seeyah-in-anotha-life-brotha - Tumblr blog

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"Have you ever asked yourself, do monsters make war, or does war make monsters?"

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"Far, far from land"

Kristen McMenamy by Tim Walker for W December/January 2013/2014

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Writing Tips #102: How to Write an Epic Fantasy Novel – A No Nonsense Guide to getting the job done

Here are some simple yet amazingly effective steps that will insure you start and finish your epic fantasy novel. You just need to understand what epic fantasy really is and why you want to write it.

The key to writing a real epic fantasy novel lies in the word “epic”. But this doesn’t just mean big in scale, scope, and size. An epic fantasy novel doesn’t have to be a thousand page doorstopper. It has to be epic in its ambitious reach for finding answers to the big questions in life. This is the true and hidden goal of epic fantasy. It is a vehicle for understanding what life is about. And even though the story may have dragons, and take place on an unbelievable world that doesn’t really exist it needs to be applicable to the human condition.

So this is the first thing you have to do when writing an epic fantasy novel. Decide what you want to say about life or what important topic you want to explore. Write this down and keep it in mind throughout your whole novel writing experience. And remember that you don’t have to come right out and explain your theme. It is usually better, and more rewarding for the reader, if you reveal the theme slowly and allow him or her to discover it.

Some common themes you may want to explore in epic fantasy include the examination of the nature of good and evil, the ultimate meaning of life, the quest to understand oneself, or the challenge of making the transition from childhood to adulthood.

Read More

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NaNoWriMo Summer: The Quickening

Help I don’t know what to write!

1001 Story Ideas

Quick Story Idea Generator

How to Get Story Ideas

Help I don’t how to plot my story!

Plotting the Perfect Story

25 Ways to Plot, Plan, and Prep Your Story

Novel in 30 Days Worksheets

Help I don’t know how to find time to write my story!

Time to Write

Finding Time to Write

TimeFinder Software

Help I’m new to NaNo!

Top 5 Reasons to do NaNo

10 Reasons to do NaNo

Camp Nanowrimo Help

How to do Nanowrimo

Why You Should Do Nanowrimo

[seeyah-in-anotha-life-brotha]

So You Want To Write A Book..

Where Do Writers Find Their Ideas?

On Inspiration

How To Write A Novel

Getting Started With A Book

Hints About Writing A Story

Novel Outlining 101

From Notes To Novel

Plotting A Novel

Why Don’t I Have A Plot, And Where Do I Get One?

How To Create A Character

Creating Characters

Character Creation

Name That Character! (2)

You And Your Characters

How To Write Backstory Without Putting Your Reader To Sleep

How To Use Foreshadowing

How To Write Dialogue (2)

How To Make Your Writing More Interesting 

Writing Block

How To Get Unstuck

Advice For Young Writers (2)

On Word Counts And Novel Length

Top 4 Ways to Know Your Idea is Novel-Worthy

How A Book Gets Published

How Do You Go About Getting Published

And remember: Google is your best friend.

[seeyah-in-anotha-life-brotha]

Before you click read more, the following needs to be understood. Anything I say is purely opinion and personal preference based. There is no law on writing, there is no rule against being painfully descriptive; it’s relative. If you enjoy writing extensive, over-elaborate scenes, keep doing it and ignore anything I say. Also, I’m made of satire and bluntness, and thus anything I write needs to be taken with a grain of salt.  Beneath the cut, you’ll find my opinions on building a sentence - elaboration, how to bring life to a sentence without drowning it in detail and why being simple is better than being overdone, why writing shouldn’t always be poetic, alternative words and why you shouldn’t always turn to the thesaurus.

Honestly I had to think long and hard about where to start this - and being that I’m running on barely any sleep, please bear with me while I stumble over myself occasionally, and excuse any typos, as I’ll probably not catch them. I’m also not giving grammar lessons here, this is simply on wording and making things a bit more cohesive.

Building a sentence - elaboration; it needs to mesh, and flow.

So, as an example, we’ll use “He tossed his shirt on the floor.”

On its own, the sentence is clear, concise, and to the point, but it’s not complete, it’s a fragment. On its own, the sentence works, but without a little embellishment, it’s going to sit awkwardly in the middle of your paragraph.

