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[stories-for-sell]

Favorite Comments out of Context, pt 1

All my fav comments I’ve recieved with no background information to understand the reasoning behind them.

Quackity: tripping on every status effect at once having flashbacks "so this is how we got here"

JDUQUFHE BB AIEVWIRBWIR :DDDD

oh god oh no technoblade genocide arc incoming

Meanwhile technoblade is tearing up phil's house trying to find his missing duck.

this is so cute how he failed to fly tho i just imagen him trying to fly in a cartoon as a duck then BOOM face on snow

Drop him off a cliff. That'll learn him fast.

Oh my gosh, this feels like crack, and yet this is the most amazing fic idea ever. Your writing flows very well, and I enjoy the scenario very much, couldn’t stop smiling.

Bartholomew that's a fucking name right there. Sir oinks-a-not technoblade is my favorite take now. <3

Quackity just can’t get a break, huh? Poor dude

I love reading the comments I get on AO3...

[stories-for-sell]

So, let me guess– you just started a new book, right? And you’re stumped. You have no idea how much an AK47 goes for nowadays. I get ya, cousin. Tough world we live in. A writer’s gotta know, but them NSA hounds are after ya 24/7. I know, cousin, I know. If there was only a way to find out all of this rather edgy information without getting yourself in trouble…

You’re in luck, cousin. I have just the thing for ya.

It’s called Havocscope. It’s got information and prices for all sorts of edgy information. Ever wondered how much cocaine costs by the gram, or how much a kidney sells for, or (worst of all) how much it costs to hire an assassin?

I got your back, cousin. Just head over to Havocscope.

((PS: In case you’re wondering, Havocscope is a database full of information regarding the criminal underworld. The information you will find there has been taken from newspapers and police reports. It’s perfectly legal, no need to worry about the NSA hounds, cousin ;p))

Want more writerly content? Follow maxkirin.tumblr.com!

[stories-for-sell]

To Dream SMP Fans:

Recently, I have posted the beginning of a Dream SMP story revolving around @altadoodler ‘s Quackity & Technoblade friendship AU on AO3 (ALta, this is my story account, so don’t panic, I’m not stealing credit for A Dangerous Game of Duck, Duck, Goose from anyone, and there’s multiple proofs of this account being linked to that AO3 account it’s posted on if you are still wary)

I’d love for you guys to check both ALtaDoodler’s AU out and the story, as many seem to enjoy the fic so far from the first 2 chapters posted and it’s been so much more successful than I expected.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/29544201/chapters/72602499

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Me, laughing softly: This is why they must suffer.

(I swear I love my characters, but angst is something I love doing.)

a plot twist tip you don’t hear very often

so here’s the thing: not every plot twist you write has to come as a surprise to your audience. 

sometimes the best way to tackle a plot twist, is simply to let your audience in on it, and instead put the emotional burden on your characters.

you’ll still have your audience at the edge of their seats, not out of suspense of what’s going to happen, but how the characters they’ve grown to love is going to react, and how the plot twist is going to change the dynamic between them. 

for all they know, this plot twist could potentially ruin everything, and it can turn characters against each other, and for your audience to sit there, with this huge secret, not knowing how it’s going to affect their favorite characters or relationships when it’s finally revealed, can sometimes make just as much of an emotional impact as a regular plot twist. 

your audience are emotionally invested in your characters. they don’t want them to suffer. use that to your advantage. 

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Me, yet another fanfic writer: *holding my fav character close to my chest as I gently wrap up their hands after they punched a wall in frustration, whispering to them* Do not worry little one, I'll make sure you won't be forgotten or kicked to the backseat. You deserve to shine just as bright as the others.

me, a fanfic writer: *touches my new fav character’s face* *whispers* I’m gonna get you laid

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IT’S NOT ‘PEEKED’ MY INTEREST

OR ‘PEAKED’

BUT PIQUED

‘PIQUED MY INTEREST’

THIS HAS BEEN A CAPSLOCK PSA

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My super advanced mapmaking technique - a handful of dice makes the map nice

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🤗🥺🥰🥺🥰🥺🥰🥺🥰

I call upon the fan fic writing gods to bless you with the perseverance to finish one of your unfinished drafts. 

May your fingers dance along the letters upon your device with ease, may the devil of distraction stay far from you, and may your work not need much editing.

I pass this blessing upon every fan fic writer out there.

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Yes, yes I am, so what

I call upon the fan fic writing gods to bless you with the perseverance to finish one of your unfinished drafts. 

May your fingers dance along the letters upon your device with ease, may the devil of distraction stay far from you, and may your work not need much editing.

I pass this blessing upon every fan fic writer out there.

[stories-for-sell]

Akhdlaj, i legit just made a garbled noise in the back of my throat and effectively make my dog concerned for my mental health

I call upon the fan fic writing gods to bless you with the perseverance to finish one of your unfinished drafts. 

