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Worldbuilding Masterpost

Some of my most frequently asked questions involve worldbuilding, and I’ve compiled quite a collection of resources on the matter.  As such, I’ve decided to compile them into a handy list, for your convenience!  

Worldbuilding Resources:

Worldbuilding 101

Making New Cultures

Woldbuilding Masterlist

Resources For Worldbuilding

Naming Systems

Free Wolrdbuilding Website (World Anvil)

Worldbuilding Website (Notebook AI)

Worldbuilding Blogs:

@wbqotd

@vcreatures

@worldbuilding

@worldanvil

@cabaoneoneone

@script-a-world

@teratoscope

More to come!

Happy writing, everybody!  <3

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How To Hook Readers (Pt. 1)

What exactly is a hook? A hook is a sentence or scene at the start of your story that grabs your reader’s attention. Most authors believe that your first sentence should be a hook. Here are some techniques you can use when writing the start of your story.

1) Raise questions that your readers NEED to figure out. In my opinion, this is the strongest way to hook readers. The Hunger Games has one of my favorite examples of this. In the very first paragraph, Katniss thinks about how “this is the day of the reaping.” 

This mysterious event is unknown to the audience and intrigues them to read on. In short, you want your readers constantly wondering what will happen next. If you keep up this pattern of questions (and eventual answers), you’ll always be feeding your readers a steady flow of curiosity and then satisfaction once you answer the questions. 

2) Create mystery surrounding your characters. Don’t reveal everything about them right away. Instead, reveal their secrets, fears, lies, faults, and insecurities slowly. If a character walks with a limp, don’t give away the reason behind it right away. If a king is known to be the most feared in all the realm, drop hints and tease the reason— but reveal the full reason why later on.

3) Have the inciting incident occur as soon as possible. The inciting incident is the event that launches your character into the story— something that changes their lives forever. Katniss volunteers as tribute at the beginning of chapter two, and we feel compelled to read further because her whole life has been uprooted, and we want to know how she will deal with her situation.

4) Create a first line that either confuses, startles, or amazes your reader. 

5) Don’t over describe— know what to leave out. While your hook can be unfolding action or a surprise, your hook can also be a mystery. Don’t info-dump or over-explain at the start of your novel. Deliberately leave pieces of information hidden so that your reader’s are hungry to find out the answers.

6) Treat your title as a hook. Some authors will say you need to hook your reader in the first sentence, but really you can start as early as your title. What about your title (or book cover) will cause a passerby to pick it up? Use an intriguing combination of words, or leave them questioning what kind of world is inside the cover.

Instagram: coffeebeanwriting  

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I don’t really have an obsessive personality, quite the opposite typically. I can’t focus or remember something or someone long enough to really obsess over it. New games or movies that I’m excited for I’ll forget about completely until it’s brought up. I just don’t have the capacity to obsess. That being said, when it comes to guys…I don’t really think of myself as a stalker. I mean it’s not like I’m narrowing down my searches to find their addresses or something, but I tend to look at their pictures a fair amount which is probably bad. Not to like jerk off or anything lewd like that, no, just to like…imagine I guess what it might be like to be with this person who, yes is attractive, but who I have zero understanding of how they act or what their personality is even like. It’s all just a projection and wishful thinking which is even worse considering there’s always the off-chance you actually meet them.

And there’s this one guy who I’ve made up in my mind the excuses necessary to justify my pseudo-obsession with. When he came to visit the city I live in, we matched on Tinder briefly. We never spoke to one another, but the sheer fact that we matched was insane to me. He is SO good looking that it felt impossible to believe that he actually swiped right on me. And sure, I did consider the possibilities that perhaps it was a miswipe, or perhaps he swipes right on everyone, as I know some people do that. But I chose not to believe that was the case. I chose to believe it was a genuine swipe. We never spoke, as I said, and eventually he went back home and either unmatched me or deleted his account.

He lives in the state above me, only a couple hours away. He lives in the same city as my sister, and on more than one occasions I’ve thought to myself: what if I go up there? Just to visit my sister, of course, but…you know. What if… I try not to think about that because that’s when this passes over from what I’ve deemed ‘acceptable stalking’ to ‘unacceptable stalking’.

But it’s always in my mind, and it won’t go away…

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I hate when I’m talking about two completely unreasonable groups of people, unnamed of course, and one of those people comes out and says “actually, these guys aren’t unreasonable, it’s the other guys that are unreasonable”.

Sweetie, you’re one of those people in the groups I was referring to, and let me assure you, you’re both fucking unreasonable. I mean talk about Exhibit fucking A on how unreasonable you are.

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Oh to have the confidence of a police officer, who feels their life is endangered, to shoot them and get away with it.

I’m just saying, if cops can pull the “uwu I felt thweatened” card every single time their wife ridiculed their dick size that day and they went in guns blazing to a traffic stop, then everyone else should be able to use that card too when they turn around and put one in the cop’s chest for once.

