melee-master123

[melee-master123]

Your character is driven by 3 emotional motives. See? I even made a graphic.

(I’m proud of the graphic, too.)

Mood: The immediate (and temporary) emotions of your character. A feeling of joy after kissing the girl they like; frustration after a busy day working a summer job at the fair; despair after somebody eats the last Oreo.

Situation: The plot and relationship contexts of your character. The apprehension they feel with a friend in the weeks following a nasty fight; the nerves felt in the week leading up to their big championship game; the frustration and boredom of being grounded after crashing the family car into the county creek.

Struggle: The core, deepfelt pain of your character, which often emerges from their background. The fear of failure from overly demanding parents; a deep longing for a family they never knew; a desperate need to be accepted after spending years as an outcast.

How these 3 motives influence your character

The above emotional motives all play an important role in driving your character’s actions, muddying or even overriding their more logical intentions — just as it happens to the rest of us. (We’re all human, after all.)

That being said, while your character’s mood and situation will shift throughout the story, their struggle will remain constant: their true north, emotionally speaking. This struggle will always be at the root of their actions, even as you swap in new situations and moods.

Take Bethany as an example

Let’s say your character’s name is Bethany, and her struggle is this: a deep fear of failure, stemming from her parents’ impossible academic expectations, which conflicts with her own desire to finally experience the life she sees passing her by.

Her actions, while primarily driven by that struggle, are going to vary quite a bit depending on her situation and mood. For example, if it’s the night before a big test, she might blow off a friend’s invitation to a party so she can study.

But if the party is a week before the big test, and she finds a handwritten invitation in her notebook from Emma (the girl on the lacrosse team she has a crush on), Bethany might act differently. Maybe she feels a lightness and warmth in her cheeks as she reads Emma’s note. Maybe she puts those textbooks away, and maybe, just maybe, she sneaks out the window and goes to the party.

But if Bethany finds the note after her parents just chewed her out for being ungrateful and not studying hard enough? Maybe Bethany doesn’t go to the party. Instead, maybe she reads Emma’s note, trembles, then rips it in two, knowing she can’t disappoint her parents like that. Then she spends the rest of the evening studying. Alone.

Mood. Situation. Struggle.

All three kinds of emotional motives are important. Your character’s struggle is the anchor, but their mood and situation are the ever-shifting masks you use to express their struggle in fresh ways. 

And by the end of the story, hopefully your character will overcome their struggle — putting away the textbooks, sneaking out the window, and meeting their crush at a party. Maybe even having their first kiss.

Whatever the character, and whatever their struggle, I’m sure you’ll do great. 

So good luck! And good writing.

— — —

Your stories are worth telling. For tips on how to craft meaning, build character-driven plots, and grow as a writer, follow my blog.

[melee-master123]

Don’t apologize for writing something “self indulgent”. Fiction is supposed to be fun. It’s your chance to bring all the things you love to life, exactly the way you want them to be. This is one of the main reasons fanfiction is so popular, because fic writers allow themselves to indulge in all of their favorite tropes (which happen to be many readers’ favorites too). If your writing is “self indulgent,” that just means you’re writing something you actually enjoy–and, chances are, that other people would enjoy also.

You’ve probably heard the saying, “Walk in the direction of your fear.” Now, it’s time to write in the direction of your self indulgence. 

[melee-master123]

[melee-master123]

Wassup, I’m back.

Wow, holy cow I’ve been off this account for a while.

I’ve been busy planning out and researching stuff for a book I plan on one day starting. It’s been great fun and very stressful but it’s starting to come together. Most of it’s been character making and world-building stuff but there’s still a few more bits and pieces I need to work out first.

I should be more active on this account now and I look forward to seeing what I’ve missed these past months

So, Happy New Years and here’s to hoping you’ll see more from me!

~Melee

[melee-master123]

Thank you for taking out your time & answering all those wndrfl asks. My ask: Is there any source from where we can know which English words are American, British , Australian or Canadian? Being from a country that speaks it's unique kind of English, knowing the words exclusively used by different cntry ppl is not easy. We use both lift & elevator. Colour & color. Taxi & cab. So any references/link might help...

Complete List of Dialects of English

23 Things That Prove Australia, USA, and the UK Speaks Different Languages

American English

American English Wikipedia

Western American English Wiki

Midland American English Wiki

North-Central American English Wiki

American English regional vocabulary (i.e. soda v. pop)

DARE, the Dictionary of American Regional English

20 things only Americans say

Glossary of American terms not widely used in the United Kingdom

15 American Words That Are Offensive in Other Countries

“15 American slang words British people can’t understand”

American Slang Dictionary

“20 Essential American Slang Words for English Learners“

Australian English

Australian English Wikipedia

“A Definitive* Ranking Of The Very Best Aussie Phrases Americans Don’t Get”

Diminutives in Australian English

“29 Things Australians Say (That Americans Don’t)“

“20 Australian Words That Mean Something Totally Different in the U.S.“

Australian to American translations

Variation in Australian English

Australian Slang Dictionary

Canadian English

Candian English Wikipedia

“26 Everyday Things That are Called Something Else in Canada”

“Your favourite Canadian English words“

“Why is Canadian English Unique?”

