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[trying-to-write-stories]

So I was talking with a writer friend of mind, and we came to the realization that a lot of times we stop writing because we hit a problem spot, and we plan to return to writing again when we figure out the problem. 

But while taking breaks is good and healthy, most of the time the only way to solve that problem is to keep writing. You won’t solve a problem you’re not working on. 

Write through the problem, write around the problem, rewrite the problem, but never stop writing to solve the problem. 

[trying-to-write-stories]

writers never have i ever

Rules: Tag the person who tagged you, then bold the things in this list you have done, then tag five to ten other writers!

thanks for tagging me @heyabella

First Person | Second Person | Third Person | Omniscient POV | Past Tense | Present Tense | Future Tense

A complete story | A story longer than 1K | A story longer than 5K | A story longer than 10K | A story longer than 50K| A story longer than 100K | A story longer than 150K | A story shorter than 1K | A story shorter than 500 words

Fanfiction | Original Fiction | Fantasy | Science Fiction | Historical Fiction | Dystopian | A story in the Romance Genre | A Story With No Speculative Elements At All | Non-fiction | A children’s book

A story about vampires | A story about werewolves | A story about robots | A story with a non-human protagonist | A story with a main character based on yourself | A story with a character based on somebody you know

Male POV | Female POV | Nonbinary or Intersex POV | A POV character the opposite sex from yourself | Animal’s POV | Multiple Viewpoints | POV character under age 15 | POV character over age 30

A story told in non-chronological order | Story with a happy ending | Story with a sad ending

Death of a minor character | Death of a major character | Death (offscreen) | Death (onscreen) | Antagonist death | Protagonist death

Kissing scene | Sex scene (offscreen) | Sex scene (onscreen) | Swears (Mild) | Swears (Heavy) | Violence (PG or under) | Violence (PG-13 or over) | Fight scene | Torture scene

A flashback | A dream sequence | A poem | A prophecy | A scene that made you cry actual tears | A scene that made you laugh at your own joke

A prologue | An epilogue | A story with more than 30 chapters | A chapter with fewer than 100 words

Story that takes place in the future | Story that takes place in the past | Story that takes place in a world that is not Earth

An anti-hero | An anti-villain | Villain gets redemption arc

A parody | Description of male character’s scent | Description of female character’s boobs | Character with eyes of a non-natural color

I don’t know who to tag, so if you are reading this, feel free to do it:)

[trying-to-write-stories]

Some of my favorite writing quirks/hacks:

Starting a new scene with "Character was doing things, probably something like this, maybe because of reasons" and basically just shitposting until it turns into prose

Placeholder names like "Lord Baddybutt"

Jotting down my dialogue with notes in between like [Beat, physical action] or [beat, emotion to convey is X]

Skipping right over scene transitions with a helpful note like [Time passes, smooth later]

[trying-to-write-stories]

20 Question Tag

tagged by @wordsofpaintandsmoke and @erinbeatty thank you:)

Rules: answer 20 questions, then tag 20 blogs you’d like to know better!

Name: Sara

Nickname: I don’t have one

Zodiac sign: Taurus

Height: 174 cm, I think it’s 5‘7

Languages: English, German, a little bit sign language

Nationality: German

Favorite season: Spring

Favorite flower: sunflower

Favorite scent: freshly mowned lawn

Favorite color: Blue

Favorite animal: cats :)

Favorite fictional characters: There are way too many to choose from...

Coffee, tea, or chocolate: tea

Average sleep hours: around seven

Dog or cat person: cat person!

Number of blankets you sleep with: one

Dream trip: Scotland(my best friend and I are going to go on a camping trip there this summer)

Blog established: 2020

Followers: 42

Random fact: I am playing DnD this weekend

I tag: @touchingmadness @daftydrafty @hyba @neliakey

Feel free to ignore this. If anyone else wants to do this, feel free to do so and tag me, please :)

[trying-to-write-stories]

The Clock Watchers ⇒ Jarrob Montelli

Full Name ⇒ Jarrob Montelli

Known As ⇒ Jarrob

Age ⇒ twenty-two

Gender ⇒ cis-male (he/him)

Sexuality ⇒ aroace

Role ⇒ in-house scientist

Traits ⇒ earnest, intelligent and witty, boastful but self-deprecating

Bio ⇒ Born of two Watchers from different home dimensions, Jarrob grew up with dimensional awareness. His parents were content to raise him together for a time, but after a clash of values, they began to fight for custody. Jarrob was removed to our dimension and placed under the care of the then-leader at age fourteen. The custody battle was never resolved due to an unanticipated cogslip rendering the dimension his parents were inhabiting unreachable. Jarrob was quickly placed under schooling and given a junior position as a Watcher. Generally, he’s content with his life, but he often regrets never having the chance to reconcile with his parents and to grow up as a normal teenager; these issues are exacerbated by the recent loss of his caretaker.

