#i also have started a new plotting / outlining method in the last several months which has def contributed

[ghostlandtoo]

diva how are u pumping out this much quality fanfiction all the time like woah. like genuinely what is ur secret

this is killing me thank youuuu!!!! tbh the main thing is that i am a fast typer and i really do set aside time daily to write, but buddie specifically is like a parasite controlling my body and forcing me to write

[beggingwolf]

hi so I've just eaten too much ice cream, feel vaguely ill, and I'm here to tell you All About How I Failed At Outlining for SGKF this year!

that's partially just a fun tagline, but it's also a bit true. I told my friends I'd be trying to use several different outlining methods to try and knock out a plotty piece for the fest, and things did not go to plan!

important to begin with: I am what is referred to as a "pantser." I tend to just start writing. this is strangely contradictory to my personality, which deeply loves plans. unfortunately, what often happens is plans and outlines ruin my excitement and drive while working on a project (it tricks me into thinking I've done all the work and resolved the plot), leading me to abandon it.

and though I can throw together pretty words and made a decent fic, my fics never turned out as good as they could have been. I kept telling myself that if I planned in advanced and worked out what I was doing BEFORE I did it, I'd be able to craft a fic with such care and attention as to make it really SHINE.

so, uh, kinkfest rolls around, and since I was a mod I could see all the prompts before they even got released to the public, so I basically had a WHOLE EXTRA two-ish weeks to start planning and writing.

did I? NO.

so, despite the fact that I collect writing advice like a magpie , I'm not the greatest at implementing it. if you go into my SGKF google folder, you'll find a few instances of me TRYING to implement writing advice like metawriting:

(and you'll see some fics that didn't get finished/make it into the fest!)

my issue was (and still is) that I think I value every little word too much. this is a bad thing: I'm an overwriter by nature. when I get words down, I want to keep them because I feel like I worked hard for them, even if they're not great or don't actually serve the story in the way they should. that's not to say all my metawriting was bad; it wasn't. I tried it out for A Drowning in California as well [which will henceforth just be referred to as "California").

I had a whole subfolder for California. what kind of amazed me is how different my initial notes for the prompt are from what the story actually ended up being. here, take a look:

literally almost none of this is in california. the WWE and UFC stuff made it in, and so did sid wrestling with horny, but that was it. I was going to start this fic in the locker room, with sid wrestling someone, and it was seriously going to be a story about sex—about sid wanting to hold geno down in bed. that was the premise.

and instead, we got a really emotional story about familial rejection and the isolation it can make people feel. SO! something happened along the way, right?

when I started getting into the plot that would support this supposed sexfest, this is where I went at first:

geno wants the relationship to get serious, sid is like mentally still a 12 year old who just wants to wrestle people and doesn't want to talk about his emotions, and prefers to use physicality to communicate. this doesn't work for geno, who wants ... more

we can start to see the actual emotions come through, the things I was interested in: sid using touch to talk, and geno desperately wanting more

what did the most good for me, in the end, was "doing" the metawriting by talking with my friends.

I told them what i thought this story was about ("I'm thinking about making this a story about relationship-defining, maybe? and the communication needed for a lasting adult relationship? I think I'm going to set it in california/LA, where Sid has invited Geno along for the first time for his California Summer Fun/Training/Escape, whatever, and Geno's going to be emotionally preoccupied with Defining The Relationship—maybe they've been on-again-off-again? maybe they're just new to this, like almost a year deep, and they're not getting younger—and thinking this trip is about that [or hoping this trip is about that, and realizing it isn't, and being disappointed].") and they told me what jumped out at them.

Jes told me what would ramp up the tension would be a deadline of some sort; "Geno’s going to break up with Sid or make some decision or something, or there’s something approaching where they have to make a will they or won’t they decision of some kind related to the core ‘defining the relationship’ issue. Geno’s going back to russia and in previous summers they’ve always slept with other people while apart? or Sid has a wedding coming up and he’s offhandedly mentioned taking someone else as his plus one?"

I liked her thoughts. it made sense to add an external pressure to all this, and that wedding idea stuck out to me the most.

Lis said I should add a jealousy angle, so you can largely credit her for the club scene: "one thing i like to sort of headcanon/imply about sid's california trips is he uses them to hook up anonymously. so you could have, like, sid and geno seeing sid's friends, but also accidentally running into some of sid's friends. and geno's like oh, great, so here i am doing this horrible summertime training that i hate because i don't need to train in the offseason actually, and i'm learning what exactly sid gets up to when we're apart."

My magical solution these days is GOING FOR WALKS. do it if you're able. it clears out your brain. so on my walks I ended up deciding that I wanted a taylor crosby wedding. I like taylor as a character, and as a person with sisters I just like writing her in. best of all, she and sid are close and I like writing "I'd do anything for my family" sid.

and then I was like. oh. what if it's not that sid is afraid/nervous to bring geno, it's that he can't.

I... wasn't as conflicted as I thought I'd be about writing sid's parents as homophobic. I prefer to write them as supportive; I think troy crosby's been eviscerated more than he should have been in older fanworks, and though I respect their right to make fictional!troy whatever they want, I've been a little skeptical of outlandish takes on him ("he doesn't say I love you to his son because a camera caught them mid-interaction once!") ever since I read how the media has found him a convenient narrative villain while he tried to keep his underage son safe from the media as a child and while they needed to cook up Spicy Stories about squeaky-clean sid.

uh, tangent aside, I always thought I'd never write a "parents are the villains" story, but I did here. it felt right. it was easier, too, because they're not PRESENT in the story. I didn't have to write trina actually being horrible to her son. I just had to skirt the edges of the wound.

which works well on two fronts: I don't have to actively write the crosbys being horrible to sid, and I also leave more to the imagination of the reader, and that almost never fails to make the work better. whatever the reader imagines them saying to sid, it's going to be 10x more hurtful than anything I'd write.

I dug really deep on some personal emotions and fears I experience as a gay person for a lot of sid's arc here. sid is deeply imperfect in this story, and he's internalizing his pain and the horrible thing that's happened to him, which is making him pull away from his partner, and sid is not responding how geno wants, nor is he responding well, period, though he's trying in his own wounded, stilted way.

and beloved geno, whose tender heart is so hidden away for fear of someone hurting it. I really like writing geno; he's huffy and emotional and sometimes bitchy and feels things SO deeply.

once I had more of an idea, I was already working on a more detailed outline. this is where I seriously took Jes's advice and WROTE EVERYTHING OUT! it made it so much less daunting, because I didn't have to be figuring out my next steps AND crafting sentences at the same time. also this is where I tell you that the title of this post is mostly a lie, it was metawriting I failed at.

