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Designing Your Characters

Hey everyone, Abby here with another writing post! Today I want to talk about character designs and how to make them, and why they help me so much personally. Let’s get right into it!

What is a character design?

Have you ever been creating a character and bam, you get a sudden and (very) detailed image of this character in your head? Isn’t it the coolest? (Correct answer: yes.) Most people think of character designs as drawings of the same character in different poses and outfits and such, but some of us weren’t blessed with artistic abilities of the drawing type. So us writers turn to the character design using words and descriptions (then there are the lucky ones who have both, teach me your ways)!

Character designs are extremely important for your writing because you want to have a consistent reference for the appearance of all of your characters while you’re writing. They often take a while, but I think in the end they’re definitely worth it.

My Character Designs

I consider myself an extremely organized person, so I like to use two different “forms” that I’ve created. (The other one is for personality, which I’ll go over in another post.) So we’re going to go with a made-up character for this one, just so I can give some good examples. 

Below the cut you’ll find a “form” that I fill out for all of my characters’ appearances. The effectiveness of this whole thing is decided by how in-depth you go with it. You can get the basics if you just answer the questions, but for a full understanding you’ll want to get in an much description as you can. Like I said, time-consuming.

[ A Note: While it will be helpful to know everything about your character’s appearance, there’s no need to include it all in your writing. Unless it’s super important to the story later, I’m not entirely sure readers will need to know about your olive-skinned character’s sloping nose with a bit of a snub at the end, slightly sculpted jawline, golden-brown eyes, and full lips all at once.]

Keep reading

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How I Write Romance Scenes

I used to never admit it, but I love romance. Now, I know that romance in the media is really unrealistic 110% of the time and sets some really unrealistic standards, but when it’s done right and doesn’t intrude on the main story, I will most likely be here for it. I have so many ideas for romantic scenes I could put into my WIPs, and will most likely have to scrap hundreds in order to prevent my dystopian war novels from becoming contemporary romantic lit.

So now, here’s my big weakness: I suck at writing romantic scenes.

“How is that possible? You just wrote a whole paragraph about how much you love romance!” These are two separate things. I also love gorgeous architecture, but I’m not any good at designing buildings.

“But that must be devastating for you! You love that stuff so much and you can’t even write it!” Oh, but I can. It just doesn’t flow as easily for me as some other types of scenes do.

“So J, stop taunting me and tell me how you do it!” Fine. Without further ado, here is my 3-step process to writing a romantic scene (or any scenes that are difficult for you to write):

Dialogue only. What? How am I supposed to write a first kiss if I can’t write any action? How is Character A supposed to confess that they love Character B while on their deathbed, without doing any actual dying? Here’s how: try playing the scene in your head. How you’re going to describe what they’re doing or feeling won’t naturally come to you when you watch this scene, but the dialogue should. So as you imagine this turn of events, write down what is being said, and only that, but make notes of when really important things happen, like a kiss, or a third person entering, or a murder… you choose.

Robot actions. Clarification: I am not insisting that any good love story has to involve robots. What I mean by this is that you’re going to add in actions, but keep emotion out of it. This helps you get the layout of what happens.**BONUS TIP: It can help to physically rewrite the scene instead of just adding in actions. It helps you see which dialogue doesn’t work well with the actions.**

Put some feeling into it! Now’s the time to add more description, more emotion, more thoughts. Go crazy. This is, personally, the hardest part for me, because everything sounds fake to me coming from my own brain. My biggest tip for adding emotions to your scene is to go with the “show emotion, tell feelings” tip in this post. It worked miracles for my emotional scenes in general, and I really can’t say it better than OP already did.

This most likely appears to be a very strange process for literally anybody but me. But bear in mind, I was stuck on a romantic scene for a year, and after I came up with this process, I got through it ten times faster. So if nothing’s working for you, I say why not give it a shot?

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Writing a War

(P.S.A. Before We Begin: While the above GIF is from Captain America: Civil War, I won’t be including any superhero factors in this post. I just really love the movie and this scene specifically :P Enjoy!)

Hello friends, Abby here with another writing post! I’ve noticed that the concept of war tends to play a large role in many of the novels I’ve read in the past. Due to this and the fact that my own series (Smoke Shadows) will include its own war of sorts, I was inspired to make this post. Without further ado, let’s get started!

What could cause a war?

There are, of course, many causes that can lead to a war, and it would probably be a little strange if one occurred in your story for a single reason. Let’s go through a couple of general causes that have played major roles, starting with the M.A.I.N.:

Militarism. Some countries take excessive pride in their militaries and continue building and displaying them, even during peacetime. Often nations that would perceive an action like this as a threat find these acts of militarism unsettling; this can worsen relations between the two nations or can lead the threatened nation to make a preemptive strike of sorts.

Alliances. These can be dangerous, especially secret alliances. A small country might have made secret alliances with several larger nations in secret; someone picks a fight with them and suddenly there are six other nations on their case about it. Alliances made like these are the ones that can and probably will lead to conflicts involving more countries.

Imperialism. Simply put, imperialism is the process of “stronger” nations taking over “weaker” ones for control of some sort, and usually without the consent of the country they’re taking over. (Imperialistic nations don’t seem to care much about that last part, though.) Imperialism could lead to conflict in the form of a “turf war” of sorts between imperialistic nations or to a fight for independence by the nation that’s been taken over.

Nationalism. This one is dangerous, because it often comes from a feeling of unity in a nation. This pride can range anywhere from slight to intense and can be created in whatever way you want, but a historically proven way to use this method is through things like propaganda and yellow journalism.

At least one of these four reasons play some sort of role in the starting of a war, though of course there are many other causes you could choose from. Some of these possibilities can include completely unprecedented attacks, economic/territorial gain, religion, revenge of some sort, and (intense) internal disagreements.