“hurr durr wow so peaceful, wanting cops to die” No, fuck you. I don’t want anyone to die, but if cops get to use an absolute BS excuse to get away with blatant murder then why the fuck can’t everyone else.

Every time I hear “cops put their lives on the line every day” I legitimately can’t not think of these instances where their lives were indisputably not on the line, but they said they were which is how they get away with murder.

Again, no one should die but since someone’s apparently gotta die, for once I’d like to see “cop shot after wrongfully pulling someone over” and the driver walks away scot free because they felt threatened. I sure as shit know I’d feel threatened getting pulled over these days, not even including the racial aspect of all this.

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Dude really said “I’m an asshole so like it or GTFO” and I’m like “Bitch, where did I ask you to be nice?” I just said I was trying to be nice, because I hate being a pedantic little bitch like literally everyone on this hellsite who has to escalate shit for no good reason.

Like god damn, Karen, we were having a polite conversation and then you told me to go shove it up my ass, so fucking unnecessary.

Real talk though, when did this guy become a legit anarchist, like that’s all he talks about now. I swear I don’t remember following legit anarchists, I thought he was like a Libertarian or some shit but I guess Anarchism is like the far-Right/Left of Libertarianism or some shit, I don’t know.

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Also real talk: What the fuck is this dude even on, telling me I should “stand up and fight”. Fight for what, this clown shit? Honestly, even if you are a Trump supporter, it’s fucking embarrassing that this is why people are “standing up”. Literally of all the things in the entire world to stand up against and y’all pick KEEPING A GUY IN CHARGE.

If I’m going to stand up to the government, it’ll be to take out all those clowns, not to keep them propped up, are you kidding me. Fuck all of them, Blue, Red, Green, Yellow, I don’t care. The board needs a refresh. Actually, fuck the board. Throw that shit out and build a new one. We don’t have time to fuck around getting new people to get rid of the corrupt nonsense.

Also why the fuck y’all gotta make me sound like some kinda retard anarchist? I’m literally not that at all. Yes, I think the government is corrupt. Yes, I wish people would get off their asses and do something. No, I’m not going to get off my ass and do something. Why? Because I’m not a fucking idiot.

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Irritates the fuck out of me that people on this site have to escalate everything, which of course prompts me to escalate, and then it just devolves quickly from there. Like we were just having a fucking conversation and then you have to go throwing out completely random insults at me for no fucking reason, which gets me heated so I’m like “well fuck you too, jackass”.

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One guy who I follow, whose content I actually enjoy, spent months railing again BLM & Antifa for being destructive and violent but now when we have a proper right-wing equivalent suddenly he’s like “They weren’t even trying, and they aren’t even relevant to this topic.”

Like bitch, what? I mean sure they didn’t storm the Capitol but they burned down a police station, took over a street block, and paraded for several months whereas these chucklefucks were practically welcomed into the building with open arms and gave up after like 2 hours. If anything, they’re trying way harder than these fucks.

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I’m constantly doing things I know will upset me because...I don’t know, reasons.

Gods, no wonder I’m single lmao

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I often struggle with the dilemma of figuring out if I’m meant to be the envisioned man in my head or if I’m simply meant to find that man and be with him.

It happens all the time from mannerisms, to clothing, to interests, etc. I’ll picture someone and can’t genuinely deduce whether that someone is myself at my most ideal or if it’s actually just the man of my dreams, and what exactly the difference is.

It also doesn’t help that I don’t even know who I am now. I’ve always been a natural conformist. Your interests quite easily become my interests if you become my interest but when that relationship stops I’m left wondering who I was before, or if there even was a before. I mean obviously I have my own interests that I didn’t adapt from others...but not many.

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I’ve been living off of the high that the single hottest guy I’ve ever seen liked me on Tinder years ago even though we never interacted once and he’s unmatched with me since because he lives a few hours away in another state (or at least that’s what I tell myself the reason is and not that he wasn’t actually that interested in me to begin with) for years now and I haven’t gotten over it.

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Also can I just say how surprised I was to see this username free? It just seems so likely someone would’ve snatched it up. For the record, it has nothing to do with the content of this blog, it was just a cool name I thought up since I couldn’t think of anything. I do have a passing adoration for all things steampunk which is where the idea came from, but I have little to no association with steampunk in general so I won’t be blogging about that.

Gods I barely remembered what a fresh blog looked like.

Also hi! Assuming I’ve done this correctly, I should be talking to myself right about now, hopefully. If not then this’ll look incredibly stupid but what else is new.

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Gods I barely remembered what a fresh blog looked like.

Also hi! Assuming I’ve done this correctly, I should be talking to myself right about now, hopefully. If not then this’ll look incredibly stupid but what else is new.