For namesake, we’ll call this man Paul.

Having had a long day, Paul was all too happy to be home. Pushing into his bedroom, Paul stumbled to make his way to the bed. He tossed his shirt on the floor. After taking a few minutes to finally breath, Paul laid back, trying to fall asleep.

I could continue, but that’s really enough. Alright, that little bit shows you exactly what Paul is doing, and that might be enough for you - but there’s no depth. The paragraph has absolutely no soul, no heart, no pulse. It’s a string of words that’s completely readable, but isn’t beautiful or gripping. Reading that, I honestly don’t want to know more, because I just assume Paul is tired.

So the problem is that there’s no build to this sentence, you’ve taken the bare bricks and shoved them together, but you haven’t made them stick. He tossed his shirt on the floor; it’s just sitting there, doing nothing for the reader. Elaborate, make it gripping, make that shirt important, make the action important. How did he take off his shirt, why did he take off his shirt, where did it land. Leaving the rest of the mundane paragraph as is, if you focus your energy on that one sentence, you can change the entire flow.  You need to keep emotion in mind though, because changing that one sentence, adding feeling, can change the entire mood of the scene.

Upset -

Having had a long day, Paul was all too happy to be home. Pushing into his bedroom, Paul stumbled to make his way to the bed. With a heavy sigh, the man brought his hands to peel the fabric from his body, jaw clenched as he tossed his shirt on the floor; having little concern for where it landed. After taking a few minutes to finally breath, Paul laid back, trying to fall asleep.

Clearly, something is bothering him; which makes the reader (in most cases) want to keep reading, finding out what it is.

Exhausted-

Having had a long day, Paul was all too happy to be home. Pushing into his bedroom, Paul stumbled to make his way to the bed. A low growl passed his chapped lips while pulling the sweat drenched jersey from his form, his arms trembling while tossing it to the ground, too tired to throw it in the hamper. After taking a few minutes to finally breath, Paul laid back, trying to fall asleep.

The reader is left wondering why he’s so tired - sports, maybe, considering the mention of a jersey? It all depends on what happened before his arrival home.

Drunk-

Having had a long day, Paul was all too happy to be home. Pushing into his bedroom, Paul stumbled to make his way to the bed. With knees like jello, the man had a hard time finding enough balance to pull the stained shirt from his form too lazily throw it aside, grimacing when it landed on the bed rather than the floor. After taking a few minutes to finally breath, Paul laid back, trying to fall asleep.

So it’s not quite obvious that he’s drunk, but there’s obviously something amiss. The reader will likely want to know why - or maybe they do, from the previous paragraph.

Elaboration is a great thing, it helps bring heart into a sentence, keeping it from just laying lifeless on the floor.

How to bring life to a sentence without drowning it in detail and why being simple is better than being overdone.

There’s something to be said about vivid detail, it can be absolutely enthralling, but just like with everything, it’s only appreciated in moderation. Too much of a good thing is never - well, never a good thing. It’s absolutely arrogant to think that you need to embellish every sentence you write, because then you end up boring the reader, especially if you use strange, long words for EVERY bit of detail. Nobody wants to read an entire paragraph about Paul taking off his shirt. Nobody. Unless it’s smut, then maybe it’s acceptable.

The fact is, you need to be wary about where you add detail, and where you need not. A lot of times writers, especially new writers, are so concerned with adding little things into their work, that it becomes redundant. If you ask me, redundancy in writing is one of the absolute most annoying things you can find. I’d rather read poor grammar and under-written sentences than overly clever, overly detailed, overly floral bits.

Having had a long day, Paul was all too happy to be home. Pushing into his bedroom, Paul stumbled to make his way to the bed. With a heavy sigh, the man brought his hands to peel the fabric from his body, jaw clenched as he tossed his shirt on the floor; having little concern for where it landed. After taking a few minutes to finally breath, Paul laid back, trying to fall asleep.

Is fine on it’s own - you understand that Paul has come home, clearly he’s distressed about something, and he just wants to sleep the rest of the day (or night) away. The amount of detail you put into your paragraph will set the scene. Remember that the reader doesn’t know anything you don’t write - so if you’re under descriptive, you can’t blame the reader for not seeing where you were going.