Taglist below the cut. Ask to be added or removed.

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[trying-to-write-stories]

some sites for when you’re bored and looking for new music

spotalike creates a playlist based on a song

magicplaylist  creates a playlist based on a song

dubolt  creates a playlist based on an artist

boilthefrog creates a playlist between any two artists 

predominant suggests you albums based on cover art color   

music-map  suggests similar artists

gnoosic  suggests similar artists and songs

[trying-to-write-stories]

Last Line Tag

I was tagged by @rhiannonleewriting, thank you :)

Viktor laughed loudly. “Believe me, most physicists hate at least some part of physics, too”, he explained. “When I think back at university... I hated mechanics of deformable bodies, I only studied physics for radioastronomy.”

Tagging: @trashplanetsandmagicforests, @daftydrafty, @hyba

[trying-to-write-stories]

First Line Tag

I was tagged by @trashplanetsandmagicforests and @dustypalms, thank you:)

Rules: Share the first line of your work and tag as many writeblrs as there are words in the line!

Matthias knocked on the wooden door.

I don’t really have a first line yet, I basically started in the middle of the Story because I’m really bad with first lines...

Tagging: @daftydrafty, @hyba, @rhiannonleewriting, @wordsofpaintandsmoke

I’m really bad at Tagging and I don’t know who else to tag, so if you are reading this, feel free to do it and tag me:)

[trying-to-write-stories]

How to: write pain

Don’t make paragraphs about it - battles are supposed to be fast-paced

Describe:

- the object used to harm the character

-where the injury is

-how long the character had had the injury

-how deep the cut is (for blades)

-whether or not the wound triggers other things (dizziness, bleeding)

There are different kinds of pain

punch/blunt force trauma:

-how it feels: aching, a single spike of pain before it fades into an ache, throbbing, numbness

-effects: swelling, bruising, broken bones, unconsciousness, dizziness, concussion, internal bleeding.

stab wound/cut

-how it feels: stinging (shallow wounds), burning

-effects: bleeding (the blood from arteries is a brighter red, like vermilion, the blood from veins is dark crimson), dizziness from the blood loss, unconsciousness, infection (if left unattended), death

gunshot

-how it feels: depends on the caliber bullet, from how far away they were shot and in what place

-effects: same as stab wounds

Things that an injured character may have/do

-heavy, harsh, ragged breathing

-panting, gasping, crying, grunting, hissing, groaning, whimpering, screaming, shrieking, clenching their teeth

-ears ringing, unable to speak

-pressing their hands on the injury to try and stop the bleeding, trembling, eyes rolling up into their head

-vision blurring, room spinning

Where to hit in a fight

temple and jaw - good for a knockout punch, but are near the skull so it will be dangerous if you miss (it can broke/dislocate your fingers)

nose/eyes - messes up the senses and distracts the opponent

neck: can mess up breathing, talking and the spinal cord

inner elbow: can disable the opponent’s arm

solar plexus: hard to hit but very effective

liver: causes immediate pain, dizziness and loss of breath

kidneys

groin

outer/inner thighs

knees

—————–

But not getting into a fight stops the injury for both the opponents :)

(thank you very much for all the support!!! i appreciate every single reblog/like/comment 💕 I’m happy I could help you)

[trying-to-write-stories]

Voyage to Outer Space

Genre: Science Fiction

Setting: The story starts on Earth, but will mainly take place on a spaceship.

POV: Third Person limited, switching between the main characters

Major Themes: Found Family | Trust | Survival | Loss

Status: Planning / Writing

Summary:

Climate Change reached its peak and the only way to make sure humanity survives is to find a new habitable planet. A group of scientists try to find a new planet to live on but while they are on their way things on earth escalate.

When they find the planet there are new problems: This planet is already inhabited. They need to find a way to communicate with the aliens and try to convince them to let them bring humanity here. 

Characters:

Matthias Sattler, a German biologist. He is calm but determined and can be quite overprotective.

Natalja Bolschow, a Russian astrophysicist. She is the leader of the group and adventurous and heroic. She is a lesbian and uses too many science puns.

Daniel Johnson, an American engineer. He is sarcastic and energetic, but is also skeptic most of the time.

Jamila Rahal, an Iranian geologist. She is friendly and thoughtful, but she is also a perfectionist.

Viktor Karlsson, a Swedish astrophysicist. He is adventurous and charismatic, but can be impatient sometimes. He also loves to curse in Swedish.

