#writinggoals

[pennavnprojects]

Verbs, Verbs, Verbs

Recently, during feedback in my writing group, I got a compliment on my choice of verbs. I thanked the person who gave me the compliment, explaining that I spend a lot of time deciding which verbs I use. Later, it got me thinking about my own writing style. I realized I started selecting specific verbs to overcome my bad habit of using adverbs. Seriously. He walked leisurely -> He ambled She quickly jumped -> She leaped He looked attentively -> He stared She sat listlessly -> She slumped

Taking a few extra seconds to find the right verb has been a game-changer for my writing. If you're like me, and tend to overuse adverbs, definitely try this!

[love-is-5ever]

WE HIT 30K!!!! AHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA

[amazonbooksauthor]

Too stubborn to stop!" "A little rebel’s big lesson." "Will they ever listen?" "Stubbornness meets adventure!" "One child, endless mischief!" "Lessons learned the hard way!" "Determined, daring, unstoppable!" "A fun fight of wills!"

[winter-unseelie]

I've bought a new notebook, I'm going to make it this semester's mission to write a novel, or at least a first draft. It will be about a girl named Maxine.

She holds a deep place in my heart, as I used to be very much like her. Her story deserves to be written.

I've started the outlining of story beats today.

Gods hope I stick to this

[nauticalnotions]

7 Tips to Writing Captivating Romance

How to Write Captivating Romance

Romance stories are, without a doubt, among the top and most addictive reads over platforms like Wattpad and Inkitt. They gain large audiences, usually drawing the most attention. So here are some tips to help you in creating just that kind of truly unforgettable love story that will capture your readers' hearts and keep them haunted if you really want to write something like that.

Creating Realistic Characters

Unique Personalities: Give them different personalities. Make them interesting by adding strengths, weaknesses, and unique backgrounds to make them all the more interesting. Their differences and how they fit together can be interesting.

Character Growth: Allow the due growing together and as individuals to happen. Show how they enable each other to become better human beings.

Build Real Chemistry

Take It Easy: Don't go pushing the romance. Let it grow slowly through shared experiences, meaningful conversations, and growing trust.

Fun and Tension: Add banter, misunderstandings, and tension to the relationship at times. It keeps things dynamic and interesting.

Add Meaningful Conflict

Challenges: Introduce problems that test the characters and their relationship. These may be personal problems, such as insecurities or past traumas, or external problems like different goals or societal pressures.

Working Through Issues: Depict the characters finding a way through these problems, making concessions to each other, and becoming stronger because of it. Obstacles make a romance more gratifying if overcome.

Focus on Emotions

Real Emotions: Write scenes that reveal character genuineness. Show what they are afraid of, or their hopes and vulnerabilities. Allow readers to feel their joy, sadness, and everything in between.

Quiet Moments: Incorporate quiet, personal moments where characters express thoughts and feelings. Such moments, just like big declarations of love, can be desirable.

Avoid Clichés

New Ideas: It is worth trying to avoid some of the very common romance clichés. One needs to think of ideas or plot twists that come as a surprise to readers.

Healthy Relationships: Be sure relationship is healthy and respectful. Steer clear of the romanticism of problem behaviors. Depict characters who communicate openly and show respect for each other's boundaries.

Draw from Real Life

Observation: Observe the world around you. Watch how people interact, what brings them together, and how they deal with problems. Realistic romance will be much more relatable for readers.

Keep the Story Moving

Balanced Pacing: The pacing of the romance has to be set against other elements of your story. A plot must move, and one has to make sure the romance fits organically into the narrative.

Bonus Tip: Add Little Details

Tiny details really do make all the difference. Maybe your character always brews the other person coffee in the morning, or maybe there is a special place they like to go together. It's these small touches that will make the romance feel real and make readers relate.

[sunnyanddumb98]

In the writing course I'm taking, I must take a month-long break between the first draft and the second. During that month, I'm supposed to read as much as I can and take notes, erasing my own book from my mind. The goal is to read so much that I forget my voice, allowing me to have fresh eyes for editing. This week, I'll be reading Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín, an Irish author, and Strange Pilgrims by Gabriel García Márquez.

