#writbr

[writers-potion]

this is a little hyper specific lmao but i was wondering if you have any advice on writing a pov character being mysterious? tyyy

Writing A Mysterious POV Character

Thanks for the question!

Here are some characteristics that I think makes a POV character "mysterious"

The reader is not meant to understand everything the POV character says, describes or alludes to.

The POV character actively holds off information from the readers either because (1) it's hard for them to talk about it or (2) they don't think it's important, somehow.

They reconstruct the narrative in the way they perceive it, not following the chronological order of events and often providing piecemeal information that only (if ever) comes together at the end.

The POV character simply has a wholly different perspective that a human reader will have difficulties understanding (i.e. story told from an animal or alien's POV)

I think the best way to portray this is to provide examples, which I think qualify as mysterious narrators. Note that not all mysterious narrators are unreliable narrators, although they could be. Here are the selected narrators and a few extracts for illustration purposes, divided by loosely defined subcategories (there can be overlaps!):

Incomprehensive Jargon & Allusions

Given that you can do this without boring or genuinely pissing off the reader, using lots of jargon, making allusions to things your target audience will probably not know to create atmosphere can be effective.

I recommend having a strong thematic core to justify all that jargon and reference, though.

Richard Papen from <The Secret History> by Donna Tartt

The characters talk and make references to Greek/the Classics. Arguably, it is not "incomprehensible", but the entire book is tirelessly full of them and unless you are a scholar in a related field, very unlikely to know all the Greek/ancient works being referenced all the time.

by M.L.Rio

Interesting style where the characters talk and even think in Shakespeare. They literally quote lines from Shakespeare to talk to each other. Not as difficult to follow as <The Secret History>, given that these are q famous plays (Hamlet, Macbeth, etc.) but it certainly adds well to the mystery at the heart of the book's plot.

---

Witholding Information

Have your narrator subtely refer to a large event in their past (a murder, a traumatic memory, etc) but never telling the reader upfront, making them only make implied guesses.

The only reservation I would have for this option is to not annoy the reader by letting them know the narrator has information, but is somehow not telling them. It would help to have a clear reason for them to not talk about it: e.g. they haven't accepted the past themselves, they're too scared to talk about it, etc.

by Eliza Clark

In here, the narrator has killed someone in the past - a fact that only becomes kind of clear at the end. Even then, the murder is never referenced because this narrator has some serious mental issues, but when you look back with this knowledge at the end of the book, her behavior starts making more sense.

---

Reconstructing the Narrative

Don't go in chronological order. Use time skips, or invent a new system for the narrator to arrange their memories and thus, retell the story. This gives the narrator power over the narrative because they've seen the whole thing play out, but the readers are getting bits and pieces, trying to get the puzzle pieces to fall together.

Other options:

POV character has amnesia

POV character has dementia

Using narrative interruptions that are in a completely different style (can work for 3rd person, look at Olivie Blake's work referenced below)

Olivie Black's <Alone With You in the Ether>

Using screenplay-like interruptions to the narrative that limits the reader's access to the characters' minds. Also creates interesting tone.

Kim Youngha's <Diary of the Murderer>

[I don't have pictures for this because I only have the Korean version....but really worth mentioning]

Here, the narrator has dementia and cannot fully remember the murders he has committed in the past. He is also an unreliable narrator who can only remember things in bits and pieces - thus the typical chronological order is interrupted.

---

"Non-Human" Perspectives

Give yourself a narrator that is not human, or is "dehumanized" in some way (lack of emotion, inability to relate to others, etc.) to view the entire world from a perspective not often experienced by the average human.

Death as a narrator from <The Book Thief> by Marcus Zusak.

Zusak inserts these little "pronouncements" or "interruptions" to the narrative and the calm but transcending tone constantly raises questions.

---

Do note that the overall tone of the novel contributes significantly to how the narrator comes across to the readers. Many of the works above also deal with "reality vs. unreality" as a theme, which is augmented by the use of a mysterious narrator that prompts the reader to challenge

Hope this helps, Happy writing :)

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* . ───

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[the-ellia-west]

Hey writers!