We’ll take a step in another direction here, backward, setting the paragraph that would come before the aforementioned.

The sentence “He could barely concentrate on the road." will be our staple.

Work had been grueling, more so than most days; his body just ached to be wrapped in a mess of sheets, curled up in his warm, inviting bed. After a painfully long conversation with his ex-wife, Paul was focused on nothing but getting home. He could barely concentrate on the road.

Without bringing a little more life to that sentence, it seems really off. It ends abruptly, it sits at the finish line, but doesn’t cross it. The rest of the paragraph has minimal detail, but enough to understand - and there’s obviously a reason to why he can’t concentrate, but as with before, elaboration doesn’t hurt.  

My personal rule is, if it looks wrong, it is. And that sentence just looks wrong. I would write it as:

Work had been grueling, more so than most days; his body just ached to be wrapped in a mess of sheets, curled up in his warm, inviting bed. After an agonizingly long conversation with his ex-wife, Paul was focused on nothing but getting home. Having waves of painful memories crashing against his skull, it was impossible to keep his eyes from welling up, making it hard to concentrate on the road.

Which just gives a bit more ‘why’. I love why. Why is my favorite. WHY is it happening, that’s always something I ask myself. Where and what are great too. If you have a sentence you want to bring life to. Ask yourself if it needs detail - “The dog sat on the ground.” - can be so much more. “Panting and out of breath, the dog sat on the ground, shaded by an overgrown oak tree.” There’s a why, and a where.  Adding why and where, who and what, it’s always a great way to build a sentence, but it can become easy to overdo. 

Work had been grueling, more so than most days; his body just ached to be wrapped in a mess of sheets, curled up in his warm, inviting bed. After an agonizingly long conversation with his ex-wife, Paul was focused on nothing but getting home. Having tidal waves of painful memories of his ex-wife crashing against his skull, it became impossible to keep his eyes from welling up with salty, wet tears, making it hard to concentrate on the winding road that would bring him home. 

No please stop. This is where the redundancy sets in. A lot of times writers feel the need to reiterate things, which drives me god damn crazy. I’ll break it down, and explain why that’s just too much detail, and how it flows better if cut down to “Having waves of painful memories crashing against his skull, it was hard to keep his eyes from welling up, making it hard to concentrate on the road”. 

Having tidal waves of painful memories of his ex-wife crashing against his skull, —tidal waves isn’t needed, it makes it seem quite a bit more pretentious; waves is fine enough. If you were to cut out painful, that would be fine, but personally I’d rather have the emotion itself than a poetic quip, trying to make it seem deeper than it needs to be. Ex-wife is redundant, because the wife was already mentioned, bringing it back up is unneeded, because having just said he had a conversation with her, it’s going to be assumed that said memories would be about the woman. it became impossible to keep his eyes from welling up with salty, wet tears, —Clearly tears are salty and wet - which makes this redundant. Unneeded detail makes the writer look like they’re trying too hard, or just trying to fill in gaps, to increase their word count. making it hard to concentrate on the winding road that would bring him home. —Realistically you could leave the sentence like this, but personally I prefer the less is more approach; if you need to mention that the road is winding, fine, but if it has nothing to do with anything, why are you doing it? Unless he’s going to crash, or something important is going to happen, why does anyone need to know the road is winding - put the focus on Paul, not the road. Setting a scene is important, but pulling the reader away from the character is not. As for ‘bring him home’ - it’s not important either, considering the reader already assumes he’s going home - thanks to the mention of needing to be wrapped up in sheets, in his bed, and the previous sentence ending with “getting home”. REDUNDANCY STAP.

In the end. If you have a sentence you want to build on, you need to figure out what details are important, and what aren’t - what makes it flow, and what just sounds like too much. Always proofread OUT LOUD, so you can hear your mistakes, because you’re more likely to notice redundancy and over-embellishment if you actually speak the words.  Basically, if you have a sentence, ask yourself, who, where, what, why. Don’t do this to every sentence in a paragraph, you’ll end up having too much detail and not enough story. 