This outline also meant I avoided writing large swaths of things that should've been cut. Another beta told me I should delete three scenes and condense a bunch of emotions into the club scene, and she was SO right. Cutting events out of an outline is WAY easier than cutting out pages of text.

Ironically my outline kind of deteriorated after the club scene, but that's alright: after I wrote the club scene, I actually had a clear vision of what I wanted the end to be. I just had to trust myself. I CAN do this, I CAN still just write intuitively sometimes!

I think California did what I wanted it to do. I'd love to try something out that's longer and has more story arcs in it (jes has a post for that too!) but I think that's best saved for another, longer project, though 18k isn't short.

next up is maggie stief's writing seminar that I bought a month back. I'm going to start working on that this month and see how I like it. I have a few halloween fic ideas, plus spookfest, so these next two months we should be cooking in the kitchen!

[malmuses]

Hello Mal, how are you doing? I hope things have gotten better for you on the real life side of things. I'm going through some rough times too, so at least the company is good! I wanted to start by saying that your fics have single handedly gotten me through the most turbulent transition period of my life. I'm almost completely finished with your works on AO3 and your storytelling... *many many many chef kisses*. You are easily one of my favorite writers. I love your writing style, ...1/2

...2/2 your characterization, and how well thought out each story is. Each fic is like a decadent treat for my brain. I was curious, as a fellow writer, what your writing process is like. I've tried a few different methods but was wondering what works best for you! I hope the rest of your 2020 is full of peace and love. Also, I apologize in advance for the spam of comments you are about to receive on AO3. I finally have enough spoons for it!

I’m pasting these into one so I can put the answer in one place! (Tumblr is so awkward sometimes.) Sorry to hear you’ve been going through rough times too! There’s a lot of it going around this year, so I think we have plenty of company. In fact, I think the whole world just needs to lower its expectations and standards this year. Woke up? There’s the first gold star of the day. It's only up from here. I’m so glad that you’ve been enjoying my stories and so flattered that you say they’ve helped you so much...*insert feelings gif* I always tell myself when I write something: It’s okay if not everyone likes it. It’s okay if some people hate it. Nothing is for everyone. I just want one person to *love it*. Then I’m totally at peace. Now, if that person is just me? If I’m the only one that loves it? That’s also cool. Each story comes from a different place. My long-winded point, though, was that you basically just validated the existence of my entire catalog of fics so far, so thank you xD Your question about my writing process though - I’m happy to answer. But of course, first, I have to insert the usual disclaimer that as with most creative endeavors, there is no ‘right’ way to do it. I’m sure you know that, but sometimes I think people underestimate the depth of that truth. Each person has their own unique way of doing things. The struggle is sometimes finding the particular way, or combination of ways, that work for you. There’s definitely no harm in sharing what works for me though, in case anyone else can take anything from it. I’m someone who writes multiple things at once. Some people can’t do this or don’t want to, which I totally understand. For me, this is how I (mostly) avoid any kind of writers' block. If I’m stuck somewhere, I switch projects for a day or two. I do usually still have one main project I’m working on, but I usually have at least three others, often at various stages of the writing process. This keeps me in more of a flow state so I keep going with things, and allows me to write every day. It’s a habit. Now, I’m not saying breaks are bad, and everyone should write every day. I just find that for me, breaks should be deliberate. They should be true, chosen breaks, not because I just...drifted into one.

As you can probably tell from all that, I’m very much a planner and outliner. I outline...a lot. I’d be happy to talk more about my particular outlining process on Tumblr someday if anyone wanted. But, basically, I start with a general idea, then break it down into different story beats, so I can see if there’s something missing or too much of one thing. Then I fill in the gaps, then start breaking each overall ‘part’ of the plot into scenes, etc. Chapters come last. In terms of numbers (I get asked this one a lot), it does not matter how long your chapters are. What matters is that the chapter length feels right for the pacing of the fic, in my opinion, and I really think that is something that just comes with practice and knowing your own writing. Shitty advice maybe, but just the truth as I see it. A lot of it comes down to practice and finding what works for you.

Once I have an outline, I generally write linearly. Some people can jump around a lot. That’s a bit of a last resort for me if I’m stuck on something, or alternately if a scene steams into my head fully formed I will write it...with the understanding that I will probably have to change chunks of it when I reach it. It’s just the way it goes.

Now, when I say I outline in detail (there are literal spreadsheets)  that doesn’t mean that I magically only write exactly what’s in the outline and I stick to it. An outline can be a guide, not a rule. Sometimes stories take you places, and generally, I find it's better to listen to what the story wants. If my story starts going somewhere else or introduces something I don’t expect, I often revisit my outline and think, “Okay, how can I work in this new thing so that it follows the plotlines and arcs I already have? Am I adding to what I have or just distracting from it?” Most often those answers are obvious to me, but sometimes it’s good to ask someone else. A friend, a trusted beta. (I could talk a whole lot about betas and how that works for me, too, in addition to outlining).

I pretty much zero draft my fics. By that, I mean that I will start writing, and I won’t go back and do very much editing until the end. I will, each writing session, go back and read what I wrote the day before. Get into the zone. And sure, I’ll fix something if it jumps out at me - but that isn’t the purpose at that point, and most things won’t jump out, because it's too fresh. My brain knows what I meant, so it autocorrects for me. 

Leading into editing, it’s a two-step process for me. Once my zero draft is finished, I go back to the beginning and go through. This is where most of my developmental editing happens. (Another thing that probably needs more detail...different types of editing.) Once I’ve done that (usually during that pass, I’ve added words) I then put the fic aside. For as long as possible. At least a month, if I can swing that. (Bang deadlines sometimes cause issues if it's a fic for a bang, but I try). 

Once that time has passed, I can come back to it with fresh eyes. I’ll see the mistakes much more easily, then. This is where more intensive line edits happen, where SPAG happens, where I insert anything I made note of during my first pass if I needed to foreshadow anything more, that kind of thing. 

For a WIP, I do these edits chapter by chapter as it posts. For a Bang fic, obvious I have to do it all in one go. Due to the way I write, if you see me start posting a fic -- that fic is already finished, or in rarer instances (for work that was more time-sensitive) partway through the second draft or so. Oneshots are a little different (and I’ve had some oneshots that turned into chaptered fics of their own accord) in that they are just shorter and less intensive and often only have one main plot thread, so they’re a lot easier to do. I can get one drafted, edited and posted within a few days usually, depending on length.