I will write 10 words in book 2 for every note this post gets by May 10th

Limit of 5 comments >:]

I'll also accept suggestions in the comments or Reblogs, Book 2 is a Kasi Book but has the beginnings of Viasaki and Kila's Arcs ,and a light bit of Marril and Shyre's

It also focuses a bit on Chrin's Arc, which unlike the twins, hasn't started in Book 1

[athenadire]

⚠️ ATTN: SEEKING AN EDITOR ⚠️

Hi!! I really need an editor. I'm looking for someone that can help push/motivate me to write when I'm struggling; someone to bounce ideas off of when I'm stuck; someone that can read and review my work; that can edit my writing (if you want to).

The catch is, I can't pay you. I'm a self publishing author who is trying to complete their first novel. I'm hoping to have a team of people one day that I can pay, but today is not that day. If you'd be willing to help, I would be forever grateful! I hope to be able to repay your kindness one day.

Please share this post even if you aren't interested. If you are, please comment below & I will DM you! Thank you so much🙏🏻

[mayaswiterblog]

The Face of The Me

Written on the 8th of November 2017.

My face is fierce My voice instils Fear and Grief Lost in words Betray you swords Treasure seeks you Revealed only to few

The gloom Seeks doom Unfold The bond Unseal the deal No more to kill Rest be the soul Witness'd be the owl Dropped be the bleeding key Do you see, what it means?

Ever sought the reason of beyond Over the hills, over the mountains Beneath the sky-dusted sea Gleaming, sandy leaves Behind the wisdom of a tree Messy, sticky star-beams Till you find a person of bonds Over dimensions, things that've never been mentioned.

[rheas-chaos-anthology]

I'm sick of people, including me, acting like writing has to be some serious borderline chore-like thing

Have fun with your life, write that completely self indulgent thing. Make Pinterest boards, and playlists. Create mood board of things your character do or dress. Trauma dump in your notebook, I don't care what you do. Be free children. Be freeee

[dylan-of-the-raven]

I'm generally a nice guy, but sometimes I want to burn down the world and graffiti the sky.

Dylan of the Raven

[heartoflesh]

You weren't my first love. But you were my first real love. It hurts that much because I thought this was it for me. I thought you were my end and my beginning. I thought that I could finally lean into it. You were the first person I imagined life with. We made promises that I intended to keep. Yes, it hurts that much because it was you and me and it was real.

Excerpts from a book I'll never write, William

[roseshewrites]

As promised, a Female!Alastor (we're calling her Alice)/Female!Reader. I tried my utmost to fit every theme you requested into my story.

NSFW~

You had gotten into it deep. Like, the way Alice would look at you sometimes; that calculated stare, red and gleaming, the sight of her pointed and gray face loomed in the darkness of her radio station like a coined moon. How she *walked*, as if her slim hips swayed to silent music, her cane tapping with her feet on the soft carpet.

Ho, boy. 

Established friendship, you reminded yourself. 

Difficult to do when Alice was so vehemently friendly with you; and she didn't, not often, and not with very many people. This made you feel special, but also a little sad. Female friends were hard to come by for you, so shoving down your own concerns about *the stupidest of bisexual crushes* was the least you could do for her. 

And tonight was, by far, the girliest of nights Alice had allowed you to loop her into. She was normally so busy that her time spent radio broadcasting, hotel proprieting and otherwise not so secretively demolishing whole raw venison kept her out of your loop.

And this was the first time in literally *weeks* she had finally agreed to let you paint her nails; provided you also sharpened them as well. 

Not to be outdone by a slight pitter patter of the heart, you swallowed your giddiness and hefted your box of makeup and nail polish up to the top floor to her room; behind the door, a soft jazz beat echoed lightly.

"Have you killed the cheshire cat?" She eyed your pink fuzzy slippers amusedly. 