I'm not a fast reader, and as I've mentioned before, I have never read a book faster than it was written. Reading multiple books at a time helps, but I truly think I won't have enough distraction to reset myself enough. I can't read fast and probably only finish one new book this month. It is what it is. Thankfully and tragically, this is not a graded course, so I'm not going to fail any tests but my own—editing my book with fresh eyes.

[postscriptsillage]

Dear Tempestine

Dear Tempestine, 

You might not remember me well, but I can recount the outline of your body extemporaneously. You always stood out, altogether golden. 

I was and remain just another cog in the crowd machine. Nothing about me exudes remarkability. The world, I have concluded, is a dichotomy of the observers and the observed. In this life, I am working the spotlight and shining it on those who are golden, like you. 

I do not dispute that respect is something that must be earned. But for you, Tempestine, it appears to fall on the lap like an easy offering. You have a head start. You have an unforgettable face and speak words with such cadence that even lyrebirds reluctantly accept their incompetence before you. 

In the daylight, the light guides my life and brightens up conservations. Towards nightfall, there is nothing to anchor me, and I find myself grovelling for someone to put the spotlight on me and behold me just once. 

The Moon Goddess never obliges and I shudder to think I am accursed to sit in oblivion. No light, no gold, just abject darkness. 

With begrudging admiration, 

[queen-bunny-books]

📚 COMPLETE/FINISH LIST 📚 ✨ Books I'm currently working on ✨

I won’t be starting any new books until these 12 are finished. That said, I’ll still be updating them with new chapters as I go! 💻🖊️

🖤 Current Projects:

Crystal and Shadow

The Human in Hazbin Hotel

The Human in Helluva Boss

The Resident Evil Story

The Sinful Game

The Dangerous Game

The Lost Boys Book

Hades’ Daughter

The Broken Ones

Resident Evil 4 – The Village

The Love Story

Rosaline and Emmett – Fated Love

⚠️ Please Note: Books based on ongoing shows—like Hazbin Hotel and Helluva Boss (Books 2 & 3)—will stay on this list for a while, since I want to finish them after the shows are fully released. Still, I’ll keep adding chapters in the meantime! 🦇🔥

✅ Books based on finished series/movies—like 1, 4-12—will be completed sooner because I already have the full material to work with. 🖤🎬

✨ Thanks for reading and supporting! You guys mean the world to me 💕📖

[alinmarin]

🚀 Hi, I'm Alin, and hello, I'm Patrick! 👋

Welcome to our Writing and Publishing Your Bestselling Book course on Udemy! 📚✍️

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💼. Whether you're a new or experienced author, this course is perfect for YOU!

🔥 Don't wait—turn your book dreams into reality!

👉 Click to enroll now: https://www.udemy.com/course/writing-and-publishing-your-bestselling-book/?couponCode=INTRO-OFFER-2025ink

[blackgirlhappyplanner]

Writer's Bullet Journal #2 | 10 Block System

Love this!

[pennavnprojects]

Shout out to Matt Briney on Unsplash! Thanks for taking and posting this picture. It's great inspiration for my character Joan Watson from my fanfiction-in-progress! For those of you who don't know, Unsplash is a free resource where you can find stock photos! I use it a lot - especially when looking for collage material or writing. It's a great place to get some atmospheric inspiration.

Check out this image, and others on Unsplash, here: Photo by Matt Briney on Unsplash

[ymonesou]

Creating characters using archetypes such as numerology, colors, elements, and zodiac signs can facilitate the variety of personalities in your stories. Numbers reflect symbolic characteristics, such as 1 (leader) or 9 (wise). Colors convey emotions: red can suggest passion or danger, while blue denotes calm or sadness. Elements (water, fire, earth, air) can define the character's nature: water is fluid and adaptable, fire is impulsive and energetic. Finally, zodiac signs help outline their personality, such as Aries (brave) or Pisces (dreamer).