How much do I write? Depends on the day. I have a high-stress finance job, two kids, and write a mixture of original fiction and fanfic stuff. So sometimes it's more than others. Bad day? Maybe 1,000 words. Good, average day? 3-6k. High pressure? Well, last year's DCBB I wrote in just under three days. It was 25k at that point. I have no tips for speed beyond learning to type fast, LOL!

Okay. I’ve probably bored you, and anyone else who had to scroll past all this, to tears. This is way too long. But even so, more specific questions, I’m happy to answer.

Good luck! Best advice? Just write. Write. Write. "Write a million words, then throw them away” is a changeable quote attributed to several authors but all it comes down to is...practice. Find your own vice and way of doing it. In a million words time, you will be a different writer than you are now, guaranteed.

Mal <3

[katherinewilliams221b]

For A Greater Good Fun Facts and Self Assesment (spoilers)

Long Post

What worked and what didn’t:

I think the overall structure worked pretty well. The most difficult part was, with the plot and subplot already created, scattering all those ideas throughout the text in such a way that at least made some sense. I regret not writing more about Mer Yankelevich, I feel like the crumbs I left on the way were not enough; in my attempt to make it subtle it lacked information about her. The key piece was of course her sister, and I should have introduced her sooner.

MC’s evolution. I feel like Kate’s learnt a lot with this experience (I’m not only referring to the Deathly Hallows or Grindelwald) When it started, she was very discreet and kept a low profile, not knowing what to do really, not taking more risks than necessary. And then she ended poisoned and splinching just to protect a document she thought was important. I hope her evolution is noticeable for the reader.

Worldbuilding. Grabbing HP concepts that were forgotten and full of potential, plus a dash of original ideas from me and blending them with muggle features was my absolute favourite part of the process.

On that note, I dont own these concepts: Durmstrang, Igor Karkarov, Nerida Vulchanova, umbrella flowers, fanged geraniums, billywigs, Appare Vestigium, glow-worms, trick wand, chamaleon ghouls, 

If you’ve read the fic and thought: “everything happened so fast” or got a general odd feeling about the timeline it's because I made a series of  monumental mistakes: setting a chapter limit, telling you about it and then tried to stick to it.  At first the idea sounded nice: this is my first “big” story  with complicated components. I should (and I did) do an outline of what I want to happen in each chapter and stick to it methodically so I don't forget what's happening or lose track of the plot. Well...it kind of backfired. So I wrote the first 3 chapters and at that point I thought “okay everything is going as planned, I’m going to put it out there”, bam, instantly cursed. After that it got ridiculously difficult to make the story that I wanted. Why? I needed chapter space that I convinced myself I couldn’t add. Dumb.

The major consequence of this was the lack of character backgrounds. It started out good, but as I kept writing and publishing I realised that I missed some great opportunities to make amazing ocs. That’s Corentin’s fault in a way: he wasn't going to be a major character, really, just a piece to help Kate a bit. But we all fell in love with him so what was I supposed to do? Also, Sheyi Mawut owns my heart and he got just a bit of spotlight. A shame.

I wish I had written more about them, but I think I wasn’t ready just yet to make it even more complicated.I just wanted to prove I could concoct a mystery plot and now that I know I can manage a fair amount of information I think I can take it a step further and deepen new ocs a little bit more.

I’m thinking about the datura series and I know why I got blocked and tired of writing it; it wasnt going anywhere because I wasnt prepared, and I didn’t do the months of outlines and planning that I did with this one. I’ll come back to the datura story one day, subjecting it to a sever rewrite. The ideas are there, I just need to be organised.

Although the chapter limit was problematic it was also a good exercise of managing space and deciding which things were unnecessary for the story. I dont think there’s any filler chapters, perhaps the last ones, but there is important information there too so... However this sentence  from the blog  wordsandstuff reassured me (and I think I did a good job at that?)

If you set out to write 10 parts and you write a fantastic story in 8, you haven’t failed and it’s not too rushed. Concise writing is an underrated talent. Focus on how effectively you engage the reader, not for how long.

I spent more than year writing this! When I started, I had a lot of ideas, I wrote the last two chapters then the first 3 and I really thought it was going to be that way with the rest of the story... okay... lesson learnt. #humbled

Other thoughts:

I received a couple of comments on ao3 that said that they were pleasantly surprised. Maybe I should change the tags because they are misleading? Clearly this wasnt what people were looking for lol.

One particular comment stood out to me and quoting it said:  “You did not choose the easy way with a fiction with so few characters from the fandom.”  And I’ve been thinking about this since I read it. It didn’t occur to me that there were few mystery fics (maybe I should write more things like that? Maybe throwing some power couple detective work 👀 ) In any case, I’m glad  I contributed with something different to the fandom, and the fact that the Charlie bits are very scarce but people who read it still liked it is really flattering.

I wanted to make sure that all the characters had strengths and flaws, I didnt want to severus-snape them so maybe I overdid it with that bit of introspection kate does at the end...

Also, I did the kiss and fade thing twice to mention sex. I know some people dont like that but since it wasnt the point of the story and I havent done research on how to write sex scenes I didnt include them. I have that on my “to learn” list.

Conclusions:

Writing the whole thing was incredible. It's my first ‘big’ project and its not a great work (there are some things I wish I did better, thats what you get when you are an agatha christie wannabe) and not writing more character backgrounds will haunt me to this day,  but I think it's at least good for a first series and I’m proud of it. I loved spending hours doing research and trying to piece together this puzzle. And of course I’m not an expert and I dont want to sound pretentious (like this is my first story) but if you are planning to write this type of genre I can be another source of tips and tricks for you.

If I read the story after a while and I dont cringe, I would call that a success.

FUN? FACTS!

Bakunawa really belongs to Filippines mythology

Snapdragons have different meanings, one of them being: “grace under pressure or inner strength in trying circumstances”

The entrance to Grindelwald’s room was going to be in the duelling classroom, strangely shaped as a triangle. I had this system where one of the round candle lamps descended and lined up with a line on the floor (serving as separation for duels) it created the Deathly Hallows symbol. I couldn’t make that work because it wouldn't make any sense for Nerida Vulchanova to shape a room like that.  Here are some sketches:

Lucius Malfoy was going to appear as the Ministry employee that goes to Durmstrang, but after revising the events of the OoP I realised it was impossible.