Keep reading

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Helpful things for action writers to remember

Sticking a landing will royally fuck up your joints and possibly shatter your ankles, depending on how high you’re jumping/falling from. There’s a very good reason free-runners dive and roll. 

Hand-to-hand fights usually only last a matter of seconds, sometimes a few minutes. It’s exhausting work and unless you have a lot of training and history with hand-to-hand combat, you’re going to tire out really fast. 

Arrows are very effective and you can’t just yank them out without doing a lot of damage. Most of the time the head of the arrow will break off inside the body if you try pulling it out, and arrows are built to pierce deep. An arrow wound demands medical attention. 

Throwing your opponent across the room is really not all that smart. You’re giving them the chance to get up and run away. Unless you’re trying to put distance between you so you can shoot them or something, don’t throw them. 

Everyone has something called a “flinch response” when they fight. This is pretty much the brain’s way of telling you “get the fuck out of here or we’re gonna die.” Experienced fighters have trained to suppress this. Think about how long your character has been fighting. A character in a fist fight for the first time is going to take a few hits before their survival instinct kicks in and they start hitting back. A character in a fist fight for the eighth time that week is going to respond a little differently. 

ADRENALINE WORKS AGAINST YOU WHEN YOU FIGHT. THIS IS IMPORTANT. A lot of times people think that adrenaline will kick in and give you some badass fighting skills, but it’s actually the opposite. Adrenaline is what tires you out in a battle and it also affects the fighter’s efficacy - meaning it makes them shaky and inaccurate, and overall they lose about 60% of their fighting skill because their brain is focusing on not dying. Adrenaline keeps you alive, it doesn’t give you the skill to pull off a perfect roundhouse kick to the opponent’s face. 

Swords WILL bend or break if you hit something hard enough. They also dull easily and take a lot of maintenance. In reality, someone who fights with a sword would have to have to repair or replace it constantly.

Fights get messy. There’s blood and sweat everywhere, and that will make it hard to hold your weapon or get a good grip on someone. 

A serious battle also smells horrible. There’s lots of sweat, but also the smell of urine and feces. After someone dies, their bowels and bladder empty. There might also be some questionable things on the ground which can be very psychologically traumatizing. Remember to think about all of the character’s senses when they’re in a fight. Everything WILL affect them in some way. 

If your sword is sharpened down to a fine edge, the rest of the blade can’t go through the cut you make. You’ll just end up putting a tiny, shallow scratch in the surface of whatever you strike, and you could probably break your sword. 

ARCHERS ARE STRONG TOO. Have you ever drawn a bow? It takes a lot of strength, especially when you’re shooting a bow with a higher draw weight. Draw weight basically means “the amount of force you have to use to pull this sucker back enough to fire it.” To give you an idea of how that works, here’s a helpful link to tell you about finding bow sizes and draw weights for your characters.  (CLICK ME)

If an archer has to use a bow they’re not used to, it will probably throw them off a little until they’ve done a few practice shots with it and figured out its draw weight and stability. 

People bleed. If they get punched in the face, they’ll probably get a bloody nose. If they get stabbed or cut somehow, they’ll bleed accordingly. And if they’ve been fighting for a while, they’ve got a LOT of blood rushing around to provide them with oxygen. They’re going to bleed a lot. 

Here’s a link to a chart to show you how much blood a person can lose without dying. (CLICK ME) 

If you want a more in-depth medical chart, try this one. (CLICK ME)

Hopefully this helps someone out there. If you reblog, feel free to add more tips for writers or correct anything I’ve gotten wrong here. 

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Tips and Ideas for Writing Post-Apocolypse

Writing post-apocalypse/dystopian future can actually open a large range of possibilities and original ideas but there are some things we should try to keep in mind. The problem with this genre is that is a heavily research-based genre, it requires a lot of information so a lot of things can slip up or be forgotten.

Limits of the Body - This is something that seems to be largely forgotten unless in extreme situations. Yes, humans are tough, but they are also weak. We have that balance of nature within us. People can keep going whilst in a lot of pain, but something like a headache could knock them senseless. I knew someone who got shot in the leg and ran three miles because he thought he had been hit by the brick. The second he realised he had actually been shot and was safe to do so, he collapsed in pain. Quickly establish what your characters can and cannot do.

Children - Children are more robust than so many people give them credit for, they wouldn’t make it to adulthood otherwise. Children are emotionally stronger than they are physically but many children have a lot more endurance for their size than adults because they have to keep up with adults. Two good examples are The Road by Cormac McCarthy and Lord of the Flies by William Golding.

Hygiene - Namely with periods and stuff. It is hard work keeping the body clean, so personal hygiene will be poor but people tend to stop caring at a point when they realise how hard it is to maintain. A lot of people would revert to old fashioned methods of vagina health as well, so people would use reusable cloth or diva cups. The only book I know of that covers this is The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey.

Simple Killers - More people died of the Spanish flu than in the First World War (source). It is surprising how often it is “little things” that kill people off. An emotional death does not have to be all that dramatic, no bloody death or major killer. Something as simple as a small cut that festered will kill someone if not treated correctly. An asthma attack, diabetes, things we see as treatable would make quick work of us without medical aid. Also most deaths are really simple and sudden.

World Limitations - What is this obsession with guns and everything happening in the summer and unlimited cans of food? No, let’s be honest, none of these are realistic. Guns will not last, can goods will be snatched up by the shop loads, most natural disasters will happen in spring or autumn. Remember to do the key thing, make your world real and people are more likely to believe it.