May your fingers dance along the letters upon your device with ease, may the devil of distraction stay far from you, and may your work not need much editing.

I pass this blessing upon every fan fic writer out there.

[stories-for-sell]

*proceeds to work on a story I planned month or so back but never actually did, as well as add on to my ongoing multi-fic story*

I call upon the fan fic writing gods to bless you with the perseverance to finish one of your unfinished drafts. 

May your fingers dance along the letters upon your device with ease, may the devil of distraction stay far from you, and may your work not need much editing.

I pass this blessing upon every fan fic writer out there.

[stories-for-sell]

Ask Box and Submissions

Hey guys I wanted to let you know that my ask box AND submissions are open! So, if you want a story written, you can submit an ask, or if you’re too nervous to post your stories, you can submit them to me and I’ll post them on here with proper credit and links to your account! Similarly, I will post the stories I write on AO3, but won’t post the ones you guys submit unless you ask me to/give me permission, and even on there, I will still state they aren’t mine, and credit you, letting people know that they can give their love about the story to you. I will also be starting an Aphmau Oneshot book on AO3, so feel free to request some ships, prompts, and other things to help me get started!

- Mel

[stories-for-sell]

Ok, I'm making an extra story blog just to reblog and put story writing tips, tricks, guides, useful websites, information about writing certain things.. to put that stuff in one place.

Editing Tip: How to Speed Up or Slow Down Your Pacing

Hey friends. I’ve been thinking a lot about pacing lately, as I’m in the process of editing a few of my own stories, which tend to be too slow in the beginning and too fast in the end. Fortunately I have a ton of experience speeding up or slowing down pacing when I edit my clients’ manuscripts, and I wrote up a whole section about it in my book The Complete Guide to Self-Editing for Fiction Writers.

One important thing to keep in mind about pacing is that there’s no one “right” pace—each story and genre need something different. A crime thriller will usually have faster pacing than a character-driven literary novel; language-focused writers will usually create slower-paced stories than plot-focused writers. So when you’re revising your pacing, It’s about finding the right pace for your story.

At the same time, remember that stories generally build in tension, continually ramping up the conflict until it crests at the climax and falls at the resolution. While you’ll want some ebbs and flows in tension so the reader doesn’t get completely exhausted, the story shouldn’t feel resolved for too long without introducing another problem or further complicating the conflict.

A story’s pace is controlled by a number of factors but luckily, there are pretty much only two problems you can have with your pacing. A story can be too slow (which usually feels boring), too fast (which can produce a lot of anxiety), or a combination—too slow in some parts, too fast in others.

In either case, you’ll need to learn how to put the brakes on or apply the gas as needed to moderate your pacing.

Speeding Up Slow Pacing

If we feel the pacing is too slow, it’s usually either because a scene is too long, too wordy, or not enough is happening. The result is a sense that the story is dragging, and a lot of yawning on the part of the reader. When the pace feels slow, we will naturally start to skim or read ahead to find out “what happens.”

Let’s look at how to address each of the three main causes of slow pacing.

Too long. Sometimes the pace feels slow because your scene is simply too long. To remedy that, you might need to start the scene later, end it earlier, or cut slow transitions where not much is happening. Shorter sentences and more frequent paragraph or scene breaks can also help to break up a lengthy scene and make it feel like it’s moving faster.

Too wordy. The more words you use, the slower the pace. Long passages of description, excessive dialogue or inner monologue, info dumps, repetition, and filler words are often to blame. If you simply can’t bring yourself to cut excess words, you can also try breaking up long sentences or paragraphs to give the illusion of a quicker pace.

Nothing is happening. A lack of goals, conflict, or stakes can lead to the feeling that “nothing is happening” in a story. Has your character slipped into the bathtub to ruminate at length on an issue that she’s already mulled over a thousand times before? Have you used five pages to detail a long, boring traveling sequence that should’ve been summarized in a few sentences of transition? If your scene has scant conflict, and no change by the end of the scene, it may need to be rewritten or cut in order to improve your pacing.

Slowing Down Fast Pacing

On the other hand, if a story’s pace is too fast, an excess of action and dialogue are usually to blame, as well as short, choppy sentences, and a ceaseless maelstrom of conflict. In that case, you have the opposite problem: Your scenes are either too short, too shallow, or too much is happening.

Too short. Short sentences, paragraphs, scenes, and chapters pick up the pace of a story, but can leave readers exhausted when overused. Mix it up, using longer sentences or paragraphs slow the pacing where needed. You can also lengthen action- and dialogue heavy scenes by adding brief spurts of description, inner monologue, or narrative summary.

