Okay But Why Arent You Writing Road Trip Aus?

okay but why aren’t you writing road trip aus?

it’s literally the best thing ever?? you can have two characters traveling the country??  learning more about themselves?? learning more about their friends??

you can literally apply this to any couple.  otp?? no problem.  ot3??  hell fuckin’ yeah.  ot5?? you may need to rent a bus for that.

driving shitty rental cars and living off of gas station food and going way too fast down highways with the radio up

alternately: “hell no you cannot survive off of gas station candy I’m taking us to a real restaurant”

getting lost on the way to the restaurant and having to ask for directions at a remote little souvenir shop

going to tourist traps just to buy shitty souvenirs for each other and compete for the most tacky ones.

traveling to super crowded cities and taking a couple of days off just to enjoy the feeling of being lost.  driving down winding country roads and opening all the windows because it’s like being found.

which member of your otp wants to go to super sophisticated cities and which one wants to visit the world’s largest ball of yarn?

staying in shitty motels, okay?  the kind of creepy-not-quite-real aesthetic of neon lights and soft linen and staying awake all night listening to the other person breathe.

alternately: you literally get the chance to write the scenario where the characters trade off seats during the night and the driver keeps looking at their sleeping companion and getting distracted because of the way the moonlight bounces off of their face and ugh

taking turns deciding on the next destination and characters declaring things like “oh my god, I hate the countryside” but they wind up loving it

car karaoke.  someone probably owns the complete collection of disney cds.  they probably take it very seriously.

characters who keep making more and more detours because they want it to last forever even though it can’t.

“I couldn’t find any pictures that are-” is a very lousy excuse to whitewash PoC. There are plenty of PoC models, stock images, and editorials out there. You just have to find it. Here are some of the blogs that are dedicated to PoC editorials/models that I follow. Feel free to add and suggestion more.

desimalemodels 

modelsofcolor  

pinoysonthelimelight  

highfashionpakistan 

black-boys

filipinomodel

bollywoodeditorial

pakistanifashionedits

celebritiesofcolor

koreanmodel

Writer’s Block

A picture says a thousand words. Write them.

Mission: Write a story, a description, a poem, a metaphor, a commentary, or a critique about this picture. Write something about this picture.

Be sure to tag writeworld in your block!

20 Basic Plots

These basic plots are from the Tennessee Screenwriting Association, but I thought it would be useful to share them with you all. Many writers believe that there are only so many “basic plots” that make up a story, 20 of them to be exact, and that it all depends on how you develop these plots. This is the same idea that there are only so many story arcs, and that all of our stories fit into a certain category. This is not to say you can’t create something that is uniquely yours, because you can mess with these elements, but when cut something down to the bare bones—nothing is really original. These recognizable story forms work and that’s why they’re used over and over again. Here are the 20 basic plots—

1. QUEST – the protagonist is searching for something (person, place, thing, or idea) and is on a journey to find it.

2. ADVENTURE – the protagonist searches for their fortune, but has to leave home to do it.

3. PURSUIT - hide-and-seek plot, one group or person chasing another.

4. RESCUE - the protagonist is searching for someone or something that needs to be saved—this usually involves protagonist, victim, and antagonist.

5. ESCAPE – the protagonist wants to escape some sort of situation, on a quest to get away.

6. REVENGE - retaliation against someone else for wrong-doings.

7. THE RIDDLE - the protagonist’s search to find the hidden meaning of something.

8. RIVALRY - the protagonist is competing for same object or goal as another person.

9. UNDERDOG – the protagonist has a great disadvantage and faces overwhelming odds while trying to reach his or her goals.

10. TEMPTATION – the protagonist is tempted into doing something that is unwise, wrong or immoral.

11. METAMORPHOSIS - the physical characteristics of the protagonist actually changes from one form to another.

12. TRANSFORMATION - the protagonist journeys through a stage of life that moves them from one significant character state to another.

13. MATURATION - the protagonist faces a problem that causes them to learn from it and mature into adulthood.

14. LOVE - the protagonist overcomes the obstacles that prevent him or her from engaging in true love.

15. FORBIDDEN LOVE – the protagonist overcomes obstacles that prevent him or her from true love, but sometimes find the outcome too high a price to live with.

16. SACRIFICE - the protagonist is motivated by a higher purpose such as love, honor, and charity or for the sake of humanity.

17. DISCOVERY - the protagonist, having to overcome a life-changing event, discovers a deeper meaning of life that changes their outlook.

18. WRETCHED EXCESS - the protagonist pushes the limits of acceptable behavior to the extreme and is forced to deal with the consequences.

19. ASCENSION – this rags-to-riches plot deals with the rise of the protagonist due to a dominating character trait that helps them to succeed.

20. DECISION – this riches-to-rags plot deals with the fall of the protagonist due to dominating character trait that eventually destroys their success.

It’s easy to see that some stories can fit into a few of these categories and you can build your story up around several of these basic plots. Generally, a story will fit into one category more than another. There are many references on basic plots, and not all writers have the same opinions on it, so it helps to research them yourself. I just thought this might give you a little motivation or help you structure your story better.

-Kris Noel

i feel like i’d enjoy being an assassin if it didn’t involve killing people