Take a Page - Who are most renowned for their post-apocalyptic stories? British pre-1950s authors. Why? Their worlds are real, the possibilities of what could happen in those worlds are real. Some where and still are scarily accurate, they looked at the current and possible state of things, creating a world too similar to our own. Great examples like 1984 by George Orwell, The Death of Grass by John Christopher, The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham, Soylent Green and the Mad Max Series.

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Writing a Believable Family: Information You Need

So today I thought I’d help out myself and anyone else who’s writing something where family plays a central role, seeing as a lot of people write about families but I barely see any posts about it!

Families are really fun to read about (imo), but often hard to write, as each family has a different dynamic that you really need to get a hold of. It’s easy to get discouraged because sometimes your fictional family might feel like strangers when they interact with each other. So without further ado, here are some questions and prompts to help you get to know your characters’ families.

Questions

Who is in this family? Are they all important characters?

How big of a role does this family play in the story? The theme of family in general?

Who looks the most like who? What general physical features do they all share?

Who is closest with each other? Who feels more distant?

What is a tradition this family has?

What holidays does this family celebrate? What religion do they practice?

What does this family always fight about?

Are all the relationships in this family healthy? If not, what makes them toxic?

Who is in charge or seems to have the most authority?

Is there a social hierarchy within the family? Who generally seems the coolest to the others?

Does this family travel a lot together? Where do they go?

What was/were the older generation(s) like before the younger generation(s) were born?

Has anyone in this family died? How did this impact the others?

Do members of the family have different politics? How does this affect the family’s relationship?

How much do your characters value their family?

What movies does this family watch on movie nights? What movies do they refuse to watch together?

What role does extended family play in this family’s life? (Ignore if the family you’re writing about is an extended family.)

Who argues the most?

What personality traits does the family share?

What makes this family unique?

What did/does the younger generation do for fun as little kids?

If this family had a vacation home, where would it be?

Who looks up to who?

Prompts

Write a conversation at the family’s dinner table.

What was the most disastrous family reunion/outing? Write it.

Try making a character web (shown in this post) for the family.

How does the rest of the family behave when one member graduates?

Write the script for everyone’s favorite old home video.

Draw a family tree. See how many generations you can go back.

Write each family member’s favorite family memory.

Describe how a family road would trip play out.

This family becomes the family fighting in Walmart. Describe how this happened.

The family is known for their top-notch annual ________ party. Write one such party.

Have a character from the family give your reader a “tour” of the family home.

Who got drunk at the last reunion? What ensued?

A character from the family is going through their favorite family photos. What are they? Why do they like them? What is the story behind them?

Imagine that this family has one huge family scandal in its history. What was it? How did people react when they found out?

A character has been hiding a secret for years, and their family finds out.

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Writing x Characters When You Aren’t x, A Masterlist

x: a variable used to represent something unknown.

We’ve seen an influx of questions about how to write stories based around characters of color, disability, non-binary, etc. when the author does not fall into these categories. Rather than have these posts take over the site, we’ve decided to compile a list of resources to help our fellow writers become more educated about writing what they do not immediately know. However, this list is not the end-all-be-all of knowledge; one should always try to learn from someone with first hand experience in any topic. The world is constantly growing and changing, and because of that, there will always be more to learn. The admins at Plotline Hotline want to help writers form respectful, informed, and realistic characters that broaden the narrow range we see in literature today. 

*Be wary that some of the topics listed below contain sensitive material. Reader discretion is advised.* 

As always, the links I found to be especially apt will be in bold. Topics are listed alphabetically, excepting the “other” section.

Culture

Appropriate Cultural Appropriation

What is Cultural Appropriation? [1,2,3]

Cultural Appropriation Is, In Fact, Indefensible

Voice Appropriation & Writing About Other Cultures

Diversity, Appropriation, and Writing the Other [List]

Disability

Writing Disibilities [1,2,3,4,5]

Guides to Writing Deaf or Hard of Hearding People

National Association of the Deaf - Resources [List]

World Federation of the Deaf

Using a Prosthetic Device

Prostehtic Limbs (Character Guide)

How NOT to Write Disabled Characters

A Guide to Disibility Rights Law (United States)

Timeline of Disibility Rights in the United States

Social Security Disability: List of Impairments, Medical Conditions, and Problems [List] (United States)

How to Write Disabled Characters: An Opinion Piece

Artificial Eye Resources [List][Various]

Adapting to the Loss of an Eye

Misconceptions and Myths About Blindness

Blind Characters: A Process of Awareness

Writing Blind Characters [List]

Types of Learning Disabilities [List]

Diversity

A Guide to Spotting and Growing Past Stereotypes

How to Prepare to Write a Diverse Book

The Diversity of Writing

Why Diversity Matters for Everyone

Writing a Driverse Book [1,2,3,4,5]

Diversity, Political Correctness and The Power of Language

Diversity Book List [List][Books]

Basic Tips To Write Subcultures & Minority Religions Better 

Basic Tips to Avoid Tokenism

Gender

GLAAD Media Reference Guide - Transgender

Creating Well-Written Trans Characters

A Few Things Writers Need To Know About Sexuality & Gender Expression

Trans (Character Guide & Bio Building)

A Non-Binary Person’s Guide to Invented Pronouns

Gender Neutral Writing [List]

Keeping a Trans* Person a Person  

Suggestions for Reducing Gendered Terms in Language [Photo]

How to Review a Trans Book as a Cis Person

Writing Characters of Different Genders [List]

Understanding Gender

Gender Spectrum Resources [List]

Gender History

Illness 

Writing Chronic Illness [1,2]

The Spoon Theory - Also pertains to disibility

About HIV/AIDS

Sexually Transmitted Diseases [List]

Sexually Transmitted Infections

Sex and Gender Differences in Health [Study]

All Chronic Illness Topics [List]

Coping with Chronic Illness

All Cancer Types

A Day in the Life of a Home Health Aide/Health Coach

Fiction Books With Chronically Ill Main Characters- Not Cancer [List][Books]

Neurotype (Including Mental Health)

Writing an Autistic Character When You Don’t Have Autism

Depression Resources [List]

What to Consider When Writing Mental Illness

Stanford Psychiatric Patient Care

Inpatient Psychiatric Questions and Tips

Don’t Call Me Crazy [Documentary]

(Avoid) Romanticizing Mental Illness [1,2]

A Day in the Life of a Mental Hospital Patient

State-run vs. Private Mental Hospitals

Mental Disorders

Mental Hospital Non-Fiction [List][Books]

National Institute of Mental Health - Mental Health Information [List]

Writing Autistic

What Causes PTSD?