Kent Jorgensen was going to be around Kate’s age and the charms teacher and he would have a small crush on her. After seeing some pics of Pen Medina, I rewrote the character completely.

The series was going to be 6 chapters long (I’m glad I decided not to) one for each month. The chapter names were ridiculous: January of Beginnings, February of reputation, March of Students, April of Discoveries, May I? and June of Endings. #tragic

The Dolohov family was going to be a part of the plot but I had to erase that part because it was unlocking another layer of complexity that I just couldnt handle.

I dont remember exactly the chapter but I got really confused with the names Rhode and Hodges and there’s one chapter where I accidentally mixed them (I corrected it I think), but for a while I could stop calling Rhode, Hodges, and vice versa lmao

Here are some sketches that helped me describe and imagine things

Thank you for accompany me in this journey, especially if you endured the process with me lmao. You’ve been here for over A YEAR! <3 Mindblowing

Also I’d love to know your opinions about the way you read the story, I mean, I know some people read it as I published, and some other readers found the story already finished, what are the differences? Should I stop the updating system and drop a story all at once? I know it is difficult to keep up with a complex story if there’s a lot of weekly or monthly gaps between the chapters, so I wanted to know.

Sending you a virtual hug 💜💜

[nanowrimo]

The Camper’s Library: 8 Books to Help You Meet Writing Goals

We’re gearing up for Camp NaNo, so we’re asking the community to share their Camp experiences and tips. Today, writer and editor Katta Hules shares a few books that have helped her become a better writer:

I’m a lifelong bookworm. Whenever I start a new project, or just need a boost in writing an old one, I always like having a reliable selection of books to turn to. Camp NaNo is no different. Some books are specialized for certain types of storytelling, but can be applied across mediums. Here are some books that have helped me in my writing journey so far, and will hopefully help you!

Pre-Writing

These books are helpful for prewriting and outlining for plotters; or, if you’re a pantser, for internalizing a basic story structure.

Save The Cat! The Last Book on Screenwriting You'll Ever Need  by Blake Snyder: A classic for breaking down plot structure and story beats. It tends strongly towards a commercial bent, but Snyder’s concepts are clear and solid.

Backwards and Forwards: A Technical Manual for Reading Plays by David Allen Ball: A short handbook that gives the reader a clear understanding of what drives the plot, how to convey it successfully, and gives examples to illustrate each idea concretely.

Tips & Tricks

I love a good tips and tricks guide! These two are fun, informative, and can be dipped in and out of for inspiration.

The Kick-Ass Writer: 1001 Ways to Write Great Fiction, Get Published, and Earn Your Audience by Chuck Wendig: Wendig doesn’t pull his punches or censor his language. Among the many, many tips in this book, you’ll find really creative swearing, odd and somewhat gross imagery, and funny but sound advice.

Steal Like An Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative by Austin Kleon: This fantastic illustrated book on creativity is one of my favorite books of all time. It’s full of quotes, advice and common sense ideas that blew my teenage mind when I first picked it up. I recommend it to all my creative friends, and by that I mean I press it into their hands whether they want it or not.

Pick-Me-Ups

We all get blocked sometimes and it sucks. Here are a couple books I like to dip into when the going gets rough.

Chicken Soup for the Writer’s Soul: Stories to Open the Heart and Rekindle the Spirit of Writers by Bud Gardner, Jack Canfield, and Mark Victor Hansen: A collection of essays from writers about all stages of the writer’s life. The essays are short but comforting all the same.

Quotes for Nasty Women: Empowering Wisdom from Women Who Break the Rules Ed. by Linda Picone: The quotes in this book make me happy both as a woman and as a creative person. Every page has an empowering quote from a woman who went out and did something amazing, even though it was hard. An especially good read for Women’s History Month!

Staying in the Habit

These are great for keeping up your word count during Camp and keeping your momentum going afterward — remember, the end of April doesn’t mean the end of your project!

Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal Newport: One of the best ‘work smarter, not harder’ books I’ve read lately. Newport emphasizes focused sessions set aside for work, which allow you to enjoy the rest of your day. He makes good points about connectivity and productivity, but his methods may not be for everyone.

On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft by Stephen King: King’s memoir is a classic for a good reason. It’s a well-written, compelling page-turner full of tough love advice and a glimpse into the life of one of the most successful writers out there. 

There are many more wonderful craft books out there. I hope this list helps you find books that inspire and help you along your writing path!

Katta Hules is a writer and an editor at TUBE. Magazine and author of The Bookworm Is In newsletter. Her fiction has appeared in several publications including Fantasia Divinity, Visual Verse, 200 CCs, and the Realities Perceived anthology from Left Hand Publishers. She has also written several Twitter-based serials for the new story app Everyst. She can be found lurking around Twitter, Facebook, and her website.

Top image licensed under Creative Commons from Nathan O’Nions on Flickr.

[jade-cooper]

Cooper’s Writing Masterpost

Tools

► yWriter – I am starting with the writing software I am using for years now. It is simple, it lets you write chapter by chapter, organise scenes, reorganise everything again and again. It's available for Windows, Android, iOS and Mac. And: IT IS FREE! Check this video for more information: 

► WriteOrDie – A software, which urges you to write for your life with the devil right at your heel. It's not free but...

► WriteOrDie WebAPP – Try it... with Kamikaze Mode and set to „evil“... It will automatically delete your sentences word by word if you stop writing! ;)

► Scrivener – Also not free, but this is a small developers team and it's really worth it!

► Ulysses – A writing App for Mac, iPhone and iPad. Here is a video about it: https://vimeo.com/182869039

► iWriter – Another Writing App for Mac, iOS and Android.

Plotting tools

► Zim Desktop – It's a text editor to create a collection of wiki pages, comparable to Wikipedia, MediaWiki, TiddlyWiki, Twiki, but with one great difference: You do not upload any of your precious ideas to the net. Zim Desktop uses your private computer as database source. You can export it as html file and uplaod it to your other devices for offline usage when you're not at home. It's free.

► Zim Desktop Plugins – Also free ;)

► FreeMind –  For the start of your great novel ideas.

Dictionaries, Synonyms etc.

► Thesaurus.com – The title says it all.

► Woxikon – one of my favourites, because it's available in german, english, spanish, french, italian, portuguese, dutch, swedish and polish.

► WordNet – A lexical database for english.

► GermaNet – A lexical database for german.

► Heinzelnisse – A norwegian online dictionary in english.

► GEMET – General Multilingual Environmental Thesaurus

► Openthesaurus – Thesaurus in german.