"Har-har-" you said, rolling your eyes and shoulder shoving her lightly on your way in. "Keep that up, I'll paint your talons pink and not red." 

"You wouldn't dare," her resulting grin reminiscent of the aforementioned cat; slightly mad, ever so hinting of the dark. 

Alice was what you liked to call 'at least half a French fry short of a happy meal.' 

You sat crosslegged on her bed while she messed with the dials of her old-fashioned radio. Alice had long ago abandoned her red suit jacket. Her hair, which was normally swept up into a simple braid or up-do, tumbled down her back. Her hair was thick, and so close to being wavy that it was nearly curly, but not quite. She had let you braid it, once, shortly after you both became friends. 

"Were you gonna go smoke?", you asked, noticing her long thin cigarette holder placed beside her radio. 

"I was, but you are here now. It can wait," Alice wandered to the tub of goodies on her bed, "Don't you have any..muted, or darker colors?" 

"God, you're so edgy," you smirked, shuffling through the tub. "Here. Red, for an edgy princess." 

"Call me a princess one more time. I dare you," Alice warned, with no real vigor, and only a small delicious smile. 

"Kinky. But I think I can take that dare. Also, hold out your hand, it's time to get you ready for the nail polish."

"Is that so?" Alice's crimson eyes flashed amusedly, settling next to you. 

You got a scent of her; she smoked outside, but the scent followed, and clung to her clothing and hair. Soft, smoky vanilla, a hint of cherry. Alice had a rich tapestry of small vices like that. 

Your face flushed a tad to your ears as you forced the proximity heat away and attempted to focus instead on holding her hand and filing down her cuticles.

"Mhm, that is so. Yup." 

"I don't think so. And I think if you called me a princess again, that you couldn't handle what followed." 

Her voice was a warming purr that scent chills down your spine. 

"Oh. Well. That's not entirely necessary," you excercised caution too little too late; you could tell. The thrill of the hunt and/or manipulation was glinting in Alice's eyes. "Oh! Sorry!" You drew back your hand, realized you had nicked her finger a bit too hard with the file. 

"Another dare for you," she examined her slightly wounded finger, "Either stop pretending you're not bold at all, or admit that you are somewhat of a cannibal, yourself." 

"You know me. I'm bold as holy hell." 

"Really?" 

You were having trouble controlling yourself. The wine and rich scent from just that tiny bit of blood on her finger.. You were more than just a tiny bit of a cannibal, you were one of the vampiric ones and come to think of it you hadn't had a bite to eat (or drink) all day. 

"Yeah," you breathed, leaning in, "I am bold. Princess," you whispered. 

You were normally the type to let other women make the first move, truthfully, but the way Alice was staring at you right now was undoing you. She was smiling like she did when she'd gotten her way; the cat who got the cream. 

"You have no idea how long I waited for you to admit that," she offered you her finger. 

Oh, gods. 

You touched that tiny droplet on her thumb, tasting it to your lips. Somehow or another, Alice also made her way to your lips, tasting of richness and her own tangy and beautiful blood, and her sweet scent that caressed chills all down your body. 

You wanted to crush her lips with yours and also just push her right down onto her own bed right then, but somehow you pulled apart from her long enough to murmur against her lips, "You kinda like being called that, don't you? Princess?" 

That simple thing seemed to thrill her, for the breath she loosed against your mouth, hot and quick. 

She did seem to like it a lot, actually, you marveled, letting her pin you down, your arms above your head. She kissed your neck and growled softly. All tense and coiled body language, her soft breasts pressing against yours as you pulled her close with your knees.

"You were waiting for me to make the first move," you whispered, "All this time?" 

"I wanted you to want me," she murmured against your neck, nibbling the skin there, making you shiver happily. "Whenever you did, that is when I'd accept it." 

She settled between your legs, making you moan and rock from the clothed friction, her slender fingers entwined into yours. 

"You'll do what I want then," you said, "Yeah?" 

