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Me: *thinks of 50 scenes for my WIP*

Also Me: *cannot figure out to incorporate any of them into the story*

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Does anyone have any Angel spicy book recs? Similar to hush hush?

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How much do you guys write in a day/week?

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There are days I think ‘Perhaps I struggle with writing love stories is because I have never experienced love at all’ not the kind my heart craves at least

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"What do you do for a living?"

Oh I am a professional hopeless romantic and I read books and cry in my free time.

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I just finished the Ravenhood series by Kate Stewart and I honestly don’t know how to recover 😭 I haven’t been hit this hard by a book in so long

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do you ever find yourself bedeviled by writing ideas that are the equivalent of finding a single carrot in your fridge. your brain goes "we should write a pirate story" or "we should write a parisian thief caper" and you ask, "all right, what do we cook with that, then?" and it says "no other ingredients (:"

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7 Ways to Hook Your Readers

How do you start a story? Why, you start it with a hook! A hook is something that intrigues the reader and has them enthralled. Sometimes, the first sentence is the hardest one to form, so here, I'll give you some examples on how to hook your audience into your story!

>>> A question: This is a pretty well-known tactic: starting off with a question for your reader has them thinking how they'd answer; hence, pulling them further into your work. If you want, your character can answer the question too! However, the question must be relevant to your story.

>>> A idiom/quote/saying: Sayings are commonly used, though one can find them controversial at times. Regardless, the majority of people understand what the meaning behind them are; and because of that factor, along with its popular usage, proverbs quickly attract readers' attention while giving some insight to your character.

>>> One-word starter: This one is pretty simple, and if you really don't have any ideas, maybe give this one a shot! The hook is simply one word (or even a short phrase) that portrays a strong part of your character. Its out-of-context and vagueness trigger interest in your reader.

>>> Starting action: Like the one-word starter, this hook seems contextless, but it's a quick way to captivate your reader and have the suspense emerge! Example: "Blood covered the ground like a thin blanket, staining the once-clean quartz with a shade of scarlet. A pair of depthless eyes seemed to burn a hole into the last person in the room; a messy, pitiful, scrambling figure."

>>> Dialogue: By now, it should be obvious that your hook should be enthralling and evoke interest in your reader. Opening with compelling dialogue can help introduce the plot and characters of your story!

>>> Interesting Introduction: Is there something special about your character? Introductions can be difficult to sneak in, but not when it's a hook! Make a short description consisting of several defining traits of your character, and be sure to add the special thing about your character as a twist to snag your reader's attention! Additionally, you can be creative with this! An introduction doesn't have to come from your main character, it can come from another character describing the protagonist!

>>> Setting: Does the setting have a strong influence on the story? Even if it doesn't, beginning with a descriptive setting can slowly captivate your audience!

Alright! These are seven ways to hook your reader: a question, a saying, one-word, action, dialogue, an introduction, and a setting! Of course, there are many more ways, so explore around!

Happy writing~

3hks :)

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So you want to write about horses.

Part 2 now out!

Or you're writing and horses show up. Or its a pre-industrial fantasy and your characters have to get somewhere. Or you have a faint idea of your MC's love interest showing up on a white stallion.

Whatever the cause, you're writing, and a horse appears. But you know nothing about horses. I can help.

This is a horse. Horses come in many sizes.

^ Big Jake, a Belgian Draft horse, and a roughly 5 foot woman for scale.

1 hand = 4 inches = 10.16 cm

Once a horse is smaller than about 14.2hh, it is generally considered a pony. In the modern day, ponies are not considered suitable for adult riders due to weight and height issues. Some pony breeds, such as Welsh, Fjords, ect. are known for being sturdy, and can more easily carry adult sized humans. Miniature horses should never be ridden by adults.

^The only suitable 'riding' a miniature horse should do

The above graphic mentions that horses are measured from the top of the withers, not the top of the head. But, what are withers?

The withers are where the horse's shoulders meet the spine, and the neck becomes the back. Withers are incredibly important for saddle placement, as a badly placed saddle in this area can prevent a horse from moving its legs properly, cause a large amount of pain, and even damage a horse's spine. Speaking of spines, this is a horse skeleton, with the withers pointed out.

Horses have four legs. Horses cannot have any fewer than four legs. They are obligate quadrupeds. This is, in part, due to their weight, as well as the construction of their legs and hooves. This is to say, that while cats, dogs, and other animals can be amputees, a horse, short of some incredible magic solution, cannot. Even a broken leg bone will cause a huge amount of problems, as all of the weight that leg would usually hold must be shifted to the other feet, and this causes a condition called laminitis, where the tissue that holds together the hoof and the toe bone becomes inflamed, and begins to separate. Once this happens, the hoof tissue dies from lack of blood, and the bone begins to rotate. This is extremely painful for the horse, and so often the best solution for a horse with a broken leg is to be spared that pain. Famous American racehorse Barbaro experienced a complex broken bone, which began to heal fine, but complications from laminitis in two of his other legs caused him to be put down. This is why media will almost always show a horse with a broken or injured leg being 'taken care of'.

^Barbaro, in his prime. Even the best veterinary medicine couldn't save him.

Now, racehorses like Barbaro are moving at the fastest speed and the fastest gait of the horse, the gallop. The patterns that horses move their feet are referred to as gaits, with most horses having four, with some breeds having five or more.

The first gait and the slowest is the walk. In the walk, all four feet move independently, which leads it to be called a four-beat gait, as the footfalls make a sort of drumbeat on the ground.

The next gait is the trot, a two beat gait with diagonal pairs of legs moving together.

^Diagonal pairs marked in red and blue

The trot is a very bouncy experience for the rider, and can be uncomfortable. Some riders will rise and fall with a pair of diagonal legs, called a posting trot, some will stand in their stirrups, called a two-point or jump position, and some will sit the trot, which requires a lot of core strength (seriously, if you want a strong core, screw the gym)

The third gait is the canter, a three-beat gait with a single diagonal pair. This gait is ridden sitting, and feels a lot like going over waves on a jetski. There is a rise, a scoop, and a fall feeling. The canter is also called a lope in Western riding, they are the same gait.

^diagonal pair marked in red

A gallop is sometimes considered a variation on canter, as it is similar save for the legs actually moving in a four-beat pattern. As you can see with the image of Barbaro, all four of his feet are moving in different patterns, at different times, even though the gallop is really a four beat version of the canter. Riders in the gallop rise off the horse's back into a raised position, which allows the horse to use the full length of its spine and musculature to get as much reach and speed as possible. It feels like riding on top of a train barreling down the tracks, at least until your horse takes an unexpected turn and the ground is suddenly the only thing you're riding.

^ I've been there. The trick is to push away and hit the ground rolling, it hurts less that way. And don't land on your head.

That's all for this post. I'll have more when I feel like it, and send me questions if you want to know more about specific things or need a writing question answered

Reblogs welcome and encouraged

@jacqueswriteblrlibrary for wider reach

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WIP Idea Prompt

“Even Death gets lonely sometimes”

A death angel lonely, tired of only speaking with the dead, becomes interested in a young girl. She sees him lingering, shadowing over sick souls, crooking his finger to lure her in.

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No one told me how hard fantasy is to write 😭