Remember, Remember: The Basics of Writing Amnesia

ADHD Basic Information

What is a Learning Disability?

What is Neurotypical?

Race

Writing Race: A Checklist for Authors

Transracial Writing for the Sincere

Is my character “black enough”

White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack

Challenge, Counter, Controvert: Subverting Expectations

Writing With Color: Blogs - Recs - Resources [List]

Writing People of Color (If you happen to be a person of another color)

7 Offensive Mistakes Well-Intentioned Writers Make

Description Guide - Words for Skin Tone

Religion

Religion in Novels: Terrific or Taboo?

How to Write a Fantasy Novel that Sells: The Religion

Writing About Faith And Religion

From Aladdin to Homeland: How Hollywood Can Reinforce Racial and Religious Stereotypes 

Sexuality

Understanding Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity [List]

Writing Gay Characters [1,2,3]

American Civil Liberties Union - LGBT+ Rights

LGBT+ Rights by Country or Territory

History of Gay Rights

Gay Rights Movement

LGBT+ Culture

Gay Myths and Stereotypes

LGBT+ Studies Web Sites [List]

LGBTQ Youth Issues

LGBTData.com

Overview of Gay and Lesbian Parenting, Adoption and Foster Care (United States)

Other

How Doctors’ Offices—and Queer Culture—Are Failing Autistic LGBTQ People

Five Traps and Tips for Character Development

Developing Realistic Characters

I hope that this list will provide topics a writer may not initially think to research when writing. If there are any resources that you think would be fitting for this list, please let us know! We want to have as many helpful sources as possible to maximize learning opportunities. 

Stay educated,

xx Sarah

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Going from Idea to WIP

When it comes to actually turning an idea into a novel, I feel like every writer gets amnesia; that is, we can never remember how we did it before. I recently began the process of turning an idea I had into a bigger project (yes this means i have 5 shhh), and decided that this time, I was not going to forget how I did it. After careful documentation, I generated a timeline of how I go from idea to WIP.

*Everyone’s starting method is different, and you don’t have to do it this way! But if you’re stuck on something, try it out.

What’s my premise? Every idea comes from something. Even if something is “what if potatoes lived in the woods”. Maybe you imagined an opening scene, or a kickass battle, or just an idea of what another world could be like. Take that, hold onto that, and start here.

How can my plot include this idea? So say you had a fight scene in mind. What can lead to this scene? Sometimes it’s fun to see how ridiculous you can get. If you already have a plot or premise idea but you need to add a conflict, try generating a list of things that will always cause conflict. Theft, betrayal, murder, kidnapping, natural disaster, and evil overlords usually seem to get this done, amongst other things.

Who will generate conflict? Figure out your antagonist, if there is one. Since the antagonist is the source of conflict, they’re usually the first to find. For example, if your conflict is a murder mystery, you’re going to need a murderer, right?

Who will oppose them? Next, you want to create your main ensemble as a whole. How many characters do you need? How are they related to one another? What is their collective goal?

Who are they, really? Once your ensemble has been established, start working out the individual characters within it. This is where you can figure out who you want to narrate or focus on. How do the goals and motives of the characters differ within the group? What are the individual personalities like? How do they perceive one another? What do they believe the conflict is?

How can I appeal to more people? This is where I usually stop to consider the diversity I’m going to include. If you’ve written before, look at your other works and see which social groups are underrepresented. Maybe you haven’t included many people with differing religions. Maybe your work features many gay couples, but is lacking in the transgender character department. Maybe you’ve written almost entirely characters of color, but they’ve all been able-bodied. With only so many characters and so much diversity, we can’t include every race, religion, gender, disability, body type, or sexual orientation in one story, but including more minority groups makes your story more diverse and interesting, and will be more appealing to readers of those groups who don’t often see themselves.

Where does this need to happen? Does your story need magic in order to work? Is your fictional government a (somehow more) corrupt and dystopian version of our current one? Do you require World War II to be occurring as a backdrop? If that’s the case, you’re going to have to set the story in a time and place you’re not familiar with. High fantasy gives you all the power: you can generate an entirely new world with entirely new laws of physics and reality, different humanoid species, and even a fancy map in the inside front cover! If your story needs to take place in the future, how distant? How will the world have developed from where we are now? If your story takes place in our past, you might need to do some research. And if your story takes place in present-day current Earth, don’t think you’ve gotten away easily. Where, more specifically, is it? Why is this important to the story and the characters? This is also where you can mess around a little bit more. If you’re a fan of AUs, try creating an AU for the story and putting it in a different time or place. Who knows, you might like the new one better! (I have a friend who did this. She’s now halfway through her AU version.)

So obviously this won’t write your story for you, (you have a lot of other work ahead of you), but this is usually how I get my stories up and rolling. You can switch around whichever steps you like, and hopefully it can unstick something!

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10 outline techniques for writers

With this post I listed 10 outline techniques to help writes move their story from a basic idea to a complete set of arcs, plots, sequences and/or scenes. Or to simply expand whatever you have in hands right now.