"Yes, darling." 

"Oh-Criminy-" 

You surrendered yourself to her right then and there, or was she really just submitting to your unspoken desires? 

Alice allowed you to loose her suspenders and unbutton the collar at her throat, while you took your sweet time admiring the slender grace underneath. How even her collarbones were an art piece to the small swell of her breasts below them. You couldn't resist nibbling on one of her perked nipples and your core throbbed at how she moaned for you. 

She unbuttoned your jeans when you ground needily against her hand, chuckling softly at your eagerness. 

And her hands were so skilled. You were naked very soon underneath her as her tongue played yours like a violin. Her skin smelled just like her clothing, and you were in both heaven and hell for it. All smoky, and vanilla, and rich just like her dark mind and all her little tapestries of vices. 

"Oh God, Alice, more please-" 

"Whatever you like, my darling," she nibbled your ear with her sharp teeth. She obeyed you instantly and slid another slender finger into your wetness, curling upward and moving slowly as you panted against her neck. "Will you come for me?" 

"If you could m-make it last forever that'd be fantastic-" you gasped, still unable to stop yourself from arching at the sound of her voice, the pressure of her hands and fingers and all of her gentle and warm movements that followed. 

You clutched at her neck, saying something absolutely unintelligible as the pleasure crashed across your body in waves. 

True to your previous request, she didn't let you come down from that high entirely and moved her fingers slowly with your pleasure so that it all coasted again into another more intense crescendo. 

It was a double, or a triple, or something like that- you nearly lost count. She didn't stop until you whimpered that you were getting overstimulated no matter how you wanted it to continue. 

When you had collapsed together after that you just laid on her chest and softly caressed the other breast you weren't currently pressed to. 

"Alice," you said suddenly. 

"Mm, what?" 

"We never did paint your nails," you giggled, all flushed from your activities. 

You knew what she was going to say next, though. 

"That can wait," she murmured in her soft radio voice. 

[milkhoney531]

Disabled, neurodivergent, queer, or other? If you like to write, you'll like it here!

I know a lot if people are boycotting or skipping NaNoWriMo, so this month I'm organizing an event in my discord I'm calling December Drafts. If you'd like to join, just click the link above!

December Drafts

December 1-7: Prompts A Plenty

New writing prompts every day

December 8-14: Dashing Through the Snow

Writing sprints

December 15-21: Seven Short Stories

New genre to write a one shot or short story every day

December 22-28: Holiday Specials

Write a story or more based on any holiday you like, winter holidays encouraged but not exclusive to

December 29-31: Festive Days

Rest, write for a project, focus on a WIP, music in the chats, movie nights encouraged, celebrate

[chrismerle]

Elsa's 'A Bitch Is Broke' Writing Commissions

Hey, hi, hello! I'm Elsa and my usual freelancing contracts are being flaky assholes, so I'm extending branches in other directions!

I’ve been informed that I’m a fairly good writer, and I’ve done writing commissions in the past, so I figure I may as well see if it helps! You can check my writeblr tag, my (very tiny) ghostwriting portfolio, or my AO3 account for examples of my writing.

PRICING:

$0.03 per word.

So, 500 words would be $15.

You give me a ballpark of the length you want. So, if you’re willing to spend between $20 and $25, the story will be between 666 and 833 words.

I’ll round down to the nearest $0.10. So if the finished product is 526 words, I’ll report it as being $15.70, rather than $15.78.

I take payments through Paypal or Venmo.

GUIDELINES:

500-word minimum

You don’t need to supply a full outline, but you do need to have some idea of what you want to happen in the story. The longer the story, the more detail I’ll need. If you just want, like, 500 words, then 'X and Y cuddling’ will suffice, but if you want 5,000 words, I’ll need more to go off of than that.

I will write about your OCs, as long as you can provide info on them.

I will write fanfic, as long as I know the source material well enough (list provided below).