Work had been grueling, more so than most days; his body just ached to be wrapped in a mess of sheets, curled up in his warm, inviting bed. After an agonizingly long conversation with his ex-wife, Paul was focused on nothing but getting home. Having waves of painful memories crashing against his skull, it was impossible to keep his eyes from welling up, making it hard to concentrate on the road.

is easier to read than 

The long day at work had been absolutely grueling, endlessly more so than most other work days; his tired, sore body just ached to be wrapped tightly in a mess of silk sheets, curled up in his warm, inviting bed. After an agonizingly long conversation with his ex-wife, Jessica, Paul was focused on absolutely nothing but getting back to his home; he could already hear the bed calling his name. Having tidal waves of painful memories of his ex-wife crashing against his skull, it became impossible to keep his eyes from welling up with salty, wet tears, making it hard to concentrate on the winding road that would bring him home. 

Quality. Over. Quantity. Always. 

Why writing shouldn’t always be poetic.

Alright, another big pet peeve of mine is when people try and become overly poetic. Usually this is when the “What the fuck did I just read” sets in, and I have no idea what’s going on. Don’t get me wrong, I love some clever imagery as much as the next guy, and I love beautifully weaved words - but, being poetic constantly is just. Stop. And sometimes you shouldn’t be. 

If you want to be poetic, please just be considerate of the reader. Because:

Obsidian locks curled and danced in the wind, milk white hands rose to comb through the ringlets. “I’m not sure.” she murmured, her voice as soft as silk, but her words cutting his flesh like glass; sure to leave scars on his skin in her name. The morning sky was alight with vivid oranges, soft pastel reds and daring blues, the sun barely peeking over the mountains ridges. “I love you.” he muttered, his voice as deep as the ocean, his words just as endless and vast; cold, curious and lonely - a sailor a drift, nothing but a toy for his siren to play with. “I’m not sure.” she repeated, these words sinking through bone, pushing at the confines of his thudding heart, daring to break it into pieces.

Is fancy, sure. But using too much imagery is worse than using not enough. The readers mind doesn’t know where to focus, and a lot of times it’s more convoluted than what I just wrote. Yes, it can be fun to be poetic, or cryptic - but being OVERLY cryptic can absolutely kill the flow of things. Can you actually imagine having to reply to something like that - four paragraphs. 

I’m usually pretty poetic in my writing, but I’d never put out something, for someone to reply to, that was just a big mesh of words that didn’t really move the story forward. Poetic writing in solos, or poetic writing for the sake of it - that’s one thing. But - 

Obsidian waves of hair danced in the wind, pale hands fussing to keep them in place. “I’m not sure.” she murmured nervously, her voice trembling harder than his knees. “I love you…” he muttered, pain seeping through his words as the sun rose, painting the sky with the color of his breaking heart. “I’m not sure.” she spoke again, the words daring to cut deeper, sure to leave scars in their wake.

Is a lot more readable, and it progresses the story just the same without being too fluffy.

Alternative words and why you shouldn’t always turn to the thesaurus.

AGHRRRRRRRRR. I hate people that use a thesaurus on EVERY GOD DAMN WORD. A LOT OF TIMES people use a thesaurus, and they use it wrong, so they end up with a sentence that makes no god damn sense. Alternative words are amazing - if you have to repeat something, go ahead! Or if you just want to add an obscure, fancy word here and there, please do! But if you build your entire sentence, using the most obscure words you can… I just, I won’t write with you. I will literally just glare at you. I would love to throw a thesaurus at you and show you how it feels to have to read -  

There was a subdued drone that reverberated from the supplementary face of the aperture - his hand oscillated, overwrought to open it, perturbed of what might be nesting behind. Death, maybe; he speculated to himself, sure it was about that allotment. 

Like, if you’re going to use a thesaurus, you need to actually know what the words mean, you can just pick and choose - oh my god that looks cool, so I’ll use it, or you’ll have the above gagglefuck. It makes no sense, it hurts my head to read; and lord knows it hurt my pride to write.