“31 things Canadians say that Americans don’t understand”

“Great Canadian Sayings”

“55 Canadianisms You May Not Know or Are Using Differently”

“50 Canadian Slang Words Our American Friends Don’t Understand“

British English

British English Wikipedia

Comparison of American and British English

American English to British English Vocabulary

“18 British words and phrases that don’t mean what you think they do in America”

British vs American Vocabulary

Glossary of British terms not widely used in the United States

“15 British Words & Phrases Which Confuse Americans“

Best of British: Slang

“The 30 Quirkiest British Slang Words Every American Should Know“

[melee-master123]

Don't feel ashamed of doing "CHILDISH" things

•buy toys/dolls/crayons •play with Legos •play old videogames/dress up games •weave friendship bracelets •watch cartoons •use stickers •draw pics of your favorite characters

If it makes you feel nice, do it. Don’t even worry about what other people think, because it doesn’t matter–if it brings you happiness, it’s not “ridiculous”, or “immature”.

You deserve to enjoy yourself.

[melee-master123]

How to Finish

I drew this poster for Jon Acuff and his FINISH book tour. Big thanks to Jon for this collaboration, his book has some great ideas about how to complete creative and life goals.

[melee-master123]

With the Canadian election coming up very soon (October) please remember to reblog Canadian election posts so other Canadians can access it! A lot of American’s use this site and don’t reblog Canadian political issues (Or outright ignoring them) and we really need to get information out this year, because this election could do one of three things for us: 

It could keep our current government, which has failed us badly (Not likely to happen) It could land us with a literal white supremacist (Likely.) It could give us a leader who would be the first poc and the first non-Xian to be elected to the office of prime minister, with a history of fighting for the people who will likely lead us very well (Possible, but not a guarantee)

Please help us get that third option (or at least avoid the middle one, because yes, Andrew Scheer is WORSE than Trump and I need y’all to really understand that) 

[melee-master123]

Illustrations of Homophones

Credit to: Homophones, Weakly.

[melee-master123]

Just a reminder to all you writers that everything you do for your novel is progress, even if it’s not writing!

Creating character moodboards, answer sheets, or just jotting down quick descriptions? Progress!!!

Compiling inspo for settings, listing off minor world building facts, or playing around with names? Progress!!!

Mapping out different signs, compiling a list of wants for your novel, or doing a rough outline??? Progress!!!!

Everything your doing is helping you flesh out your story, even if you’re not physically writing or won’t use what you do write!

Drafting is a long, hard process. There’s no right or wrong way to creating art!

[melee-master123]

Hey guys I'm starting a book soon but I'm in the midst of researching a few things first to make sure I have enough information.

I've been reasearching Investigative journalism as it's my main characters career and I've got some really helpful stuff from it but I was wondering if anybody out in the tumblr world had any information about it. (Like literally anything at all) and also whether if there's any investigative journalists out there who'd be willing to share stories and experiences about the job.

If anyone is willing to share or (finds a post) tag me. You guys' help would be much appreciated.

~Melee

[melee-master123]

gentle reminder: you are loved and appreciated by so many people

[melee-master123]

hey, i’m working on a wip intro and i’ve come to the Worst Part: the synopsis. sorry if this is a generic question, but do you have any advice? mainly on condensing, making it sound rad? thank you!!

I am literally the worst person to ask this because I despise writing synopses and I struggle with it a lot. My synopses are not good, honestly.

I think what helped me finally hammer one out so that I could make a WIP page for it was to simplify the plot as much as possible.

As the author of the story, I think it’s really easy for us to get overwhelmed because we know too much about it. We know the characters, we know the copious subplots, we know all of the intricacies of it, we know the worldbuilding… We know everything about it. We know too much about it to be able to condense it into a paragraph or two.

So it’s important to really cut through it all and figure out the most important parts of it!

Try asking yourself these questions and writing them down:

What is the main conflict? Try summarizing it in two sentences or less.

What’s the first major conflict that the reader can be clued into?

Describe the most important characters in one sentence.

What does the reader need to know about your story right off the bat?

What question do you want to ask and answer in your book? (e.g., will Katniss survive the Hunger games?)

Is there anything about the setting that your readers need to know? (e.g., The Hunger Games takes place in a world where people are selected to kill each other for sport)

Write down the important themes and goals in your story (Is it romance? Is it mystery? Is it survival? Is it the fight between good and evil?)