► Old High German Dictionary – in german ;) Here's the direct link to the dictionary

► Thesaurus Linguae Graecae – A digital library of greek literature

► Latin dictionary – A list of latin words, without search function

► Eurovoc – A european thesaurus provided in several european languages.

Names – for like e v e r y t h i n g !

► »Yet another Fanatasy Name Generator« – Yafnag for short – This random name generator provides lists of fantasy names. You can change the number of minimum or maximum letters and you can use the filter to names with your preferred prefix and suffix.

► The 7 Rules of Picking Names for fictional characters 

► Seventh Sanctum – A name generator for nearly EVERYTHING, e.g. characters, races, realms, traits, titles.... really... try it out!

► Arwen Undomiel – An elvish name generator

► Fantasy Name Generators – Also a name generator for everything, also for coat of arms, flags and armor.

► Fantasy Name Generator by Samural Stoddard  – Last update 2011, but still working and still useful.

► A list of Nahuatl names and Nahuatl Pronunciation and Spelling Guide (Aztec) 

► Serendipity   – Not only a random generator, but also a random description generator for your fantasy city.

► Random RPG Generator  – For names, cities, creatures, prompts

► Dictionary of Names

Prompts

► Write real people – click and drag 

► Seventh Sanctum  – Quick Story idea generator (Told you so... it's great for everything.)

► Try their Writing challenge generator 

► Adam Maxwell's Fiction Lounge – Writing prompt generator and much more

► Chaotic Shiny – good for everything:

Story Arc Generator 

Inspiration finder 

Writing exercise generator 

► The Writer – writing prompts 

► 1001 Story Ideas

► 20 prompts for when you're blocked 

► Prompts and prompt writing 

► 50 Quick writing prompts for Journals, Blogs, and Essays 

► 501 Writing Prompts – PDF file

► Hourly Writing prompts  – Mostly active during nanowrimo

► Writer's Digest  – Writing Prompt Boot Camp

► Creative Writing Solutions  – Creative Writing Prompts

► Awesome writing prompts 

► The Story Starters  – A story starter generator

Writing Tips:

► Stephen King's Top 20 Rules for writers 

► Andreas Eschbach – Mythen übers Schreiben  (german only. Sorry, but english is not the only language in the world ;) )

► Marcus Johanus' Top 10 Schreibtipps (also german only)

► PIXAR's 22 rules of storytelling

► Neil Gaiman's 8 rules of writing

► Getting yourself to write 

► 12 Editing and Proofreading tips

► The 5 words theory

► Words to use more often 

► Character Trait Cheat Sheet 

► Help! I have a Mary Sue!

► How to write a scene in 11 steps 

► Tips for creating a compelling plot

► Outlining your novel 

► I have a Beginning and End, but no Middle! 

► The Snowflake Method for designing a Novel  – Really important and useful to prevent writer's blocks. Available in German, Italian, Russian, French, Spanish and Japanese

► Planning your Novel 

► Fictional Location Reference

► 123 ideas for character flaws 

► A character building question meme 

► How to make a character's death sadder 

► Writing Tips: Writing Blood Loss 

► Underused personalities / traits 

► Character virtues and vices 

► Tip of my tongue  – Find the words you're searching for

► FamilyEcho  – Create a family tree of your characters

► 23 emotions people feel, but can't explain 

► Start your novel 

► Finish your novel 

► Guide to write Science Fiction

► 5 Ways to get out of your Comfort Zone 

► Do's and Don'ts 

References, history, good to know or creepy facts

► How to tape your hands before a fight 

► Animal tracks 

► Medieval Torture Devices 

► Cultural differences in communication 

► The Sand Floor Room 

► Medieval Herbs and their uses 

► Historical Fashion Masterpost

► Illustration of a flintlock mechanism's function 

► Different types of carriages

► A timeline of 18th century shoes 

► The 11 most sexually depraved things the roman emperors ever did 

► The Revolutionary power of fanfiction for queer youth 

► Lost places gallery  for your thriller and horror inspiration

► Meditations by Marcus Aurelius  Quotes

► Poetry Recources  Everything about poetry

► Google Scholar 

Mythology

► Symbolism: Birds 

► Fearsome critters 

► Skandinavian Folklore 

► In which Diversity isn't a Myth 

► Wikipedia: Mythology main article 

► Wikipedia: List of legendary creatures by type 

► Factmonster 

► Creatures and Monsters from Greek Mythology 

► The List of Mythical Creatures 

► Ancient Origins 

► Mythical Creatures from A-Z 

► Norse Mythology

Free goodies

► Project Gutenberg  – Free ebooks

► Projekt Gutenberg DE  – German Version

► LibriVox –   Free public domain audiobooks

► Bartleby.com  – Great books online

► Poemhunter –  All about poems

► Zeno.org – Classic German literature in Old High German. Want to read Grimm's Fairy Tales in its original language? Here you go! 

► Free historical children's books 

► The New York Public Library Digital Collections – Search and use public domain resources for free

Competitions and Communities

► Autorenwelt – A list of many competitions in and around Germany.

► National Novel Writing Month  – November is the month for all writers to go nuts! 50.000 words in 30 days! NaNoWriMo is actually not a competition but a call to kick your own ass to get yourself to write like a maniac. Check the Wikipedia article, still not convinced? Check the massive community or ask your followers how many participated in it in the past. ;)

► Writers' Cafe 

► Writer's Dock 

Raise your spirits! ;) Life is too short to be too serious!

► 26 of the greatest book dedications 

► How people think I write smut 

► The process of writing a fanfiction 

► Lesser known editing and proofreading marks 

  and...

► 18 ways to tie a necktie – Not useful for writing, but I thought you should know about it.

The writer's job is to get the main character up a tree, and then once they are up there, throw rocks at them.

– Vladimir Nabokov

I will probably edit this list and add more links to it, e.g. music lists for special moods. Do you  have a suggestion? Hit my ask box with your ideas! :)

[chickenscratchingdotcom]

Turning an outline from a list of plot points into a scaffolding that you can use to build a story

by Hugh Sullivan

chickenscratching.com

chickenscratchingdotcom.tumblr.com

Note: this is an article I wrote last year for NaNoWriMo, with the intent of publishing it then. For some reason it never got published, so I figured I’d start out some very pre-NaNo posts with this now.

I could write an entire article on the various ways of coming up with an outline... but it’s been done. A lot. Which is what I found when I started preparing for my first attempt at completing a full novel for National Novel Writing Month (or NaNoWriMo for short).

