#woman writers

[peacefulandcozy]

Instagram credit: matildascabinet

[bonkingcat]

marcille may be one of my all time favourite female leads in a manga. like she is just written so goddamn well, i never have a moment of feeling a little uncomfortable or that she’s just there for the male audience/to be that inconvenient woman in the group like most fantasy manga/anime does

i think about how off putting this scene would have been if it was written by well… a man. of course i’m not generalizing but also i am! i feel more worried for her safety in this scene than feeling as it was just put there for fanservice and nothing else

[ardent-reflections]

If I lived by the sea I would never be really sad. I get an immense sense of eternity and peace from the ocean. I can lose myself in staring at it hour after hour.

Sylvia Plath, from a letter to Aurelia Plath.

[flowerandblood]

You may want to be sweet and girly. You may want to be sullen and aloof. You may wish to please not only yourself, but also the person you desire and cherish. You may wish to please no one. You may prefer to have your partner do certain things for you because he or she is better at them. You may want to argue with other women if you disagree with them and not be afraid of being anti-feminist.

You may desire a particular figure, a particular shape of nose or breasts, a particular hair colour. You may think that you would like to change something about yourself. You may think that you are not perfect, that there is something you need to work on. You may think it is nice when a man opens the door for you, that it is nice when he takes a heavy bag from you, that it is nice when he tells you that you are a beautiful.

You don't have to do everything yourself. Self-sufficiency and self-reliance does not mean being rude to your own weaknesses, to men or other women who approach life differently than you do. Live to be happy, not to make some group of people be pleased with you. Don't be afraid to ask for help. Don't be afraid to be vulnerable.

[macabremoons]

writeblr (re)intro

𝖆𝖇𝖔𝖚𝖙 𝖒𝖊:

Moon ♡ She/her ♡ Blk ♡ EST ♡ Enjoyer of enemies to lovers

My favorite book is the wicked king by Holly Black. I love Holly Black's writing in general

I love making playlists

I'm a fanfic writer turned og writer (though sometimes I dip my toes back in)

I love video essays

𝖆𝖇𝖔𝖚𝖙 𝖒𝖞 𝖜𝖗𝖎𝖙𝖎𝖓𝖌:

Pantser! Though I do need a rough outline to make up things as I go.

I write mostly YA fantasy! I enjoy writing about the fae, vampires, and royalty, so these themes are usually in my writing lol

Love me a good morally grey female protagonist. I love writing black girl protagonists as well!

I write both romance and found family pretty evenly. They both mean a lot to me!! Not all of my wips have romance, but the ones that don't always have some sort of family theme

Love doing in-depth worldbuilding. I don't love writing it down, which just means I spam my friends with info LOL

𝖒𝖞 𝖕𝖗𝖔𝖏𝖊𝖈𝖙𝖘:

My wip masterlist is here! My current main project is Daycycle, which you can get the details of here: intro.

𝖜𝖗𝖎𝖙𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝖒𝖆𝖘𝖙𝖊𝖗𝖑𝖎𝖘𝖙:

Here!

𝖔𝖙𝖍𝖊𝖗:

Very ask and tag friendly! Hit me up if you wanna talk about my wips or just chat <3

I am hosting a writing group! For more information go here.

Open to reading other's wips as an alpha or beta reader (within reason ofc.) Just send me a message!

𝖘𝖔𝖈𝖎𝖆𝖑𝖘:

Wattpad: ♡

Ao3: ♡

[alextlopez]

Imagine being able to introduce yourself with a pinterest board, like a character board. Cute and easier.

[modernwritercraft]

When you accidentally foreshadow something that happens 5 chapters later and everyone thinks it was on purpose

[ivaspinoza]

Thoughts on creating as someone who doesn't paint anymore

I could say the process of creating usually starts from an observation or a feeling from reality (mine or not), so we have mainly characters or human situations that provoke a reaction – which moves me. It could also be a need to protest against something I find unbereable or the need to hold an immense and especial moment captive; the former in fiction, the latter mostly for poetry.