Please, I mean, sometimes you need to stay simple, you don’t need all the fancy stupid shit. Use a few awesome words, but leave the rest for where they actually belong? If you’re using a thesaurus on everything, you’re going to end up looking completely stuck up. If you need it for a few words, please use it properly -

There was a low whine that echoed from behind the door - his hand shook, worried to open it, fearful of what might be lurking on the other side. Death, maybe; he wondered to himself, sure it was about that time.

Thesauruses are meant to give alternative words to the one you input - which means sometimes you’ll get things that really don’t make sense for your sentence. If you use a thesaurus, and use a word you’re not really familiar with, you need to use a dictionary to make sure it’s actually the right fit. I don’t suggest using a thesaurus often - I only ever use one if I really need an alternative word, because I’ve used the same one twice, and I can’t think of a proper fitting replacement. It’s a great tool, but you need to understand that it’s not always the RIGHT one.  Sometimes you’ve going to have to repeat words, he, she, they are obvious repeaters. But if you’re writing smut or gore, chances are you’re going to have to settle for lots of flesh and skin, because there aren’t many alternatives that would make sense. He touched her shell kind of sounds creepy, so that might work for gore, but in smut it’s not as appropriate. Unless she’s a turtle, in which case I don’t want to read it anyway, so have at.  In the end, add detail where detail is needed, keep a dictionary and a thesaurus on hand and practice. Sometimes I write out my sentences plainly, and then play with them until they sound right. You don’t have to go with your first draft, you’re not committed to it.  If you have trouble with detail, adding too much or too little. Here’s a little trick, and something you can do to try and improve.  Here are some very basic sentences that you can try and elaborate on; remember the who/what/why/hows, and all the other babble I’ve been on about. We know that adding all of these factors can be overkill at times, but because these are just sentences, and not being tied into paragraphs, you’ve got more wiggle room. Experiment, see what you can come up with - write a whole paragraph, play with detail, turn it into a story. There’s no harm in trial and error. Rewrite them completely, make them work. AND! Feel free to inbox me with what you end up with, and we can talk about it. 

EXAMPLE: It was the only flower in the valley that bloomed.  EXAMPLE: I watched as it unfolded slowly, letting the sun kiss it’s delicate milk white petals for the first time; a daisy, the only flower in the valley that bloomed that year.

He sighed, wondering if he should take the stairs.

There was a certain calm in the air tonight.

The sound of shattering glass was all he could hear.

It wasn’t long before he dropped to the floor.

The apartment was empty.

The sudden burst of wind caught him off guard.

She never really liked the taste of peaches.

It wasn’t her fault.

Maybe one day, she’d be stronger.

After the party she had to find her own way home.

Again, everything I’ve said is absolutely my opinion, and I’ve probably broken my own redundancy rule about 100 times, but then again this isn’t meant to be a masterpiece. This is my personal writing preference, and reading preference; so if you’re offended because you like to be over-stylistic, sorry not sorry.

[seeyah-in-anotha-life-brotha]

This is essentially going to be a sort of reference guide. I’ll cover the most basic spelling mix ups (there, their, they’re - so on, so forth). A few grammatical snafu’s; commas, semi-colons, capitals, so on so forth. So, read on if you’re curious. Keep in mind, typos happen - I have them all the time, and so does everyone. So, don’t get all high and mighty on someone if they do make a mistake, just politely help them sort it out.

This is going to be mostly short, sweet and to the point, I’m not going to flush everything out, I’m going to keep it more reference sheet-esque. Alright, let’s see what happens.

Commas and semicolons: please use them, please.

Commas are used to break sentences down. Semi colons are used to continue a sentence you could technically end.

Commas in lists: If you’re making a list, you need commas. Alright, plain and simple. The explanation for this one, is that if you’re making a list (say, different fruits) you’re going to need a comma after each.

Jeremy sighed, looking down at the list his mother had handed him. It read: apples, bananas, oranges, grapes, blueberries, and kiwi.

The last comma, the one before the and is stylistic, it’s not technically wrong if you don’t use it, but it’s also not wrong if you do.

Semicolons in lists: alright, so semicolons are basically a fancy comma, kind of. For lists, they’re used when the item is being described.

Jeremy sighed, looking down at the list his mother had handed him. It read: apples, 1lb baking apples, 1lb golden crisp; two bunches of bananas, semi-ripe; one bag of oranges, florida grown; one bunch of green grapes, one bunch of purple; two cartons of blueberries; and six kiwi.