[nayas-diary]

🌸˚⊹♡ 2025 Goals ♡⊹˚🌸

🌟 Pilates & Fitness: 🏋️‍♀️✨ Work out 5x a week to feel strong, confident, and fabulous! 💪💕

🍓 Healthy Foods: 🥗✨ Choose wholesome meals that make my body and soul happy! 🌈🍎

🧴 Skincare Routine: 💦✨ Morning ☀️ & Night 🌙 rituals to glow like a star! ✨🌟

📚 Reading: 🌸📖 Read at least 20+ minutes a day and dive into magical worlds! 🌈✨

🎨 Drawing: 🎀🖌️ Daily sketches and visual novel work to unleash my creativity! 🌸💖

🖋️ Writing: ✍️✨ Dedicate 1 hour a day to my craft and finish my first illustrated novel! 🖤📖

[prashasconsulting]

🚀 Pro Tips for Structuring Your Dissertation 📚 | Keep Your Writing Focused & On Track with Prasha’s Research Consulting!

Starting your dissertation? 📝 Check out these pro tips to organize your chapters, streamline your ideas, and stay focused throughout your writing process! With expert guidance from Prasha’s Research Consulting, you'll get the structure and support you need to succeed. 🙌

[nauticalnotions]

The Art of Character Development: How to Breathe Life into Your Fiction

Welcome, Fellow Writers!

Are you ready to breathe life into your characters and have them leap from the page into the hearts of your readers? Good! Developing characters is one of the greatest enjoyments for writing fiction. So let's get started on this great journey of discovery!

1. Get to Know Your Characters

Before you write convincing characters, you need to really know them. Think of your characters as human beings with past histories, dreams, and flaws. Here are some ways to get to know them better:

Backstory:

What in their past has made them who they are?

Did they have a happy childhood?

Were there any traumatizing events?

This will often determine motivations and actions.

For example, if your character has been brought up in an orphanage, they may have trust issues or perhaps independence.

Personality Traits:

Are they introverted or extroverted, pessimistic or optimistic?

Knowing their core personality will help project what their actions and reactions would be like in a given set of circumstances.

Perhaps your protagonist, Emma, is an extroverted optimist who lights up a room with brightness, even in dire situations.

Strengths and Weaknesses:

Nobody is perfect, and your characters shouldn't be either.

Make the characters more human by giving them something both admirable and a flaw that rounds them out.

Emma can be wonderfully brave but very impulsive, leading her sometimes to heroism and other times to disastrous folly.

2. Establish Clear Goals and Motivation:

Characters need goals for the plot to have direction and motivations to explain why they pursue those goals. Ask yourself:

What do they want?

Their wants vary from saving the world to searching for love to achieving personal redemption.

Emily, a draftsman, aches to be a famous explorer, a dream her long-dead father never attained.

Why do they want it?

This can be found in their backstory and personality.

Perhaps Emma's father was an explorer who went missing on a wild search, and now she feels a deep need to carry on his legacy and find out what happened to him.

3. Show People, Activities, and Scenery

Dynamic characters tend to rebuild and alter throughout the story. This is often based on life's complications and conflicts. Here's how to effectively outline your character growth:

Conflict:

Put your characters in situations that push them as far as possible.

These challenges force them to make uncomfortable choices and face their flaws.

For example, Emma has to decide whether to save a friend, testing her bravery and impulsiveness.

Reactions:

Show how your characters react to these challenges.

Do they rise to the occasion, or do they struggle and fail? Both outcomes can lead to growth.

Emma might fail to save her friend due to her impulsive nature, marking a turning point for her.

Introspection:

Allow these moments of introspection to your characters.

They allow readers to understand the change in them.

Emma could sit near a bonfire and reflect on her father's legacy and how to become a better leader.

4. Cultivate Relationships

People's relationships with others often define their personality. It might be a friendship bond, family attachment, or enmity; all reveal different dimensions of personality and contribute to character development. Consider:

Allies and Friends:

Allies and friends usually have your best interest at heart, but sometimes they could work in opposition to you.

How would they impact your protagonist's decisions and developments over time?

Emma's best friend, Leo, might argue with a lot of her decisions, making her more thoughtful.

Opponents and Antagonists:

An antagonist challenges the characters, putting them in situations where growth comes from unexpected places.

A realistic rival for Emma could be a highly skilled but ruthless explorer who pushes Emma to reconsider her methods.

Love Interests:

Romantic relationships show vulnerability and may drive change.

Falling in love with a local guide might teach Emma the importance of patience and planning.

5. Use Dialogue Effectively

Dialogue is a great way to develop a character. It reveals personality, conveys emotions, and shows growth. Consider:

Voice:

Each character should have a distinct voice corresponding to their background, personality, and state of mind.

