its extremes. It could range from a common cold to pneumonia. Maybe they end up in the hospital because of it. Maybe they are unable to do that one thing (whatever that may be) because of it.

Have someone unexpected knock on your protagonist’s door. 

Introduce a character that takes immediate interest in your protagonist’s past, which might trigger a flashback.

Have your protagonist try to hide something from someone else and fail.

Formulate some sort of argument or dispute between your protagonist and their love interest to push them apart. 

Have your protagonist lose something of great value in their house and show their struggle to find it. This will frustrate the reader just as much as the protagonist.

Create a situation where your protagonist needs to sneak out in the middle of the night for some reason.

Prevent your character from getting home or to an important destination in some way (a car accident, a bad storm, flat tire, running out of gas, etc.)

[kurosakiamiwrites-blog]

The Cultural Iceberg