Cecile Dumont, a French doctor. She is the youngest of the group and can be naïve. She is very soft-hearted.

I’m planning on creating one more character, but I just can’t seem to make them right, so I’m still working on them.

 I’m probably going to change the title, I’m just really bad at naming things...

I will post more about the characters. I am also planning to make a tag list, so if you want to be on it, just comment it or send me a message and I will include you :)

[trying-to-write-stories]

A Guide to Writing: Making New Cultures

Cultures, like anything, take time to build. They are what define a people and what make their customs. It’s complicated and integrated into their society. It changes as the people change but the fundamentals often remain unchanged even centuries and millennia into the future.

When creating new worlds, if it’s not set in the world that we know, then the people, while being similar, will be different. What they hold as value will be different. That’s where new cultures come in. countries will be define by something and way out of the way towns will have things that are connected to them. Making new cultures can be a messy process, and I am by no way an expert, but there are at least five things that define a culture and should be present and known.

Customs

Customs are a traditional ways of doing something specify to a set of people or place. If you can’t think of any, think of some traditions that are from where you’re from. For example, in America and many other countries, it’s traditional to put up a tree for the winter holidays. 

If the story you’re writing centers around a new culture, then the customs of its people is something that should come into play, even it’s something small. Maybe it’s someone coming of age. Maybe it’s someone passing away. Whatever the case, customs are a personal thing that people share. Be sure to not overlook them.

Arts

Art is a way people share their thoughts that are hard to convey. A way to pass on knowledge and to capture the emotions. Perhaps they capture their history in tapestries and artisans make paintings for a living.

Not only that, body art is an important part of many cultures. Maybe tattoos mean something at a certain age or it’s something like a brand. Perhaps they’re just decorative and meant to look flashy.

Social Institution

A social institution is a group of people who are together for a common purpose such as economy and government. These institutions are a part of the social order of society and they govern behavior and expectations of individuals.

For example, a charities and other nonprofit organizations fall under this category. In this culture you’re writing about, how do they feel about such organizations? Are the promoted? Frowned upon? Not only that, but this includes the education system, cultural groups, how families are defined, health care, market values, politics, and religions.

Each of these things may not hold equal value, or perhaps they all have the same weight. Are the church (in this instance used only to refer to religion) and state separate or together? Is the market, trading goods and services, more important than anything else? What’s the health of the people like and what methods do they use for healing?

Achievements

Achievements, in this case, are defined as things the people have done to better and further themselves. What are some of the things these people have done since they became a people? Was something medical? Was it something that benefited not only them, but the people around the as well?

However, the achievements don’t always have to grand. It could be something small like finding an easier way to make paint or a way to make their weapons. Achievements are things that are well earned and come from something small like inconvenience or big like a fight.

And not all that glitters is gold. An achievement can benefit the majority, but what about everyone else? Is it useful to everyone? Does it need to be? More importantly, what was the reason? It doesn’t always need to be known in detail, but things happen for a reason. As the writer, you, are the very least, need to know.

Behavior Characteristic

We all know that there are somethings that are frowned upon in modern culture. Things like people with breasts going around topless or anyone walking pants-less through the streets. There are certain things people just don’t do because of the consequences and the culture.

What are some of the things that are okay for people to do? What are things that are harmless yet frowned upon? There are things that are widely accepted and if these normal things are challenged then it should be explain if it’s not something carried over from a real culture.

If there are things that are carried over from real cultures, then that’s a tricky ground to walk on if you don’t know anything. Research and asking are an important part of this process if you want to do this. Carrying over form real cultures is fine as long as it’s not a bastardization of it.

Of course, like I said in the beginning of this, I’m not an expert. I don’t really know everything there is to know but this is what I’ve realized when making new cultures myself.

See ya, kiddos

[trying-to-write-stories]

I really love this, your writing style is so great:)

EXCERPT : THE STAR-PICKERS

Featuring Mila and the story of the star-pickers.

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[trying-to-write-stories]

“How’s your WIP going?”

“Have you made any progress?”

“How close are you to being done?”

[trying-to-write-stories]

5 frustrating workshop rules that made me a better writer

Throughout the 15 workshops I joined in college and grad school, I encountered two types of writing rules.

First, there were the best-practice guidelines we’ve all heard, like “show don’t tell.” And then there were workshop rules, which the professor put in place not because they’re universal, but because they help you grow within the context of the workshop.

My college’s intro writing course had 5 such rules:

No fantasy, supernatural, or sci-fi elements.

No guns.

No characters crying.

No conflict resolution through deus ex machina.

No deaths.

When I first saw the rules, I was baffled. They felt weirdly specific, and a bit unfair. But when our professor, Vinny, explained their purpose (and assured us he only wanted us to follow the rules during this intro workshop, not the others to come), I realized what I could learn from them.