But when I start to write, I also shift into this commitment, passion, or duty to the words and to the text itself. This is never manifested before, only through the writing; the literature, the langue becomes bigger and demanding. The portrayal should be self-sufficient, the intelligence of the reader and their particular perspective, respected. Even honoured, I would say, by giving them something true and raw, where they can explore, think, and feel by themselves (if that makes sense).

When I write, I see myself in the same place I used to be in my old atelier: surrounded by alchemical glass jars and suspicious mediums, be the lovely stink of turpentine, while I hold three or four brushes in one hand. Spots of self-made oil paint everywhere (even on my cigarette). Detached from time and space. Swimming through layers, layers, layers. Carefully adding a sparkle (a small word), by the corner, delighting in the contour, in the process of weaving the meaning, and connecting them. Painting aggressively, or really fast, just to step back and wait until I know it was time to go for the delicate, intricate work.

It was a portal that I would open, back in those nights, to meet the Ineffable. The expression was not mine, I was only a vessel willing to go through the pain and joys of labour. Giving light, giving life, what a humbling task! The craft is pleasure, even through possible moments of discomfort – you can't live without it. Writing is like that for me.

After spending almost ten years in a full block, I just hope that in the same way writing came back, one day, painting also will; and my my arms will be open, I promise.

[importantwomensbirthdays]

Victoria Amelina

Victoria Amelina was born in 1986 in Lviv, Ukraine. Amelina's debut novel was published in 2014. Her 2017 novel Dom's Dream Kingdom was shortlisted for the European Union Prize for Literature and the UNESCO City of Literature Prize. In 2021, Amelina received the Joseph Conrad Literary Award from the Polish Institute in Kyiv. Her work has been translated into several languages, including German, English, Italian, and Polish. During the war in Ukraine, Amelina set her writing aside to work for the human rights group Truth Hounds, traveling to liberated areas to record the testimonies of witnesses and survivors of Russian crimes.

Victoria Amelina died in 2023 at the age of 37 from injuries sustained in a missile strike.

[pagansphinx]

The great American author, Toni Morrison (1931-2019) • photographed in her office at Random House by Jill Krementz • 1974 • all rights reserved (via The Wall Street Journal).

[warmorchid]

amber elowen, two

[peacefulandcozy]

Instagram credit: talesbytheshire

[mjparkerwriting]

Intro to WIP - Book 1/4

TLBH

"'You underestimate the power of mortals. They are, of course, insignificant in the grand scheme of it all, but that never seems to discourage them. They have the will and audacity that should only be reserved for gods. For us. They fight for lost causes. They long for old corpses. They refuse to quit. It is quite bothersome at times.'" --Maloria, Chapter 1

Genre: Fantasy

Status: First Draft; started January 1, 2023

Progress/Target: 56.5k/80-90k

Themes and Tropes: portal to another world, prophecies, chosen one, found family, rivals/enemies to lovers, sibling rivalry

Age Rating: 17+

Warnings: violence, death, mental illness

Plot: Seth and Zayna are the co-captains of their university's debate team and they can't stand each other. After yet another heated argument, they are sent off to the school's library in an attempt to force them to work together, but of course, something strange happens while they're there and the two are transported to a different world. There, the two meet many different citizens--some of whom are a great help to them and some that are anything but. Seth and Zayna just want to get home, but the deeper they get into this world, the more they find out it won't be as easy as they thought. Can they put aside their disdain for each other to reach a common goal, or will they let petty arguing ruin them and their chances of getting back?

Extra details: Black female lead. Cherokee male lead. Plenty of LGBTQ rep and many Black and POC characters.

[ardent-reflections]

Thinking was torment; why not give up thinking, and drift and dream?

Virginia Woolf, The Years

[flowerandblood]

Writing the Long Series

How I manage to do this for @troublesomesnitch

I often get questions about how I write and how I structure my work. If you are a perfectionist and like to have everything organized and tidy, this guide is not for you, because most of my work is chaos. However, I know that there are people like me who are tired of having to make lists, think about beta-readers, etc., so for all those who don't like to plan, here's how I write long series.