I will write smut, just double-check any kinks you want first. (I won’t write any involving bodily fluids, poop, vore, or feet, sorry.)

If I’m super uncomfy with the subject matter, I’ll turn down the commission, if only because it would be a really badly written end product.

FANDOM LIST:

Kingdom Hearts (not Back Cover or Union)

Final Fantasy VII (original Compilation or Remake)

Final Fantasy XV

Persona 5, vanilla or Royal

Persona 4, vanilla only

Dragon Age (games only)

Mass Effect

Hazbin Hotel

Helluva Boss

Avatar: The Last Airbender (original series only)

Good Omens (book or show)

Five Nights at Freddy’s (games only)

Who Killed Markiplier? and related series

The Legend of Zelda (OoT, MM, TP, SS, or BotW only)

Star Wars (movies only)

Power Rangers, Ninja Storm and Dino Thunder

Yuri! On Ice

Fullmetal Alchemist, original anime or Brotherhood

Black Butler, anime or manga

Transformers, cartoons, anime, and live action movies

Critical Role campaign 2

Subnautica

The Sandman (Netflix series only)

Sonic the Hedgehog (recent movies only)

Howl’s Moving Castle (Ghibli movie only)

[zillanovikov]

post the first sentence you write in your wip today (and every day)

She would greatly have preferred to be out-of-doors, ideally assisting the crew or at least reveling in the storm which tossed the sloop in its clutches, but she had been prevailed upon by Captian Yip, and additionally his First Mate, to remain inside, where there was less chance of her being tossed overboard and therefore requiring their exertions in the form of an attempted rescue.

[writers-potion]

Distilling Your Watery Manuscript

Watery words you should consider deleting include: very, totally, completely, absolutely, somewhat, somehow, in a way, rather, then, just, afterwards, therefore, actually, basically, etc.

More often than not, they act like filler words in everyday speech - adding no meaning and dragging down the pace (and excitement) of the text.

The earthquake really destroyed our town completely. -> The earthquake destroyed our town. The messenger brought absolutely devastating news. -> The messenger brought devastating news. She thought that all the results were really very disappointing. -> The results disappointed her. I felt somewhat worried. -> I worried.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* . ───

💎If you like my blog, buy me a coffee☕ and find me on instagram! 

💎Before you ask, check out my masterpost part 1 and part 2 

💎For early access to my content,  become a Writing Wizard 

[the-ellia-west]

WRITER MOOTS

FROM NOW ON IF YOU TAG ME IN YOUR WRITING, I WILL READ THROUGH IT AND COMMENT MY THOUGHTS

And People Who don't know me, pls tag me and I will comment

[viktheviking1]

Writers always exist on the spectrum of thinking their stories are the best thing ever and everyone needs to see it and we can proudly show it off

To truly believing it is the worst thing ever written and to ask someone to read it is to ask them to pull their eyeballs out.

If you work hard, you can get to a place where most of the time you think it's pretty decent. But from my experience, you never fully escape the occasional swings up and down.

[mayaswiterblog]

Night Song

Written on Wattpad on the 9th of August 2018.

good night, good night boya  may merry sky princess blow stars towards you let the clouds blur the moonlit sky nighty night sky let clandestine seagulls of mist sing the tune of lullaby constellations to read, prophesies to fix misread serenades, new song create good nighty night friends and people alike sleep sound and well manic sleepers, calm dreamers i wish equal rest to all  

[puppiesareperfect]

Bound an old sort story of mine. This was my first time using the website bookbinder js which is a LIFESAVER. Much easier than manually splitting my pdf into signatures. The cover design took me a couple tries. I knew I wanted the camera, I knew I wanted there to be some silver on the cover. In the end I layered some silver paper on the cover & used paint and ink to draw the design. All lettering was done with stencils. The end-pages are my favorite part of this…for they actually fit properly! I wish the centerpiece of the cover was a bit smoother but I’m guessing I can remedy that by using thicker paper or layering more next time. Overall pretty happy with this ✨