So, since commas are being used in the description, you use semi-colons to break up the list items.

Commas to separate clauses: probably the most commonly used comma. This is technically stylistic, I suppose, but most commonly, commas should be used to break up a clause. Use them before: for, and,but, or, yet, so, then. 

The sound of silence was oddly refreshing, but somehow made Jeremy nervous. 

It’s a pretty simple rule that makes most sentences a lot easier to read - because, a comma is essentially a short pause. 

Semicolons to separate clauses: not too many people use semicolons, I think because many aren’t always sure when to use them. A semicolon can be used to elongate a sentence that you could end - but, it would be a fragment on it’s own, or simply be contextually better when attached to the former. 

The sound of silence was oddly refreshing, but somehow made Jeremy nervous; he’d never spent a night in the house alone before.

He’d never spent a night in the house alone before, could technically be it’s own sentence, but it’s still in reference to the previous, it’s the same thought process, so using a semicolon is just the more logical approach.

Commas following adverbs: commas should be used to separate an adverb at the start of a sentence, from the rest of it. Words such as however, in fact, therefore, nevertheless, moreover, furthermore,still; and sometimes then, so, yet, instead, and too. If an adverb pops up in the middle of a sentence, they should come before and after a comma - or, after a semicolon.

In fact, Jeremy was far more concerned about the noise than he cared to admit.

Jeremy was, in fact, far more concerned about the noise than he cared to admit.

Jeremy was far more concerned about the noise than he cared to admit; in fact, he was horrified.

It all depends on the content of the sentence. If you ever have a question, or a concern - it if looks wrong, it’s probably wrong.

That’s all I’m going to cover in the way of commas and semicolons, if you want to read more about them, check these out: [x][x][x][x] - you’re also free to inbox me at any time.

Capitals: I’m just going to make a quick list for this.

Capitalize when:

Using I, I’ve, I’m. I’m so ashamed, I can’t believe I’ve done this.

Peoples names and titles. Sir Jeremy is actually a King, believe it or not.  To begin a sentence.  There isn’t much left to do, actually - but thanks for asking.  To begin speech. Jeremy let out a long sigh, “I don’t know anymore…” he muttered.

With abbreviations. GMT. EMT. EST. PST.

Days, months, holidays. I was born on Valentines day, it was a Monday that February.

People, Places, Things. Jeremy was born in Australia, but lives in America, he says the Pepsi is better.

Titles. The Lion King was a great movie, one of Jeremy’s favorites.

That’s about it. Moving on to common spelling errors.

Alright, so I’ll cover things like there, they’re, their, too, two, to. Things like that.

They’re - They are.  They’re not home, so I’m watching the place. Their - belonging to. Jeremy, don’t touch that, that’s their most prized possession! 

There - in reference to a place.  Seriously, Jeremy, just go over there and don’t touch anything.

Too - also, as well as. I don’t know, I guess if you wanna come too…

Two - the number. I dunno, we’re going at two.

To - a preposition. Jeremy, hurry up - we’re going to the store.

Accept - to receive. I humbly accept your invitation.

Except - other than. So, everyone except Alex is coming with us?

Affect - Influence. Well, if you don’t get some rest, it’ll probably affect your driving…

Effect - result. Wow, those lights you put up have a real nice effect in the room.

Alot / A lot - Alot is not a word. A lot means many of.

Then - a time. Well, if you really want to go then; might be busy though.

Than - a comparison. I don’t know, maybe we should go to the store, rather than out for dinner.

There are so many commonly misused words, so I’m going to throw this reference at you, since it covers everything I just did, along with a multitude of others.

If you’re ever questioning yourself, don’t be afraid to ask someone, and consult a dictionary to make sure you’ve got the right spelling, and the right word.

[seeyah-in-anotha-life-brotha]

[seeyah-in-anotha-life-brotha]

WRITE EVERY DAY

Writing is a muscle. Smaller than a hamstring and slightly bigger than a bicep, and it needs to be exercised to get stronger. Think of your words as reps, your paragraphs as sets, your pages as daily workouts. Think of your laptop as a machine like the one at the gym where you open and close your inner thighs in front of everyone, exposing both your insecurities and your genitals. Because that is what writing is all about.