If you have a vague story idea or a detailed one, this post is for you to both discover and organize. A few technique will work perfectly. A few won’t. Your mission is to find the one that works best for you. That said, I advice you to try out as many techniques as possible.

So, are you ready? Open your notebook, or your digital document, and let’s start.

1. Snowflake method: Start with a one-sentence description of the novel. Then, develop this simple phrase into a paragraph. Your next step is to write a one-page summary based on the paragraph, you can write about characters, motivations, goals, plots, options, whatever you feel like. From this point on, you can either start your book or expand the one-page summary into four pages. And, at last, four pages into a brief description of known sequences of scenes. Your goal is to make the story more and more complex as you add information, much like a forming snowflake.  

2. Chapter by chapter: List ten to twenty chapters, give each chapter a tittle and a brief description of what should happen. Then, break each chapter into three to five basic sequences of scenes. Give each sequence a title, a brief description and a short list of possibilities (possibilities of dialogues, scenarios, outcomes, moods, feelings… just play around with possibilities). From this point on, you can either create the scenes of sequences with a one-sentence description for each or jump straight to writing. Your goal is to shift from the big picture to a detail-oriented point of view.

3. Script: This might sound crazy, but, with this technique, you will write the screenplay of your story as if it’s a movie. No strings attached to creative writing, just plain actions and dialogues with basic information. Writing a script will take time, maybe months, but it will also enlighten your project like no other technique. Your goal is to create a cinematic view of your story. How to write a script here. 

4. Free writing: No rules, no format, no step, just grab a pen or prepare your fingers to write down whatever idea that comes up. Think of possibilities, characters, places, quests, journeys, evolutions, symbolisms, fears, good moments, bad moments, clothing, appearances. Complete five to ten pages. Or even more. The more you write, the more you will unravel. You can even doodle, or paste images. Your mission is to explore freely.

5. Tag: This technique is ideal if you have just a vague idea of the story. Start by listing ten to fifteen tags related to the story. Under each tag, create possible plots. And, under each plot, create possible scenes. Grab a red felt pen and circle plots and scenes that sparkle your interest.

6.  Eight-point arc: With this technique you will divide your story into eight stages. They are Stasis, Trigger, Quest, Surprise, Critical Choice, Climax, Reversal and Resolution. The Stasis is the every-day-life of your main character. Trigger is an event that will change the every-day-life of your character (for better or for worse). Quest is a period of your main characters trying to find a new balance, a new every-day-life (because we all love a good routine). Surprise will take your character away from their new found every-day-life. Critical Choice is a point of no return, a dilemma, your character will have to make the hardest decision out of two outcomes, both equally important. Climax is the critical choice put to practice. Reversal is the consequence of the climax, or how the characters evolved. Resolution is the return to a new (or old) every-day-life, a (maybe everlasting) balance.

7. Reverse: Write down a description of how your story ends, what happens to your characters and to those around them. Make it as detailed as possible. Then, move up to the climax, write a short scenario for the highest point of your story. From there, build all the way back to the beginning. 

8. Zigzag: Draw a zigzag with as many up and downs as you want. Every up represents your main character moving closer to their goal. Every down represents your main character moving further from their goal. Fill in your zigzag with sequences that will take your character closer and farther from the goal.

9. Listing: The focus of this technique is exploring new ideas when your story feels empty, short or stagnated. You’ll, basically make lists. Make a long list of plot ideas. Make another list of places and settings. Make a list of elements. And a list of possible characters. Maybe a list of book titles. Or a list of interesting scenes. A list of bad things that could happen inside this universe. A list of good things. A list of symbolism. A list of visual inspiration. A list of absurd ideas you’ll probably never use. Then, gather all this material and circle the good items. Try to organize them into a timeline.

10. Character-driven: Create a character. Don’t worry about anything else. Just think of a character, their appearance and style. Give them a name. Give them a basic personality. Give them a backstory. Develop their personality based on the backstory. Now, give this character a story that mirrors their backstory (maybe a way to overcome the past, or to grow, or to revenge, or to restore). Based on your character’s personality, come up with a few scenes to drive their story from beginning to end. Now, do the same thing for the antagonist and secondary characters.

So, when is it time to stop outlining and start writing?

This is your call. Some writers need as many details as they can get, some need just an basic plot to use as a North. Just remember, an outline is not a strict format, you can and you will improvise along the way. The most important is being comfortable with your story, exploring new ideas, expanding old concepts and, maybe, changing your mind many times. There’s no right or wrong, just follow your intuition.  

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Suffering from writer’s block? Why not develop your character a little bit more? 

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Cheep and easy ways to find a basis for your plot.

When you have characters:

What does your character aspire to do or become? Making that aspiration really hard for them to reach.

What does your character love? Take it away from them and make them earn it back.

What does your character hate? Bind them too it and make them work to get rid of it.

When you have a world:

What is the most chaotic thing that can happen to this world’s politics? Find the character this chaos would effect the most and see what they do about it.

What is the most dangerous thing that can happen within this magic system? Figure out who would come to stop or reverse it and see what they do.

Who is the most damaging person in this world and what are they doing? Figure out who of those they hurt might rise up and defeat them.

When you have only spite:

What story do you absolutely hate the execution of? Take the very basic concept of its plot and build it into the story you wish it produced.

What plot structure do you enjoy but wish writers would be more original with? Take it and then throw a dozen spins on it.

** Remember to mix and match for more elaborate plot structures. Carry on this format with your own tricks to digging up basic plot structures!

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Generating a Fictional Society

(let’s pretend I’m doing this purely out of the goodness of my heart and not because I need to get this done for one of my wips)

Title’s pretty self-explanatory: I have in my hand a series of basic questions that can help you better establish a fictional society. I’m writing this post with dystopia in mind, but this can be applied to pretty much any genre in which you have a group of characters with some sort of order holding them together. This isn’t specifically about government either, but some of this stuff can be transferred over.