1. No fantasy, supernatural, or sci-fi elements.

Writers need to be able to craft round characters, with clear arcs. While you can hone those skills writing any type of story, it can be more difficult when juggling fantastical elements, because it’s easy to get caught up in the world, or the magic, or the technology, and to make that the focus instead of the characters. So Vinny encouraged us to exclude such elements for the time being, to keep us fully focused on developing strong, dynamic characters.

2. No guns.

Weapons have a place in many stories, but when writers include a gun, they often use it to escalate the plot outside of the realm of personal experience and into what Vinny called “Hollywood experience.” He wanted us to learn how to draw from our own observations and perceptions of life, rather than the unrealistic action, violence, and drama we’d seen in movies, so he made this rule to keep us better grounded in our own experiences.

3. No characters crying.

When trying to depict sadness, writers often default to making characters cry. While there’s nothing inherently wrong with that, tears are just one way to show grief, and they aren’t always the most subtle or emotionally compelling. That’s why Vinny challenged us to find other ways to convey sadness — through little gestures, strained words, fragile interactions, and more. It was difficult, but opened us up to depicting whole new gradients of grief and pain.

4. No conflict resolution through deus ex machina.

This is the only one of the rules I’d say is generally universal. Meaning “God from the machine,” deus ex machina is a plot device where a character’s seemingly insurmountable problem is abruptly resolved by an outside force, rather than their own efforts. These endings are bad for various reasons, but Vinny discouraged them because he wanted us to understand how important it was for our characters to confront their struggle and its consequences.

5. No deaths.

Death is inherently dramatic and can be used to good effect, but many writers use death as a crutch to create drama and impact. Writers should be able to craft engaging, meaningful stories, even without killing off their characters, so this rule challenged us to find other methods of giving weight to our stories (such as through internal conflict).

How these rules helped me grow as a writer

First things first, I’ll say it again: apart from #4 (deus ex machina), these rules were never meant to be universally applied. Instead, their purpose was to create temporary barriers and challenges to help us develop key skills and write in new, unfamiliar ways.

For me, the experience was invaluable. I liked the way the rules challenged and stretched my abilities, driving me to write stories I’d have never otherwise attempted. They made me more flexible as a writer, and while I don’t follow the rules anymore (I LOVE me some fantasy), I’ll always be thankful for how they shaped my writing.

My recommendation to you?

Give some of these rules a shot! Follow them temporarily while writing 2-4 short stories — but remember to always keep their purpose in mind, because the rules themselves will only help if you understand what they’re trying to achieve.

Write with purpose, and you’ll always be growing.

— — —

For more tips on how to craft meaning, build character-driven plots, and grow as a writer, follow my blog.

[trying-to-write-stories]

[trying-to-write-stories]

Welcome! I am definitely excited to read more about your WIPs :)

Writeblr Introduction

Hey! My name is Di, and I’m a young writer from England. I’m bi and my pronouns are she/her. I enjoy reading, watching movies and tv series, and wasting time on the internet. I’ve been writing for a couple years, but took a break from writing a while back. Consider this my attempt to stop procrastinating and get back into writing.

haha like I’ll actually stop procrastinating 

I mostly write fantasy in a modern setting, or sci-fi, and all of my current writing has LGBTQ+ characters. I’d love to write fanfic, but I find it way harder than original fiction. Don’t know why. I’ll read pretty much anything, and am always open to book / story recommendations.

I currently have 4 WIPs, all of which are still in the first draft. My main WIP is called Don’t Fall In Love With Supervillains, and it is about a superhero protecting her city from a supervillain while keeping her superhero identity under wraps and trying to reconnect with an old friend who kinda hurt her a while ago. I probably won’t be posting my WIPs on here for a while yet, but you can probably expect some stuff about my OC’s / worldbuilding / plot (or lack of). I might post some of my short stories as well.

So yeah! I’m looking forward to getting more involved with the writeblr community. Feel free to DM me, I’m a lil’ awkward sometimes but would like to talk. See ya! :)

[trying-to-write-stories]

Small physical things that give your characters personality

How they smile

What their “tell” is for lying

Posture

Volume of speech, if they’re verbal

Nervous tics

How much eye contact do they make

In a group conversation, how close do they stand to others? Are they off to the side just listening and occasionally speaking or are they right next to people?

When standing, what do they do with their hands? Talk with their hands, cross their arms, put hands in pockets, prop up against the wall, etc

The sound of their footsteps

Nonverbal greetings: do they wave, nod, hug, glare, punch, high five, something else?

How do they get others’ attention? Raise hand, clear throat, etc