DON’T PROCRASTINATE

Get The Best of McSweeney’s Internet Tendency.

Procrastination is an alluring siren taunting you to google the country where Balki fromPerfect Strangers was from, and to arrange sticky notes on your dog in the shape of hilarious dog shorts. A wicked temptress beckoning you to watch your children, and take showers. Well, it’s time to look procrastination in the eye and tell that seafaring wench, “Sorry not today, today I write.”

FIGHT THROUGH WRITER’S BLOCK

Best of McSweeney’s!

The blank white page. El Diablo Blanco. El Pollo Loco. Whatever you choose to call it, staring into the abyss in search of an idea can be terrifying. But ask yourself this; was Picasso intimidated by the blank canvas? Was Mozart intimidated by the blank sheet music? Was Edison intimidated by the blank lightbulb? If you’re still blocked up, ask yourself more questions, like; Why did I quit my job at TJ Maxx to write full-time? Can/should I eat this entire box of Apple Jacks? Is The Price is Right on at 10 or 11?

LEARN FROM THE MASTERS

Mark Twain once said, “Show, don’t tell.” This is an incredibly important lesson for writers to remember; never get such a giant head that you feel entitled to throw around obscure phrases like “Show, don’t tell.” Thanks for nothing, Mr. Cryptic.

FIND YOUR MUSE

Finding a really good muse these days isn’t easy, so plan on going through quite a few before landing on a winner. Beware of muses who promise unrealistic timelines for your projects or who wear wizard clothes. When honing in on a promising new muse, also be on the lookout for other writers attempting to swoop in and muse-block you. Just be patient in your search, because the right muse/human relationship can last a lifetime.

HONE YOUR CRAFT

There are two things more difficult than writing. The first is editing, the second is expert level Sudoku where there’s literally two goddamned squares filled in. While editing is a grueling process, if you really work hard at it, in the end you may find that your piece has fewer words than it did before, which is great. Perhaps George Bernard Shaw said it best when upon sending a letter to a close friend, he wrote, “I’m sorry this letter is so long, I didn’t have time to make it shorter.” No quote better illustrates the point that writers are very busy.

ASK FOR FEEDBACK

It’s so easy to hide in your little bubble, typing your little words with your little fingers on your little laptop from the comfort of your tiny chair in your miniature little house. I’m taking this tone to illustrate the importance of developing a thick skin. Remember, the only kind of criticism that doesn’t make you a better writer is dishonest criticism. That, and someone telling you that you have weird shoulders.

READ, READ, READ

It’s no secret that great writers are great readers, and that if you can’t read, your writing will often suffer. Similarly, if you can read but have to move your lips to get through the longer words, you’ll still be a pretty bad writer. Also, if you pronounce “espresso” like “expresso.”

STUDY THE RULES, THEN BREAK THEM

Part of finding your own voice as a writer is finding your own grammar. Don’t spend your career lost in a sea of copycats when you can establish your own set of rules. If everyone’s putting periods at the end of their sentences, put yours in the middle of words. Will it be incredibly difficult to read? Yes it will. Will it set you on the path to becoming a literary pioneer? Tough to say, but you’re kind of out of options at this point.

KEEP IT TOGETHER

A writer’s brain is full of little gifts, like a piñata at a birthday party. It’s also full of demons, like a piñata at a birthday party in a mental hospital. The truth is, it’s demons that keep a tortured writer’s spirit alive, not Tootsie Rolls. Sure they’ll give you a tiny burst of energy, but they won’t do squat for your writing. So treat your demons with the respect they deserve, and with enough prescriptions to keep you wearing pants.

The Ultimate Guide To Writing Better Than You Normally Do

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Remember, meditation is more than what is usually associated with it.

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The Jealous Character

Jealousy is an emotion that most of us are familiar with and it sometimes drives us to act out of character.  Not one really wants to be jealous, but it’s something that happens from time and time—and it happens to our characters. Ignoring it or pretending that it doesn’t happen might make your characters feel “too perfect” or “unnatural”.