Emma might use exuberant, adventurous language while Leo might be cautious and thoughtful.

Subtext:

Sometimes the unspoken part holds more meaning than what is said.

Use subtext to add depth to your dialogue.

For instance, when Emma says, "I don't need help," it could mean she's afraid of showing weakness.

Conflict and Resolution:

Show characters responding to conflict through dialogue and illustrate how interactions escalate.

Emma and Leo can argue about the best way forward, expressing their viewpoints and eventually finding a resolution.

6. Show, Don't Tell

Instead of telling readers about a character's trait, show it through actions, dialogue, and inner thoughts. For instance:

Telling: John was brave.

Showing: John entered the dark alley; his heart was pounding, but his will remained unflinching.

7. Ensure Consistency and Believability

Make sure your characters act within the line of their personalities and motivations. If they do something that feels unnatural, believe there are reasons for the change. This makes the development of the characters organic and reliable. If Emma becomes reserved, note the experiences that lead to the change.

8. Reflect Real Human Experience

Great characters reflect the complexity of real human experience. They have doubts, make mistakes, and aren't always likable. This complexity makes them richer and more engaging. Perhaps Emma makes a selfish decision that puts her team at risk, creating tension and growth.

9. Foils and Contrasts

Foils are characters set against your main character, highlighting their traits and growth. By setting a character with opposite traits next to the protagonist, you highlight their development. Zara's ruthlessness can highlight Emma's growing sense of responsibility and ethics.

10. Be Flexible

Sometimes your characters develop in unexpected ways. Allow this evolution and let your characters tell you who they are. This elasticity can lead to more authentic and surprising growth. If Emma's journey shifts from being an explorer to a leader, embrace it!

[mineofilms]

Nihil sub sole novum

From the End of the Beginning of this year, last year, most years, every year. Ah, a three-year odyssey, where time is less of a straight line and more of a spiral. If anything, these past few years have been a masterclass in the ironically absurd. Between the incompetence of systems that promise salvation (insurance, healthcare, politics, religion) and the existential dreariness of a body that stubbornly clings to life despite all odds, the journey feels less like progress and more like a forced march toward an inevitable, unremarkable end. One cannot help but wonder—has anything truly changed, or are we simply treading water in the flood of our own making? Our current way of life, metaphorical and literal, serves as a backdrop to this existential performative dance. The wreckage left in its wake mirrors not just the physical destruction but the internal chaos of living in an age where security is fleeting, satisfaction a myth, and self-importance via social media dominates. The grand dream of perfection—whether in homes, bodies, relationships, or ideologies—is swiftly eroding, leaving behind the stench of human vulnerability. Yet, in the face of this, there's a curious resignation. We become more connected than ever before while we are more disconnected than ever before. Defies logic, but here we are. The repairs are slow, the bills pile up, but at least there's a sense of grim humor in the absurdity of it all. One adapts, kicks rocks barefoot, to the constant erosion, which, in its own right, becomes a form of rebellion against the very systems that demand our submission.

The steady march of time continues, dragging more medical frustrations, loss, and the weary realization that life is as much about enduring as it is about achieving anything meaningful. Health problems, relationships, and even political ideologies become so much noise against the backdrop of the real question: What’s the Point? So, as the years accumulate, what is left to do but press forward, not in hope or optimism, but because time, relentless in its ticking, doesn’t really offer an alternative. The absurdity, after all, is the only thing that’s truly constant. Is your life a carefully constructed narrative, or are you simply improvising a tragic farce with occasional comedic beats? A theater of existence through a lens. From hurricanes that rip apart our homes and finances to the inevitable decay of the human body. I am always pondering the inherent futility of attempting to control the uncontrollable. Existential dilemmas emerge from mundane struggles: rebuilding without the tools or even a blueprint for the tools becomes a symbol of a compromised life in a dream where inflation ensures the rich get richer and the rest get a crash course in survival. Oh, that isn’t a dream. That’s been a reality for most of us. There’s a sharp turn into the familiar friend of entropy. Here lies the ironic absurdity of caregiving: futile efforts to prolong a life that ultimately evaporates into oblivion. Yet, I welcome musings of AI, conceptual horror, and the darkly comedic nature of politics, whether life has meaning, but whether meaning itself is the cruelest joke of all. They say “live and learn,” but if one hasn’t learned, did they ever live? Whenever I heard a “saying,” and it starts with “they say.” Who the hell are “they?” It makes me want to hunt down, “they,” slap them in the head.