1. Never assume that your series will be long

When I write a oneshot or the first chapter of my story, I never assume how many chapters it will have − I do this very rarely when I have a specific plot in mind for a mini-series, but I often change my mind anyway, adding or shortening the series as I see fit. It's usually only when I've written the first two chapters that I have a sense of whether or not the story itself for me is asking to be longer.

With The Impossible Choice I thought I would close it in 20 chapters, and ended up with 55 chapters and 3 Alternate Universes. I had no idea when I wrote the first chapter that this would happen. Putting the pressure on yourself "okay, this is my moment, it's time for a long series, I want to make it 30 chapters" will make you shy away from writing at the thought of how much work lies ahead. Don't think about it, just write.

2. You don't have to have an ending

In none of my long series I knew what the ending would be. I usually know what's going to happen a maximum of 2/3 chapters in advance. I believe, but this is just my personal opinion, that writers pay too much attention to the ending, and if we are not writing a crime story, or the ending itself is not supposed to be a big breakthrough, it doesn't really matter. Even whether everything ends well or badly. Sometimes what's more important is the journey and what's in between.

I come up with the ending at the very end, when I have all the chapters. Then I know exactly what happened and what ending to the story will make sense in the context of what has happened so far. What's the point of coming up with a super-thought-out ending if it doesn't seem to fit the whole? This is starting from the wrong side. We are supposed to feel emotions throughout the story, not just at the end.

3. Don't predetermine how each chapter will end

This is suicide. Because what if you have a couple of scenes at the beginning, an end scene and a blank of what to write in between? It makes no sense!

When I write a chapter, I just go scene by scene and look at the number of words. Once it's over 2'500, I'm already thinking about slowly closing the chapter and I usually end it with some kind of breakthrough sentence or a character's thought. That's enough.

You don't always have to come up with a cliffhanger at the end. It's more important that the story reads smoothly and with breath, not to have someone gasp in surprise at the end but feel that what they were reading was just a bunch of scenes that weren't necessary.

4. Accept the fact that you won't use all the scenes you've imagined

I know we often think we have fantastic ideas, that this and that could happen, but sometimes we find that when we write, they just don't fit anywhere. There's no need to get upset then. If it's not a key scene for the whole story, it should be omitted or modified completely. Having said that, I'm against planning scenes ahead, except for the ones that matter most and push everything forward. It then makes such a pattern with holes that aren't there when you write everything in sequence.

Some people say − don't know how to do it? Leave it, move on to the next scene! I say no here! Don't keep writing until you know which way you want to go! And even if you do know, if you can't make it happen with a scene or dialogue, ask yourself if that way is good. Maybe just because you came up with it doesn't mean it makes sense in the context of the whole story you've created so far?

Maybe it's worth taking a different course, surprising yourself, choosing a different solution? Don't be a prisoner of your own decisions, let the creation of the story be fluid and changeable according to what you feel will be most viable for the development of your character!

5. Write other stories between chapters

Write oneshots or other mini-series in between chapters of your big project. Allow yourself to take a breather and not think about it all the time. I always intersperse my long series with my other work and it has helped me a lot. Sometimes, you just lose the verve for that concritical story and feel like writing something else − you should do exactly that. Don't think 'oh no, I'm starting a new story and I haven't finished that one'.

Even if you don't finish that one, nothing will happen. By controlling yourself in this way you are killing the fun you should be having with it. When you feel like it, read your long series again, or at least the last chapters to get the mood and then try to sit down to write a new chapter. I've found that when I take breaks and come back to stories like this after a few days, good new ideas come to me which keep me engaged in creating this story.

6. Play with characters, not scenes

Sometimes we come up with a scene that doesn't resonate at all as well in the story as it did in our mind when we wrote it. The reason I knock such scenes out is usually because they don't fit the character I'm writing about.