There are dozens of methods for coming up with an outline, maybe as many as there are writers. Some methods get reused a lot. Randy Ingermanson’s snowflake method is great for expounding something into a pulp-style 4 act format, and I used my own personal take on the concept to do the outline for my first NaNoWriMo story. Snyder’s ‘save the cat’ or Campbell’s ‘hero’s journey’ beat sheet is good for adventure stories. A sprawling list of clues, red herrings, and possible deductions to be made in different situations can be used for a mystery story. A list of obstacles and how to overcome them can be a barebones outline for everything from a children’s story to a romance novel to a sprawling science fiction epic.

The first year that I did NaNoWriMo, I thought an outline would be enough. But a week before November started, I looked at my outline and realized that I still didn’t know how to make it go from an outline into a story.

So here’s what I did, and I hope this will help you too.

Step 1) Map out your foundation

The very first novel I ever wrote for NaNoWriMo (or at all, for that matter) was written in a very episodic format, made to be published serially in short audio format, and then as a whole novel afterward. The main story had four acts, each act had four chapters, each chapter could be divided up into four 10-ish minute long podcasts. (Should I choose to make four books in this series, then I suppose the structure will be completely fractal at that point) This made it easy for me to separate out each episode to do this step. However, not every outline is going to be as clearly delineated. You may have to go through every point in your outline, or you may be able to find small logical groupings of events.

Then you start listing out what each section actually does for the story.

In general, the early parts will involve setting up the characters, world, and plot. Later chapters will illustrate more about the characters, move the plot along, and show how the characters change and grow.

For example, here is a basic example of a chapter outline from my first NaNoWriMo novel. My original outline had a basic overview of each chapter, and four separate points divided up into what would happen in each ~10 minute podcast.

 Chapter 1) Jacobs washes up in Crown Bay, setting the story in motion

•        Jacobs washes up on shore in Crown Bay. Jim Leatherby uses a magical item and finds him.

•        Jacobs gets drunk, screams at a statue commemorating the massacre ten years prior, then gets cornered by guards and subsequently rescued by Jim Leatherby.

•        Jim brings Jacobs somewhere quiet to get sober, and then recognizes him.

•        Cut to the governor’s office in the city. The governor confides in his right-hand man, Commodore Briggs, that he’s near breaking down. He lost his wife during the massacre ten years ago, he can’t afford to lose his daughter. Briggs brings him the good news that Captain Jacobs has been spotted, and he takes a group of soldiers to find him.

 Once the outline of this chapter was done, I went through and wrote down all of the functions that this chapter served in the novel.

 Functions of Chapter 1

•        Hook the reader into the lead character and world.

•        Introduce the reader to the two protagonists.

•        Introduce the idea of magical items in this world.

•        Show that Jim has a very simple life, and that the magic item he possesses can lead him to find adventure outside of that life.

•        Show that Jacobs is in fact the captain of a pirate ship, not just a sailor who fell overboard.

•        Show that Jacobs is well known enough that the governor would be looking for him, and leave the reader with enough questions as to why to keep them reading further.

•        Show that this town has a history, and link that history to why Jim is an orphan and Jacobs left to became a pirate.

 Most of these functions will seem simple and obvious to the writer of the outline. Even so, it’s good to actually list them out so that you know what your foundation is supporting. Now that we’ve mapped out what the outline currently supports, we move on to the next step.

  Step 2) Figure out where to place your support beams

Every story has basic needs that need to be fulfilled. A story needs a beginning, a middle, an end, and action or conflict to move itself along while keeping the reader engaged.

The basic outline of my novel was a very simple four act structure, similar to the potboiler pulp stories of Lester Dent and Michael Moorcock. In the first act, the world, characters, and the adventure were introduced. In the second, the characters found themselves embroiled in that adventure. The peak of the growing adventure hits between the second and third act, where the characters have to choose whether to blunder on or give up. And by the end of the third act, they have found themselves in so deep that there is no longer a choice. They have to see their way to the end. (Those who have looked into popular story and act structures may recognize this as somewhat similar to the current Hollywood 3-act structure, and both styles are compatible with most popular beat sheet formats as well.)

That meant that for my story, the basic needs for each act were simple. I needed to hook the audience at the beginning with an interesting world and characters. I needed to keep building the story in such a way that it kept people tuning in for the next chapter or episode.

But every plot point creates a set of needs as well. Let’s say that in your story, part of your plot entails a group of people traveling into a dangerous area.

So now you add to your list of story needs:

•        Show the reader that the area is dangerous

•        Show whether the characters know it’s dangerous.

 There are also some more subtle needs that you may not think of right away, but once you get into the habit of looking for them, you’ll find them fairly easily. Some of them may not have to be in any one particular place in the story, they may simply need to be inserted somewhere before the point where they are used in the story. Think of this is kind of a reverse Chekov’s gun. If a gun is needed at the end of the story, then make a note to show that the gun exists in the universe.

For example, when I realized that a minor character was going to be killed off at the end of the story, I decided that his past life before the story needed to at least be hinted at, if not expounded on so that when he died he could pass on some sage advice and maybe make some of the sappier readers get a little bit misty-eyed. (Not that I would know ANYTHING about that. Men don’t cry. Not even when a house-elf breaks his promise and sacrifices himself to save someone else’s life. Nope.) So that was added to the general list, as a note of something that needed to be worked in where it could be.

Some obvious things to put on the list of overarching story needs are things like:

•        Get the audience to know the characters well enough to understand their motivations and capabilities. (There’s nothing better than a villain whose motivations you understand... but can’t condone.)

•        Display the basic traits of the important characters and settings. (Even if your protagonist is going to be a boring everyman character for the audience to project themselves onto, the rest of the cast has to be three dimensional and interesting.)

•        Find some way to fill in any important backstory that’s relevant to the current plot. (Sometimes this may end in a simple flashback or prologue. But if you just keep it in mind while writing, you can often find a spot to weave it into the narrative much more naturally.)

•        Give the reader a question. (Who killed the butler?)

•        Answer the reader’s question. (It was the maid in the drawing room with the candlestick.)

Now that you have your foundation and you’ve set up support beams on it, it’s time to make sure that the beams can actually support your story.

Step 3) Build your crossbraces

Now that you have a list of what each chapter accomplishes, and what each chapter and the story overall needs, you can start going through and finding the holes in your outline and plugging them. Sometimes this is as simple a step as leaving yourself a note to mention something important in a character’s backstory. Other times it may require adding in a few extra plot points that you hadn’t thought of in the original outline. Something that you may have been able to do on the fly when writing, but now you don’t have to.