Welcome in social media, the internet’s great experiment in collective brain rot. What begins as communication to gain different perspectives turns into tribalism in online spaces evolving into unhealthy internet subcultures, where trolls and influencers battle for supremacy in a digital coliseum of irrelevance. Internet idealism now reduced to a sandbox for the trivial and the vindictive. Does it even matter whether a troll, a cultist or elitist wins the argument if the platform itself is a dumpster fire of collective word vomit from narcissists? Granted elitists wouldn’t be on social media all that much. They are too busy ‘eliting’ themselves to more monies. When you have loads of cash, does one even want or need social media? Woke or unwoke, left or right, preaching the Lord’s name or not; these labels serve merely as masks for the fear that underpins human existence: the terror of being forgotten in a universe that never cared in the first place. The message—a searing reminder that the more we “connect,” the more we expose the gaping void within ourselves while disconnecting from the people that are actually in our reality. We try to venture out. One can only wave their hands so much to get someone else’s attention. If they choose to ignore that and you know deep down you were forward with that concept of communication. It isn’t on you to care. You attempted, they played dumb. Why would you accept that from any situation or person? The floodwaters of nature are matched only by the flood of systemic incompetence, with insurance premiums rising as fast as the costs of rebuilding. The house, much like life itself, becomes a metaphor for the disillusionment we all feel: repairs are never as simple as they seem, and some losses—like the pool cage and later the entire pool lanai—are just too damn expensive to replace. Yet, here we are and instead of descending into despair, we just realize life goes on, even when the dream moves slowly towards a singularity. You can’t save everything, but you can at least salvage the absurdity of it all, laugh and curse the fake God in the sky.

These reflections are framed not by sorrow, but by existential absurdism: does it matter? Does the universe even care a blip within a blip within a blip within an ocean, within a glass, on a planet that was swallowed by a giant space whale even care? In a world where the system is rigged and the body betrays you, the only thing left to do is keep moving forward—until the final, inevitable reset. Whether sudden or prolonged, life and the death of that life is just the final joke in a single frame of reference full of bad punchlines.

With that said 2025 is going to be a little different, at least in how I attack my writings. I have been so busy with some other things that I haven’t been able as much to work on my own stuff. I am slowly but actively taking all my blogs and converting them to audio/video presentations. They are not podcasts. I am just taking the written blogs or essays using an AI voiceover to read it with some sort of video attached to it. I like the audio spectrum. It’s like a "visualizer" for audio that allows you to see a visual for the sound, making it a neat little creative tool. I will be producing a real music video for the band I work with. Going low tech with that as well. Going for a 90s grunge or metal vibe of the time. I have a lot of audiobooks to get through this year. Many that deal with black hole fiction and stories revolving around time dilation. I want to put out a few short-stories this year as well and work on something bigger. As of right now I do not have a real writing schedule like I usually work from, but my next essay will be on labels. What they are and why they are important. We have had labels longer than sugar. I will probably write a lot of reviews on these science fiction books. The more of these more existential fictions the more it will draw me into thinking about reality and how I want to formulate my own stories. I got some solid ideas that I feel like I want to talk about. I think short-stories with expansion in mind is the best way for my brain to operate when writing. I will also continue to doing tech-style essays on some of the odd computer stuff I tend to tackle. So yeah, 2025 is gearing up. I am glad I am able to think about this in a healthy place in my brain and not have too many delusions of grandeur.

As I look ahead to 2025, the creative landscape feels like a vast, uncharted universe—full of potential, ready for exploration. Whether it’s blending audio-visual projects, diving into the abstract depths of existential fiction, or tackling the nuanced power of labels, the journey is ongoing. But, like a supernova, I’m aware that growth and creation are processes of expansion and contraction, marked by moments of clarity amidst chaos. It’s a balance between the infinite and the finite—an ever-evolving dance of ideas and reality. Here’s to the art of becoming.

Nihil sub sole novum Latin for (Nothing new under the sun) by David-Angelo Mineo 12/31/2024 1,467 Words