Figure out what part of your story is the introduction — up to what part of your story is it okay to put in the blurb without spoiling anything?

Maybe this will help you figure out what the most important parts of your story is to your synopsis so you can construct it into a cohesive blurb.

Remember, you don’t need to get everything in your synopsis! Leave a lot of the book up to your readers to dsicover.

Good luck!

I now have an updated FAQ and Ask Guidelines for Writing Advice, please check those out first if you have a question about writing or Writeblr!

Ask Guidelines | FAQ | Advice Masterlist

[melee-master123]

“For The Plot,” I whisper, deleting a rad detail that no longer works as tears fall from my eyes

[melee-master123]

Little Things to Do with Your WIP

Sometimes you want to work on your WIP when you don’t have much time (during school, work, out on errands, etc) so here are quick, easy, and little things you can do with it when you can’t actually write/plan in-depth. I’ve also included websites and links as jumping off points. 

Create a playlist based on the WIP or a character/relationship

Brainstorm possible titles/chapter names (my post about titling format examples and a deep dive into two-word titling) 

Write a journal entry/letter as one of the characters

Research very specific things about the setting/history, lore, clothing, hobbies/vocations, etc of your story

Deep dive into a category of worldbuilding (I have posts on WB here, here, and here) 

Create a mood board for the setting, a character, or entire story on Pinterest or Canva (Some examples for countryside, city at night, summer abroad, and the coast)

Write down dialogue for a therapy session your MC might have

Design a section of a character’s room/home using pictures, descriptions, or drawings

Research names and meanings (The way I find OC names)

Write down a dream/nightmare a character might have

Take a personality test as your MC

Write a fortune cookie for each MC/side character

Research actors/models/etc if you’re still creating physical descriptions for characters (I recommend using IMDb) 

Research mannerisms, habits, and quirks to enrich characterization (I wrote some down here.)

Hopefully these things help you satisfy your itch to work when you can’t exactly work. Happy writing!

[melee-master123]

"Third Time’s the Charm” Rule

Have you ever found yourself on a roll with your writing, only to get stuck in the search for one insignificant phrase and lose all that long-awaited inspiration?

Such is a problem I would imagine every writer suffers from more often than they would prefer. But that does not mean we must bow our knee to its apparent power! Instead, let’s seek out a potential solution. Although not foolproof, I have found a method that might both alleviate our nerves amidst the word-search scramble and still allow us to sustain our momentum. I call it the “Three Time Limit”.

Have you heard the old adage: “third time’s the charm”? Well, that might not work so well with women (no, men, please do not keep asking after the first “no”), but it could work wonders for us here! Whenever you intend to write a considerable sum of words - be it a paragraph, a page, or a chapter - do not allow yourself to stop more than three times.

Hung up on a word? Give yourself three attempts at thinking of it. If you think of three incorrect words, write the one closest to your meaning and highlight/bold/underline it so that you remember to return to it later. Can’t get the cadence of that sentence correct? Rewrite it three times. If, by the third time, you’re still stuck, then write what you have and/or mean and keep going. Once you have completed that portion, you have the opportunity to edit that nigh-right segment without constraint or concern.

Here’s the truth: our brains are brilliant instruments, but like any machine, momentarily overriding their primary task for a temporary solution can cause it to stall. Have you ever asked your printer to scan a document while its printing lesson plans and copying notes? Spoiler alert: it doesn’t work so well. Don’t overwhelm your mind in the moment and it will prosper in the permanent.

That word will not be lost forever. That phrase will not fulfill some metaphorical quota. And even if they did, one insignificant imperfection will not impact the success of your overall product. Every great work has a thousand kinks in its system, yet they did not inhibit its achievements.

This tip is that simple. Please do not take this as the Word of God, nor is it immutable. By all means, twist it as needed until it suits your own interests! Or discard it entirely should it not mesh with your style. My only hope is to help others like me - my obstinate perfectionists. May this method bring you peace, so that you may produce the masterpiece inside of you.

[melee-master123]

Hey! I’m new to tumblr and writeblr by extension, and you kinda seem like one of the bigger writeblr accounts, so I thought I could ask you on this one. How do I make a wip page? Do I just tag everything about the wip with a certain tag?

Hey @citruschickadee, welcome to the website and community! I’m so glad you’re here, and I hope you enjoy your stay. I love your username by the way!

First things first: I’m a bigger writeblr?? Really!? Hold on brb screaming aaaaaaaaaa

Anyways. I unfortunately don’t have an example on my blog to show you what a good WIP page is since my blog construction is dreadfully behind and incomplete, but I can definitely tell you how to make one!