Keep in mind that even if you miss something in the planning phase, this method can help while writing as well. If you reach a block, don’t try to figure out how to get around it. Try to figure out what the story needs to continue. Does it need an outside force to make something happen? Or do the characters need to find their own way? This can be a wonderful spot to allow a person to step forward, do something to show growth and character, and help move the story along.

At one point in my novel outline, I needed a way for a character to escape after being tied up. So I made a point to mention in earlier chapters that he hid several coins in hidden pockets in a leather bracelet, and he was quite adept at sleight of hand, repeatedly making the coins appear and disappear. So when the time came, it wasn’t a shock to the reader when he produced a coin and used it to saw away at the rope. A simple bit of characterization early on saved me from a plot hole at the end of the novel, and simultaneously helped illustrate the character better for the audience.

Step 4) Start building

Now that your outline has filled in, you’ve got more than just a list of plot points. You’ve got a guide that you can use to write your story. A solid, but not inflexible scaffolding to build on.

For an example on how to use the guide in practice, let’s break down the plot point that I mentioned above. In this case, we’ll say that the characters are going to go into this dangerous area, and they will be made aware of the danger.

In the original outline, it would have simply said, “The protagonist, his sidekick, and the guide go into the Blasphort Desert.” Now, you have a bit more set up to write the scene when it happens.

 “Hmm,” the guide said, poking the ground with the toe of his boot. “Not good.”

“What is it?” the protagonist asked.

“Wyrling tracks. Their territory is close. Probably near the canyon, for access to water.”

The protagonist shook his head. “Doesn’t matter. We have to get through. And if we stray too far from the river...”

“Only one way to deal with wyrlings,” the guide said.

The sidekick piped up, “At least there’s something. How do you deal with a wyrling?”

“Run faster,” the guide replied.

The protagonist looked at the guide curiously. “I didn’t think you could outrun a wyrling.”

The guide shook his head. “Can’t. But outrun someone else, and...”

“Oh,” the sidekick said.

The protagonist put his hand on the sidekick’s shoulder. “Doesn’t matter.”

 Now when the scene is written, both the audience and the characters know they’re walking into danger, and some other needs outside of the scene have been fulfilled. For one, the audience now knows a bit more about the personality of the three characters and the danger that they’ll be facing. The guide is simple and straightforward, the hero determined but sensible, the sidekick a little more worried about the situation than the hero, and wyrlings are some sort of dangerous creature, but will stop to feed.

From my own experience, I’ve found that there isn’t a clever pun or turn of phrase that I’ve come up with that makes me feel half as clever a writer as when I write a short passage that manages to fulfill a half dozen story needs. And when facing the normal amounts of self-doubt that one faces while writing a novel, those moments where we as writers feel clever should be cherished.

   About the author

Hugh Sullivan has been a long time dabbler in writing, music, and tabletop and video game design. After a ten year hiatus from creative work, the voice in his head finally convinced him that not having a creative outlet was going to eventually drive him crazy, so he went back to school to do a minor in video game design, worked on designing a tabletop role playing game, started participating in NaNoWriMo, and composing soundtracks to accompany podcasts of his writing.

Ironically, doing all four at once may be a clearer sign of madness than following the advice of a voice in one’s head. Follow his work at his website, chickenscratching.com, or his slightly more active tumblr account, chickenscratchingdotcom.tumblr.com.

[wionews]

The thinking behind Kim Jong Un's 'madness'

![CDATA[

On an icy December day in 2011, North Korea's new leader Kim Jong Un was accompanied by seven advisers as they escorted the hearse that carried his father, Kim Jong Il, through the streets of Pyongyang.

None of the men remain with the young Kim. This October, he demoted the last of his father's aides, both men in their nineties. They were among around 340 people he has purged or executed, according to the Institute for National Security Strategy, a think tank of South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS).

Kim, "obviously a madman" in the eyes of US President Donald Trump, has completed a six-year transition to what the South calls a reign of terror. His unpredictability and belligerence have instilled fear worldwide: After he tested a "breakthrough" missile earlier this week, he pronounced North Korea a nuclear power capable of striking the United States. But a closer look at his leadership reveals a method behind the "madness."

At 33, Kim Jong Un is one of the world's youngest heads of state. He inherited a nation with a proud history, onto which a socialist state had essentially been grafted by Cold War superpowers to create a buffer between Communist China and the capitalist South. Under Kim's father, the economy was mismanaged, and the collapse of Communism in the Soviet Union eliminated an important source of support. Up to three million people starved.

To consolidate a weak position, the young leader has been cultivating three main forces: military and nuclear power, a tacit private sector market economy, and the fear and adoration of a god. To this end, he has executed two powerful men and promoted one young woman – Kim Yo Jong, his younger sister, who Korea-watchers say is also Kim's chief propagandist. She is Kim's only other blood relative to be involved in politics: His elder brother, Kim Jong Chol, was rejected by their father as heir.

Over the five years to December 2016, Kim spent $300 million on 29 nuclear and missile tests, $180 million on building some 460 family statues, and as much as $1 billion on a party congress in 2016 – including $26.8 million on fireworks alone, according to the Institute, which employs high-level defectors.

"Yes, he has replaced many top commanders and officials so easily and ruthlessly killed some of them, which could make you wonder if he's sane," said Lee Sang-keun, a North Korean leadership expert at the Institute of Unification Studies at Ewha Womans University in Seoul.

"But this is a historical way of governing that can put you in power for a long time."

Great Leader

In ancient days, Pyongyang was the capital of a mighty empire, Koguryo, the root of the modern word "Korea." Going back through history, the Great Leader concept is a blend of several ideas handed down through time: an almighty god, the Confucian worship of a parent, and a king with the Mandate of Heaven, according to Lee Seung-yeol, a senior researcher at the National Assembly Research Service in Seoul.

Lee, a leading North Korea leadership researcher, said the state's theory of succession meansKim the younger's rise should have been completed while his father was alive: Kim's father was anointed 20 years before he took over, giving him time to build allies and a leadership system.

Kim Jong Un had just three years as leader-in-waiting.

Born in 1984, he was third in line for power and a fractious, competitive child, according to Kenji Fujimoto, a Japanese chef who worked for the family and one of the few people to recount meetings with the young Kim. In his memoirs published in 2010, Fujimoto, who now runs a sushi restaurant in Pyongyang, said Kim once snapped at his aunt Ko Yong Suk for calling him "Little General." Kim wanted to be called "Comrade General."