Without further ado…

When was this society created? Why?

How does their system of leadership work?

Who is their leader? How did they become the leader?

What are their main values?

What are the rules or laws of this society? What happens to someone who breaks those rules?

What issues prompted the creation of this society?

What is currently happening in the world where this society exists? How does this affect them?

Are there any disagreements within the society over how things should be done?

Has the authority of the leader(s) ever been questioned? What happened?

Where is this society? How does that affect their identity?

How long has this society existed?

On what issues is this society divided?

What does a typical day look like for a member of this society?

What traditions does this society have?

What religion does this society follow? Why?

Are there any urban legends among this society?

What are members of this society not allowed/supposed to talk about or bring up?

What is a story that every member of this society knows?

What is the aesthetic of this society? (let’s throw in a fun one shall we)

Does this society have any mortal enemies or rivals? Who? Why?

What are some symbols commonly associated with this society?

What is this society known for in the rest of the world?

What do other people think about this society and its members?

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Best Friends Turned Lovers Prompts

This wasn’t requests but I’ve seen these circulating around in the romance prompts department and compiled my favorites to share with you. I did not create these, so I shall not take credit, so the sources of these prompts are linked at the bottom of this post. Go check them out!

“I need you to make out with me. Don’t worry though, it’s for science.”

Character A discovers something Character B has given them way back.

Characters gave each other a promise when they were children and they wonder whether it’s still valid.

When parting, Characters agreed to meet at a certain place at a certain time in a certain number of years.

Character A receives a message that Character B, whom they haven’t seen in years, has been seriously injured.

“We’re not just friends and you fucking know it.”

“It killed me to see you with him.”

“See the eyes they’re making at each other? It’s going as planned.”

“I know they didn’t need my help, but honestly, I personally think they totally do.”

A and B are best friends. A is applying a new flavor of chapstick.“Can I try it? I wanna have a taste,” B asks curiously.“Sure, it’s coconut cream-” A starts to reply, but before they can finish, B kisses A on the lips.

“I know what you want.” “Stop.” “It’s me, isn’t it? Go on, sweetheart. Say it.” “Stop.” “Denying doesn’t help your case much. I can see it in how you look at me.” 

Character A hadn’t noticed but their sweet, funny, goofy best friend,Character B, was kind of hot, especially since they’ve been on this fitness kick.

Imagine person A is hardcore crushing on B, and fantasizes about their relationship so much they often refer to the both of them as a couple and say “I love you” at the end of their phone calls accidentally

“Stupid fucking hair, stupid fucking smile, they won’t stop staring at me in that way and they– the way they talk, they’re such a flirt I mean do they honestly think I like them?!??!??”*A makes a sound of astonishment* *B’s ranting is cut midway*“You didn’t see anything!!!!!!” Yells B indignantly as they run out of the room

“We might as well have been dating the whole time.”

“I can finally say I’m dating my best friend.”

“You already met my family, so this saves you a traumatizing experience.”

“Hardly anything changed. I’m actually relieved.”

Since the night you reached out and took my hand, three things have happened.

“It’s not like I like you or anything! … Okay, well- maybe I do.”

Sources x x x x x x x x x x x

If you use one or more of these for a story, I would be delighted to read it! Please don’t hesitate to send your writing to me:)

Request a prompt list/writing advice/playlist/study help post here

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trope writing prompts

best friends –> lovers

“what, you’ve never thought about us?”

“why is your hand sweating so much?”

“stop looking at me like that.”

“you deserve better. it doesn’t have to be me, but you deserve better.”

“you can’t be that oblivious.”

“you were in my dream last night.”

“what do they have that i don’t?”

“so, we’re just going to ignore the fact that you drunk-dialed me to tell me you love me?”

“we’re… just friends.” 

“friends don’t do this kind of shit!”

“just friends? bullshit!”

“i wish i could just see you as the friend you see me as.”

“i’m sorry.. did i make this weird?”

“say it again.”

fake dating

“stop squeezing my hand so tight!”

“really, a fake date? you’re so cliche.”

“no one’s going to believe us…”

“mistletoe in july? your family must really like us together.”

“they’re coming, hurry up and kiss me!”

“i hate dressing up.”

“try to remember, we’re not actually dating… we’re undercover.”

“if i have to hear another ‘y tu novio?’ at a family function, i’ll lose my mind.”

“i just don’t want to go on another blind date.”

“please just hold my hand, that person’s basically undressing me with their eyes.”

“my mom keeps setting me up, so i need you to pretend to be my boyfriend.”

“i almost thought this was a real date.”

“we’re best friends… this shouldn’t be that hard, right?”

“pretending to be your boyfriend is the easiest thing i’ve ever had to do.”

enemies –> lovers

“you wish i wanted you.”

“you’re not as bad as i thought you were.” “wish i could say the same about you.”

“you’re such a pain in my ass, it actually hurts to fucking love you.”

“i’d rather blow a chainsaw.”

“i swear to god, if you weren’t so hot, you would have been dead already.”

“i will never understand how you get as many lays as you do.”

“do you ever get tired of listening to yourself?”

“this is why we couldn’t be together… i can’t imagine being around you for more than twenty minutes… if you even last that long.”

“i only kissed you because you were talking too much.”

“i don’t know… maybe i’ve always loved you.”

“i wish i could have just loved you from the beginning.”

“i know i’m an asshole, but my life really is better with you in it.”

“stop. fucking. touching. me.”

“you’re so annoying… just kiss me, already.”

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Writing x Characters When You Aren’t x, A Masterlist

x: a variable used to represent something unknown.