In my series The Fall from The Heavens originally when Lady Strong and Aemond are sitting in the library years later and Aemond tells her about having his first intimate experience with a whore, I wanted him to have tears in his eyes, get up from the table and walk over to the bookcase, Lady Strong was going to approach him and try to draw out of him what had happened.

However, as I wrote this, I felt somewhere in the back of my mind that something was wrong. I realised that while the scene itself was interesting and poignant, it didn't fit completely with my Aemond in this series. He would never allow himself to show weakness in this aspect, he would never have tears in his eyes at the thought, at most he would feel disgust, discomfort and anger.

I thought I would change this to a scene where her question reminds him of what happened and he tries to put it out of his mind and pretend he was content, drawing sastifaction from her jealousy. This, in my opinion, was definitely better suited to his spiteful, sullen character.

7. Do not ignore the thoughts of the protagonists

Some authors forget that only they know what is in the characters' heads − readers do not. Putting everything in dialogues makes no sense, because ordinary people don't say everything they think about.

Each of us thinks about something constantly, even when we just look at someone, when we sit alone or when we don't say anything. The characters' thoughts, so often overlooked, are a gateway to entering various scenes and events without the need for dialogue or additional events.

In The Knight & The Judge, readers would hate my Aemond if it weren't for the fact that they know his thoughts, how he regrets his actions, what he goes through, why he does certain things. Events do not happen by themselves, but are the result of what is happening in his head, even if he does not say much to other characters.

8. Don't be afraid to use side characters to show your couple's perspective

I often swap perspectives, once showing the perspective of a female character and once of a male character, but I also often use the eyes of side characters like Aegon, Daemon or Alys to show what their relationship looks like from the side.

Although some people dread this (like being afraid to write a chapter without smut because no one will read it because there won't be spicy scenes − that's nonsense) such a pov often gives a much wider view of how our characters are perceived from the side, what others think of their behaviour, what their decisions lead to, how they affect other characters.

If these side characters are an important part of our story, we can use such an extra chapter to build up what they will do in the future, engaging with our couple's story.

9. Confrontation does not always mean violence

I notice that often when there is a conversation between the main characters, many authors do their best to make both characters as sassy as possible, throwing fanciful insults at each other, threatening each other, considering it a good prelude to sexual tension. Of course, in one or two scenes this will work, even more so when, in fact, the two parties are very much at odds and practically hate each other.

However, it can't be that even though the characters are getting closer, they act as if they haven't gone through any development, haven't had any thoughts. It amazes me when someone writes an elaboration on the appearance of a gown or a room, on how someone raises a hand or performs an action, but does not lean into the fact that their character's behaviour is unnatural.

People say unpleasant things to each other in anger, but usually, forced to be in each other's company, they also have calmer discussions. Sometimes one word or sentence can make someone's perspective change, make them understand something that was unclear to them and new feelings emerge that can push the plot further − compassion, grief, longing or even understanding.

Creating templates out of our characters who have specific characteristics and always behave identically makes the whole story unbelievable.

10. Be kind to yourself

At the moment, there are no series from my first months of writing here written by me that I would consider good and I edit most of them, or I just left them as is and will never come back to them. I just know they are bad. But that's the way it is, in order to develop we have to make mistakes and not always be satisfied with ourselves (although at that moment I thought I had created my life's work).

Be understanding and kind to yourself. I managed to create so much work, not always good, mainly because I did it with passion and joy. I am very proud of many of my stories now and I like them even when I come back to them after a long time, I feel my progress and I know that it was worth it. Give yourself a chance and don't block yourself.

[miss-celestia13]

Writing smut means you walk around your house listening to your smut playlist at full volume, and yelling out shit like; “I’ve made up my mind! I’m doing anal!” At the top of your lungs. All my neighbours heard that and now I can never look them in the eye. I wish this was the first stupid thing they’ve seen from me, but there is a long history of me making an absolute cuntspangle of myself around them all. Whatever. I’ll shout something even more scandalous later and hope they forget this one.