Jealously isn’t necessarily a healthy emotion, but it happens and it’s something we all have to deal with. Sometimes, however, jealousy drives competition between two people or helps you pinpoint what you want. There will probably be jealousy between your protagonist and antagonist because they might both be interested in the same situation. They are always getting in the way of each other’s actions and they both feel like they are doing the right thing. The villain might be jealous of the hero because the hero has what the villain wants. The hero might be jealous of the villain because maybe the villain is stronger. If neither character wants what the other one has, your story will probably be very boring.

When people use jealousy in order to “dumb down” female characters, that’s when I have a problem with it. Focusing on jealously between two female characters over a romantic interest shouldn’t be the main point of your story. Acknowledging that these jealous feelings exist and having your protagonist deal with them in a healthy way is a much better way to tackle these issues. I don’t think this should ever be your main source of tension. There should always be more to your plot than two characters grappling with jealousy over the same person.

It’s unrealistic to assume that someone wouldn’t feel jealous if their love interest was being pursued by another person, but try to deal with it in an understanding way. Painting someone as “evil” because they want the same thing as you is a dumb idea.  Jealously works when it helps a character acknowledge his or her feelings for another person—for example, Ron Weasley didn’t really thought about how much he liked Hermione until she was with Viktor Krum. It helps reveal the inner most desires of your characters.

Learning how to write jealously comes from learning how to deal with it yourself. If you see everyone who has something you want as a horrible person and you make up ways to demonize them, you’ll probably do that in your writing too. Understanding that it’s okay to be jealous, as long as you don’t let it take over your life, will help you create more dynamic characters.

-Kris Noel

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One for the writers.

When you’re having trouble trying to convey a certain emotion without it coming off too cliché, too obvious, or you’re just plain flat out of indicators, this thing will be your best friend in the whole wide world.

It’ll give you a definition of an emotion. It’ll give you physical signals that indicate it. It’ll give you internal sensations, mental responses, even cues of long-term effects, possible escalated emotions, even cues for suppressed emotion when you don’t want to write it overtly.

It’s not going to write a story for you, nor will it cover every base you want it to. But this thing right here will create an excellent foundation to grow from if you’re a little shaky on how to properly convey the right tone. For anyone who needs a bit of help with Show, Don’t Tell, this is a wealth of information.

Trust me: you want this book. Epub is like $5 too, oooh cheap~ 

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A guide to the vampires, fairies, witches, & the spirit world of European Folklore for writers and dreamers.

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Or, why writing a fantasy or science fiction story isn’t an excuse to let plotholes, poor characterization, and sloppy worldbuilding slide.

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Brooklyn Nine-Nine Opening Credits Tutorial

I was asked to make a tutorial for this gifset where I recreated the Brooklyn Nine-Nine opening credits with the cast of Teen Wolf.

This idea was inspired by the crossover blog beacon99.

Read More

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Avoiding Exposition

Why avoid exposition? It slows the forward movement of plot – As exposition amounts to straightforward information, some novice writers believe it speeds up the story. In truth, it robs story of conflict and tension. Showing rather than telling what happens allows the reader to see incrementally how a character is pulled and dragged into feeling a certain way or making a specific decision. It amounts to lecturing the reader or forcing him to read an encyclopedia entry – A lot of times exposition is background information that the author deems is important to understanding some concept, such as the history of the Clone Wars, the physics behind hyperdrive and the ethical dilemmas of using metagenic weapons. It’s better to sprinkle these matters as bits into the characters’ normal conversation rather than give a long lecture. It can violate viewpoint – A first-person story suddenly interrupted with an objective, third-person telling of exposition can be jarring to the tale’s flow. At the very least, it is awkward-sounding.

The Purpose of Exposition (and a bit on Description)

The key with description and exposition is to know when to use each one. Many writing teachers give broad instructions like “Show, don’t tell.” That would imply that writers should always prefer description over exposition, but the that’s not always the case. There is a time and place for both. Exposition is crucial for getting from point A to point B in the story. If you used only description, then the stories would never go anywhere. Without exposition, the reader would be stuck in each individual moment of the story, regardless of whether they were essential moments or not. The key is to show the important parts of the story and move quickly past the less critical moments.