When Kim Jong Il knew his young son would soon succeed him, researchers have said, the father took several measures to protect the boy. Lee said these included shifting the country's power base to create rivalry between the elites so Kim the younger could play one group off against another.

Kim Jong Il had declared the military the country's supreme power – a policy known as songun, which means "military first." At a party conference in 2010, he changed the setup so the military had to compete with the party administration for the leader's favour.

"Poor man's weapon"

Military strategy was the first thing Kim changed. His father had used the promise of nuclear disarmament as a bargaining chip for aid, and in February 2012, young Kim started in his father's footsteps, promising to freeze North Korea's nuclear programme in return for food aid from the United States.

But weeks later he changed tack, saying North Korea would fire a long-range rocket. "The negotiations were carried on as the legacy of Kim Jong Il," said Wi Sung-lac, a former South Korean envoy to talks in 2011 that contributed to the February deal. "Since then his strategicthinking has shaped up."

In Kim's view, Saddam Hussein of Iraq and Muammar Gaddafi of Libya were fatally weakened by not having nuclear weapons, North Korean media say. "History proves that powerful nuclear deterrence serves as the strongest treasured sword for frustrating outsiders' aggression," the official KCNA news agency said in an editorial in January 2016.

North Korea is racing to achieve a nuclear deterrent because the state feels threatened, worrying particularly that Kim may face a fate like Gaddafi. The Libyan leader agreed in 2003 to eliminate his weapons of mass destruction; in 2011, he was killed by rebels that the United States and its allies had supported.

Months after Kim's accession, North Korea updated its constitution to declare itself a nuclear weapons state.

One leading pallbearer at Kim Jong Il's funeral was Ri Yong Ho, Chief of the General Staff of the Korean People's Army. Kim sacked him in July 2012. South Korean intelligence later confirmed that Ri had been executed.

By December 2012, North Korea had carried out another, successful, rocket test.

In 2013, Kim outlined a new policy: The "byungjin line," or parallel development, to combine the nuclear buildup and economic growth.

A nuclear deterrent is essential to that, says Thae Yong-ho, North Korea's former deputy ambassador to London, who staged a high-profile defection to South Korea in 2016. The threat of absolute destruction makes a nuclear bomb a "poor man's weapon" with which to tighten control of the country and ensure long-term rule, Thae said.

"Once he has assumed control of usable nuclear weapons, he has more room to allocate resources more flexibly, and allocate the military forces for civilian construction," said Thae.

"Foolish dream"

North Korea spends about a quarter of its GDP on defence: Russia's President Vladimir Putin has said Kim Jong Un would have his people "eat grass" rather than give up its nuclear programme.

But with a legacy of famine, Kim also says he wants to boost people's prosperity.

The former chef, Fujimoto, said that on one summer break from school in Switzerland in 2000, the young Kim was preoccupied with a visit to Beijing his father had made.

"Let's talk," Fujimoto recalled the future leader saying over drinks on his father's private train. "I hear from higher up that China seems to be succeeding on many fronts – engineering, commerce, hotels, agriculture - everything," Kim said. "In many ways, don't we need to take them as a model example for us?"

In 2012, shortly after taking power, Kim went a small way to mimic reforms China made in the 1980s. Farmers were allowed to keep most of the harvest. State enterprises were given the right to buy and sell at market prices and to hire and fire workers. Private entrepreneurs and traders were encouraged to invest in state projects or with party and military entities. Kim also began to turn a blind eye to informal markets – a force his father tried in vain to contain.

That April, Kim addressed the nation - the first time in 17 years North Koreans had heard the voice of their leader. "It is the party's steadfast determination to ensure that the people will never have to tighten their belt again," he said.

Outsiders hoped the reform signaled a new political openness as Kim drove to promote the North in the world: In 2012 Antonio Razzi, an Italian senator for Forza Italia who calls himself the only Italian to have met the leader, said Kim had asked him to find training facilities for soccer players in Italy.

"I have talked with many (North Korean) local leaders," Razzi said. "They have no plan to attack anybody. North Korea is interested in nuclear only as a form of defence."

Kim worked to ensure the economic freedom would not unseat him.

Also escorting his father's funeral car in 2011 was Jang Song Thaek, an administrator at the vanguard of the reforms. He was married to Kim Jong Il's sister, was a special envoy to China and had overseen a host of new Special Economic Zones all over the country.

In December 2013, Jang was hauled out of the Politburo in front of the cameras and accused of plotting a coup. "Jang dreamed such a foolish dream," state media said, adding Jang hoped his reformist plans would help him "get 'recognised' by foreign countries."

Jang was shot "dozens of times" by an anti-aircraft gun and his remains removed with a flamethrower, according to South Korea's National Intelligence Service (NIS) – an account no one has confirmed.

"Development dictator"

From that point on, Kim honed his personality cult. On the day Jang's purge was announced, North Korea's official daily the Rodong Sinmun unveiled a song dedicated to Kim Jong Un, titled "We Know Nothing But You." More were to follow.

The next year, Kim also ordered school textbooks be revised to focus on idolisation of himself and include images of nuclear weapons and missiles, according to the NIS-affiliated Institute for National Security Strategy.

The idolisation campaign kicked into high gear in 2016, focused on pop culture and youth: Kim's chosen female singers, the Moranbong Band, staged a series of musical performances and plays calling for loyalty to the leader, while the Shock Brigade, a crew of young North Koreans in charge of major economic construction, produced about 1,200 poems and other literary works, the Institute said.

"He has linked his own legitimacy to improving the economic situation in the country," said John Delury of Seoul's Yonsei University. "Kim Jong Un wants to become a development dictator."

At home, he casts himself as a bringer of plenty. In 2015, almost half the times he was photographed were at economic events, data from Seoul's Unification Ministry shows. Only this year, as his weapons tests multiplied and met an angry response in the United States, have military appearances come back into prominence.

Standing tearfully behind Kim Jong Un at their father's funeral was his younger sister, 28-year-oldKim Yo Jong. On the same October day that Kim dropped the last two of his father's aides, he included her in his Politburo. Kim Jong Chol, their elder brother, leads a quiet life in Pyongyang where he plays guitar in a band, according to former ambassador Thae.

"I think Kim Jong Un has been making good use of the existing system, while strengthening his power base and dictator regime in a very shrewd manner," said Lee Su-seok, a research fellow at the Institute for National Security Strategy.

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