We’ve seen an influx of questions about how to write stories based around characters of color, disability, non-binary, etc. when the author does not fall into these categories. Rather than have these posts take over the site, we’ve decided to compile a list of resources to help our fellow writers become more educated about writing what they do not immediately know. However, this list is not the end-all-be-all of knowledge; one should always try to learn from someone with first hand experience in any topic. The world is constantly growing and changing, and because of that, there will always be more to learn. The admins at Plotline Hotline want to help writers form respectful, informed, and realistic characters that broaden the narrow range we see in literature today. 

*Be wary that some of the topics listed below contain sensitive material. Reader discretion is advised.* 

As always, the links I found to be especially apt will be in bold. Topics are listed alphabetically, excepting the “other” section.

Culture

Appropriate Cultural Appropriation

What is Cultural Appropriation? [1,2,3]

Cultural Appropriation Is, In Fact, Indefensible

Voice Appropriation & Writing About Other Cultures

Diversity, Appropriation, and Writing the Other [List]

Disability

Writing Disibilities [1,2,3,4,5]

Guides to Writing Deaf or Hard of Hearding People

National Association of the Deaf - Resources [List]

World Federation of the Deaf

Using a Prosthetic Device

Prostehtic Limbs (Character Guide)

How NOT to Write Disabled Characters

A Guide to Disibility Rights Law (United States)

Timeline of Disibility Rights in the United States

Social Security Disability: List of Impairments, Medical Conditions, and Problems [List] (United States)

How to Write Disabled Characters: An Opinion Piece

Artificial Eye Resources [List][Various]

Adapting to the Loss of an Eye

Misconceptions and Myths About Blindness

Blind Characters: A Process of Awareness

Writing Blind Characters [List]

Types of Learning Disabilities [List]

Diversity

A Guide to Spotting and Growing Past Stereotypes

How to Prepare to Write a Diverse Book

The Diversity of Writing

Why Diversity Matters for Everyone

Writing a Driverse Book [1,2,3,4,5]

Diversity, Political Correctness and The Power of Language

Diversity Book List [List][Books]

Basic Tips To Write Subcultures & Minority Religions Better 

Basic Tips to Avoid Tokenism

Gender

GLAAD Media Reference Guide - Transgender

Creating Well-Written Trans Characters

A Few Things Writers Need To Know About Sexuality & Gender Expression

Trans (Character Guide & Bio Building)

A Non-Binary Person’s Guide to Invented Pronouns

Gender Neutral Writing [List]

Keeping a Trans* Person a Person  

Suggestions for Reducing Gendered Terms in Language [Photo]

How to Review a Trans Book as a Cis Person

Writing Characters of Different Genders [List]

Understanding Gender

Gender Spectrum Resources [List]

Gender History

Illness 

Writing Chronic Illness [1,2]

The Spoon Theory - Also pertains to disibility

About HIV/AIDS

Sexually Transmitted Diseases [List]

Sexually Transmitted Infections

Sex and Gender Differences in Health [Study]

All Chronic Illness Topics [List]

Coping with Chronic Illness

All Cancer Types

A Day in the Life of a Home Health Aide/Health Coach

Fiction Books With Chronically Ill Main Characters- Not Cancer [List][Books]

Neurotype (Including Mental Health)

Writing an Autistic Character When You Don’t Have Autism

Depression Resources [List]

What to Consider When Writing Mental Illness

Stanford Psychiatric Patient Care

Inpatient Psychiatric Questions and Tips

Don’t Call Me Crazy [Documentary]

(Avoid) Romanticizing Mental Illness [1,2]

A Day in the Life of a Mental Hospital Patient

State-run vs. Private Mental Hospitals

Mental Disorders

Mental Hospital Non-Fiction [List][Books]

National Institute of Mental Health - Mental Health Information [List]

Writing Autistic

What Causes PTSD?

Remember, Remember: The Basics of Writing Amnesia

ADHD Basic Information

What is a Learning Disability?

What is Neurotypical?

Race

Writing Race: A Checklist for Authors

Transracial Writing for the Sincere

Is my character “black enough”

White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack

Challenge, Counter, Controvert: Subverting Expectations

Writing With Color: Blogs - Recs - Resources [List]

Writing People of Color (If you happen to be a person of another color)

7 Offensive Mistakes Well-Intentioned Writers Make

Description Guide - Words for Skin Tone

Religion

Religion in Novels: Terrific or Taboo?

How to Write a Fantasy Novel that Sells: The Religion

Writing About Faith And Religion

From Aladdin to Homeland: How Hollywood Can Reinforce Racial and Religious Stereotypes 

Sexuality

Understanding Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity [List]

Writing Gay Characters [1,2,3]

American Civil Liberties Union - LGBT+ Rights

LGBT+ Rights by Country or Territory

History of Gay Rights

Gay Rights Movement

LGBT+ Culture

Gay Myths and Stereotypes

LGBT+ Studies Web Sites [List]

LGBTQ Youth Issues

LGBTData.com

Overview of Gay and Lesbian Parenting, Adoption and Foster Care (United States)

Other

How Doctors’ Offices—and Queer Culture—Are Failing Autistic LGBTQ People

Five Traps and Tips for Character Development

Developing Realistic Characters

I hope that this list will provide topics a writer may not initially think to research when writing. If there are any resources that you think would be fitting for this list, please let us know! We want to have as many helpful sources as possible to maximize learning opportunities. 

Stay educated,

xx Sarah

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Improving Your Composition On Multiple Levels

Composition refers to the process by which a text is written, and it can occur on multiple levels. A writer can be skilled at one level of composition but unskilled at another. How well a text functions is a product of its composition across all levels.

So, what are these levels?