Too shallow. An action-paced scene often skims over the deeper, more nuanced aspects of the story like theme, emotional depth, and character development. If your too-fast pace is the fault of a flat character, take a moment to let readers know what’s driving her with a few sentences of interiority or narrative summary. The more readers feel like they’re inside your protagonist’s mind and heart, the deeper and slower your scene will feel. Description can also help give depth to a shallow scene—all that action and dialogue isn’t taking place in a vacuum, and writing it that way can shift your story into turbo speed in no time at all.

Too much happening. If your protagonist is fighting off a centaur in a crowded marketplace, resolving a longstanding resentment with her brother who works at the tomato stand, looking for a choice hiding place for a trunk of buried treasure, wooing the delivery boy, and realizing the true nature of love and war all in the same scene, you might need to dial it back to control your pacing. Decide which storyline is the most important to highlight, and push all the others into the background or save them for another scene.

No breathers. If the protagonist never gets a chance to catch her breath, readers won’t either. Look for places where she can pause and reflect, like right after a problem is resolved or a new one is discovered, when new information is revealed, or as your character undergoes an important internal change in her motivation or perspective.

Hope this helps!

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*calmly screenshots it all for future reference*

Archery information for writers that no one asked for but probably some of you need and I like talking about archery, so here it is.

when you put an arrow on the string, the verb is called “nocking” i.e. eyes glued on the target, he nocked the arrow

also the part of the arrow that gets put onto the string is called the nock. depending on the type of arrow this can be a piece of plastic glued into the arrow, or with wood or bamboo arrows it can be carved into the shaft of the arrow itself

you do not close an eye when aiming or shooting; you see better with both eyes open.

everyone has a dominant eye that more naturally your brain focuses with. that determines whether you are right or left handed when shooting, and doesn’t necessarily correlate to whether the person is right or left handed in anything else

so if you’re writing a character who has difficulty seeing out of one eye, take that into account when they are shooting

if they are right eye dominant, they hold the bow with their left hand and draw the string with their right. if they are left eye dominant, they hold the bow with their right hand and draw the string with their left

if they shoot left, the quiver sits on their left side/hip/thigh. shoot right - right side quiver.

there are several different ways to draw, if you are writing something historical or in a specific region, then do research on that style of archery. but for a generic place to start that is a more universal way of drawing a bow, here are some things to include

the chin stays down. raising your chin will fuck up your aim

the pointer finger on your draw hand rests on the side of your chin/jaw, and the string of the bow will touch the tip of the archer’s nose

weight is on the balls of your feet, leaning slightly forward off your heels

if it is an older bow/barebow, there is not usually a place for the arrow to rest on the bow. this means the arrow rests on the archer’s hand. if they are not wearing a glove on that hand, the fletchings (that’s the feathers on the arrow) will more than likely slice their hand when firing. this scars.

so if you’re wanting to describe someone observing and archer’s hands (hands are hot, don’t @ me) they would see a silver scar about halfway between the pointer finger knuckle and palm of the person’s hand. (turn your hand vertical and trace down the length of your pointer toward your thumb and stop next to the knuckle. that spot there.)

most archers wear something to protect their fingers on the hand that draws the bow. even with that, they have callouses. without it, a lot of callouses, scars, and blisters.

most common draw uses three fingers on the string: pointer, middle, ring. the arrow sits between the pointer and middle. just like where the draw point is, this is not universal and do research if you’re doing something culturally important.

barebow means that the bow is bare of any instruments. no sight, no weights, etc. the most basic/traditional form of bow

a recurve bow is anything where the tips of the bow curve back around forward, away from the archer

a compound is what you think of as a modern hunting bow, and is recognisable by having wheels at the ends and three strings

arrows have three fletchings that form a triangle, the point faces the archer so that the flat of the arrow will pass the flat of the bow on release. the arrow sits on the side of the bow facing the archer

archers with a larger/raised chest will sometimes where a chest protect so that the string does not catch when firing (this is regardless of gender, i know several cis-men who need it as well)

string can also catch on the forearm that is holding the bow and creates bruises and welts if you don’t wear a protector. modern ones are small plastic and cover just the spot, with elastic holding it in place. traditional ones are leather and wrap all the way around, lacing up on the back of your arm like a corset.

there is literally so much more, but i feel like this is plenty to get you started, and as always, feel free to drop an ask in my box if you need something more!

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Reblog art guys. Seriously.

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LAHDLSHELAHBZLDJWG YESSS THEY'RE ALL AMAZING!!

I made a lil something 🌝 ONLY THE FIRST THREE IMAGES ARE MINE the rest I got from google so I don’t know who to give credit to @stories-for-sell :D

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not a story, but this deserves to be seen.

Hey!

I need your help!

According to my mom, privacy is not a human right, and because I live under her roof I do not deserve it! I want to prove a point to her. This is how you can help:

Reblog if you think I deserve privacy because it is my human right. Ignore if you agree with my mom. Please, I want this to get big so I can show her how many people disagree.