You mentioned that you were new to tumblr, so I’m just going to go ahead and give a step-by-step guide for tumblr newbies just in case you don’t quite know how to navigate the website yet. I’m really sorry if it’s unnecessary and you already know how, I’m just trying to cover all the bases!

How to make a good WIP page.

Construction

First things first, making the page. So one of the good things about a WIP page is that it can be as simple or as fancy as you want it to be!

If you want it to be simple and easy, you can just make a text post about it! If you do this, be sure to save the link somewhere so you can easily access it, and it won’t get lost in your blog.

However, I personally would recommend going to your blog theme’s customization page and make a new page (Click on the person icon on the upper right hand corner → Click on your writeblr blog → Go the ‘edit appearance’ on the right hand side → Click on ‘edit theme’ → Scroll all the way down on the left hand side → Click ‘add a page’). This allows you to have a simple, clean link that you can name, that’s easy for you and your followers to remember!

Now that you have a page/post for your WIP, you have two options. 

Plain text formatting: This is just your standard tumblr post. It’s easy, simple and clean.

WIP page theme: This is fancier and has more options for customization. It is however, more complex and requires you to fiddle with HTML. If you want to have a fancy WIP page theme, I would recommend either checking out this tag at @theme-hunter, or looking through @roleplay-theme-recs to see if you can find anything that works for you.

What to put on your WIP page

Now that you have a page or a post set up for your WIP, you need to write it up! Here are some essential things you need for a good WIP page:

A title: A little self-explanatory and obvious, but important! I would recommend making it big and visible.

Genre: This will make it easier for your followers to get a feel of your WIP at a glance. Personally, I would have a minimum of one genre and a maximum of three or four written here.

Synopsis: What’s your WIP about? What can readers expect from your story? What’s the setting? What’s your plot? This is basically the blurb, or the back cover of the book! This is the most important part — sell your WIP! Hook readers in!

Links: Are you posting your WIP somewhere online so people can read? Be sure to include the links here so people can find them!

Tags: This is where you inform your followers what tags you’ll be using for this WIP. Obviously you’ll have one tag for your WIP that you’ll use, but if you’re planning to have character tags, tags for excerpts, etc be sure to include that here so people will know where to look.

The things listed above are absolutely necessary for a WIP. Now I will list some additional things you could include that are optional.

Character intros: Usually, a synopsis is enough to establish a character, but if you wanted to go a step further and introduce your main characters, this is an option. You might talk a little bit about their personality and significance to the story here.

Images: Relevant images that fit the aesthetics of your WIP are a really great way to catch someone’s eye. Some people make a banner, others might make a moodboard… It’s really just up to you, as long as it looks nice.

Excerpts: If there’s a paragraph that you really feel like it captures what your WIP is about, you can include it here.

Setting: This is another thing usually covered in your synopsis, but maybe it’s special or you want to draw attention to it, or you want to clarify it. 

If you’ve decided to go with a WIP theme, you’ll probably have a template to fill out with similar information: Do that! However, if you’re just making your own text post, be sure to format it so it looks nice! No block text, organize the structure, use headers, bold sections, etc. People won’t read something no matter how well it’s written if it’s not easy to read.

If you have multiple WIPs…

If you have multiple WIPs that you want to showcase on your Writeblr, you have two options:

Make one really long post with information about all of your WIPs. You’d basically just have this repeat this guide for however many WIPs you have.

Make a separate WIP masterpost.

Of the two, I would recommend making a WIP masterpost so you don’t overwhelm your readers! Here’s how to make one:

Title and link: When you write your title, embed your link to the individual WIP page in it!

Genres: Just list a couple major ones (i.e., Fantasy and romance).

Short synopsis: A quick and easy way to inform your reader of the plot.

Since you’ll be talking about multiple WIPs here, be sure to keep it short and sweet!

Now that you have your WIP post, now what?

Congratulations! You made your WIP post, what do you do now?

Include it in your main links: Most blog themes will have a space for a few links: be sure to include your WIP post here! As a Writeblr, it is extremely important for it to be visible and obvious since that’s what you’ll be promoting a lot. If you have several WIPs and don’t have space for all of them, definitely include your WIP masterpost in a link!

Post it: If you decided to make a new page for your WIP rather than just a post, it won’t show up on your dashboard — so let people know that it exists! Make a post about your WIPs, reblog it every so often so that new followers can see it.

Tag your posts: Every time you post about your WIP, tag it with its designated tag so when people go to that tag, they can see everything you posted about it.

Navigation page: Add your WIP tag to your navigation/tag page so people poking around your blog can find it easily!

I think that’s all I have to say about the basics of a WIP page. Feel free to ask me if you have any further questions!

I’m so sorry for the long post, but I hope this helps! Thank you so much for asking, and good luck on your Writeblr journey :)