Word level. A text is made up of words, and the simplest level of composition is choosing the correct words.

Sentence level. The purpose of words is to convey meaning, yet how words are arranged into sentences can dramatically alter how effectively they perform this task. 

Paragraph level. A group of sentences, all of which relate to the same point, form a paragraph. Well-constructed paragraphs are essential for clear, purposeful writing.

Text level. A text is made up of a collection of paragraphs, all of which are related to expressing a particular message, idea, or story. A well-written text reflects this and can entertain, inform, or persuade as needed.

In order to improve as a writer, it is necessary to improve across all of these levels. However, the steps required for improvement are not the same across each level.

Improving at the word level is arguably the easiest. What is necessary is a larger vocabulary, and this can be developed through both indirect means (e.g., reading more) or direct means (e.g., studying word lists and using a thesaurus regularly). Other ways of increasing your vocabulary include reading a wider selection of material (e.g., newspapers and magazines instead of just fantasy novels) and talking to more people.

The important thing for improving at the word level is consistent effort. It simply isn’t possible to massively increase your vocabulary overnight, but most people can handle learning one new word a day. Consistent effort is also required to master new words since it is one thing to know what a word means and quite another to use it in a skilful and nuanced manner. 

Constructing better sentences is something that many writers struggle with. Part of this is undoubtedly due to style. Some writers naturally tend toward more ornate and complex sentences, and there are some schools of thought that maintain that such sentences are somehow ‘wrong’ or ‘bad’. Personally, I don’t think that there is anything inherently wrong with ornate or complex sentences. To me what matters is whether or not the sentence is intelligible and whether or not it reads well.

An intelligible sentence is one that makes sense. More importantly, it is one that makes sense to the reader. In other words, a good sentence is one that the reader can make sense of without further assistance. If a sentence needs to be explained to the reader, then it’s entirely possible it isn’t a very good sentence.

It is a little more difficult to define what it means for a sentence to read well. To some extent, it is very much a qualitative thing. When you read a sentence that reads well, it flows smoothly, either in your mind or when it is spoken aloud. It is one that feels right. If the reader reads it more than once, it is because they want to savour it and not because it feels clunky and necessitates a second look.

The best way, I’ve found, to get better at sentence construction is through practice. The first draft of something is usually fairly horrible, and bad sentences are a big part of that. Go through your drafts and work through the sentences one by one, working on each of them until they are better. They don’t have to be perfect, just better than when you started. If that is too difficult, then simply start with one paragraph and tinker with the sentences in it until they improve.

Paragraphs are made up of several sentences that cover the same point or are in some other way related. Improving at the paragraph level requires a grasp of how sentences can fit and work together. 

Consider a paragraph designed to build up a sense of unease. It is very difficult to build up a sense of unease in just one sentence. Instead, it is how the sentences in a paragraph fit together that builds up the sense of unease. The first sentence might set the scene, depicting something that would ordinarily seem quite cheerful and warm. The second sentence might point out a few oddities, things that don’t quite fit. The third sentence might imply some disturbing reasons for why those oddities exist. The fourth sentence might offer some evidence that those reasons are correct, allowing the reader to draw their own conclusions.

Here’s a brief example:

The rocking horse moved back and forth. In their beds, the children continued to sleep. The darkness in the room quivered and stretched out over them, one by one. And the rocking horse continued to move, its creaking growing louder as the darkness deepened.

The example given above shows how a paragraph is more than the sum of its parts. Individually, none of the sentences are particularly creepy, but together, they can create a much creepier atmosphere. They do this because each sentence builds upon the previous one, providing the reader with more information while guiding their imagination in the desired direction.

To improve on a paragraph level, it is important to understand that although sentences can stand alone, they are much stronger when they are connected to each other on a logical or thematic level. An argument is stronger when each sentence hammers away at the same point, making opposition impossible, and a description is much richer when each sentences adds another detail or fleshes out one that has already been given.

This is another instance in which practice is invaluable. But you can make the process more efficient by focusing your attention on paragraphs, as opposed to entire texts. Try to write a single paragraph that provides as rich a description of a setting as possible. Now, try a paragraph that inspires as much fear as possible. Regularly repeat this for different genres and styles, and you should notice an improvement.

A well-written text is almost always one that has a goal. That goal may be to entertain, it may be to inform, or it may be to persuade. Whatever the goal is, improving at the text level means learning to use the entire body of a text (i.e., every word, sentence, and paragraph) to advance that goal.

The first thing you should do is to learn the basic structure of the form of writing you’re doing. If you’re writing to entertain, then you’re probably writing a story although you could be writing a poem, a script, or a song. In any case, each of those formats has particular rules and guidelines. Learn them. Likewise, if you’re writing to persuade or inform, then those forms of writing have rules and guidelines too. Learn those as well.

You don’t always have to follow rules and guidelines, but they can be enormously helpful when you’re starting out. That’s why courses teaching students how to write essays and reports generally suggest similar structures. Those structures aren’t always ideal, but they will do a reasonably good job most of the time. That’s why people use them.

To improve at the text level, you need to understand what purpose your writing serves. If it is to entertain, you must ask yourself how you will entertain the reader. If you are writing a story, then focus on things like the characters, plot, settings, and ideas. If you are trying to inform the reader about an issue or topic, then ask yourself what you want to tell them about (e.g., what details are important, what does past research say, and what does future research need to look at). And if you’re trying to persuade people, think about how you can do that. What are the different sides of the argument? What are the key arguments for and against each side? What does the evidence suggest?

Improving your writing can be difficult, but it often helps to break it down. Working on one thing at a time - one level at a time - can make a seemingly insurmountable task much more approachable.

If you want to read more about my thoughts on writing, you can find those here.

I also write original fiction, which you can find here.

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