New Writerblr Looking For Writerblrs To Follow And Interact With

New writerblr looking for writerblrs to follow and interact with

You can call me Rose or Quinn, whichever you prefer.

I've been working on a poem a day as an alternative to NaNoWriMo, and you may see some of them posted here. I've posted my first poem, Cyanide, and I hope you enjoy it.

Otherwise, I write fiction, mostly in the fantasy/sci-fi genres. I have a WIP called Get the Girl starring two girls who love each other very much and would do anything to protect each other from the situations I put them into.

When I'm not reblogging like mad from my main to fill the blog up with resources, you can find me on Discord a lot. Just ask for my info there.

writing warm-ups

do you wake up and immediately go to work? no! you have coffee and breakfast first, you wash your face, you get dressed. similarly, you have to warm yourself up before facing a writing challenge. warm-ups are also a great way to fight writers' block. here are some ways to do this:

-keysmash poem; mash that keyboard until you get 6-12 random letters. these are the first letters of each line of a poem you will write. oh, you say you're not a poet? i didn't ask! just mash that keyboard and cough a poem up and never read it again. -letter to the editor; pick a topic that pisses you off. the smaller and more arbitrary, the better. write a paragraph detailing the issue to a neutral third party with as much passive aggression as you can muster. -rewrite; grab a random page of some old project of yours and rewrite it. really think about what you like and dislike about that page, look at it from a new perspective, twist it around until it's different-- doesn't matter if the rewrite is better or worse, because you aren't editing here. you're just getting your gears spinning. -fictionalize it; think of something that happened to you, like a brief interaction with a stranger or a funny mix up at work. turn it into a one-page scene. -dream journal; record an interesting dream. list out details you can remember, or write it like a journal entry, or wax poetic about what it all means. -shitty fanfiction; self explanatory. the more self-indulgent, the better. set a timer for ten minutes, blast off, and then pretend it never happened. -deleted scenes; think about the in between moments of your project. write an email from one of your main characters, or a scene from their childhood, or a text conversation log, really anything that you wouldn't put in your main work. -confessional; pick a fictional character, yours or one from a piece of media you love. write their ten confessions in as much detail as you want.

happy writing! let us know if you try any of these, and reblog if you find this helpful!

Hey guys, you know about the Same Energy website right? has someone made a post about that? Cuz otherwise im gonna sing its praises to high heaven for its artistic references

Game-Changing Sites for Writers

A recent search for a specific type of site to help me build new characters led me down a rabbit hole. Normally, that would make me much less productive, but I have found a treasure trove of websites for writers.

Bring Characters/Places to Life

There are a few different places you can use to create a picture of something entirely new. I love this site for making character pictures as references, instead of stock photos or whatever pops up on Google Images.

thispersondoesnotexist: every time you reload the page, this site generates a headshot of someone who doesn't exist. This is great if you're thinking about a character's personality or age and don't have specifics for their facial features yet.

Night Cafe: this is an AI art generator that takes your text prompt and generates an image for it. I tried it for various scenery, like "forest" or "cottage." It takes a minute for your requested photo to load, but no more than maybe five for the program to finish the picture.

Art Breeder: this website has endless images of people, places, and general things. Users can blend photos to create something new and curious visitors can browse/download those images without creating an account. (But if you do want to make an account to create your own, it's free!)

Find Random Places on Earth

You might prefer to set a story in a real-life environment so you can reference that place's weather, seasons, small-town vibe, or whatever you like. If that's the case, try:

MapCrunch: the homepage generates a new location each day and gives the location/GPS info in the top left of the screen. To see more images from previous days, hit "Gallery" in the top left.

Atlas Obscura: hover over or tap the "Places" tab, then hit "Random Place." A new page will load with a randomly generated location on the planet, provide a Google Maps link, and tell you a little bit about the place.

Random World Cities: this site makes randomly selected lists of global cities. Six appear for each search, although you'll have to look them up to find more information about each place. You can also use the site to have it select countries, US cities or US states too.

Vary Your Wording

Thesauruses are great, but these websites have some pretty cool perspectives on finding just the right words for stories.

Describing Words: tell this website which word you want to stop repeating and it will give you tons of alternative words that mean the same thing. It typically has way more options than other sites I use.

Reverse Dictionary: type what you need a word for in Reverse Dictionary's search box and it will give you tons of words that closely match what you want. It also lists the words in order of relevancy, starting with a word that most accurately describes what you typed. (There's also an option to get definitions for search results!)

Tip of My Tongue: this website is phenomenal. It lets you search for that word you can't quite place by a letter in it, the definition, what it sounds like, or even its scrambled letters. A long list of potential options will appear on the right side of the screen for every search.

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Hope this helps when you need a hand during your next writing session 💛

HEY ARTISTS!

Do you design a lot of characters living in not-modern eras and you’re tired of combing through google for the perfect outfit references? Well I got good news for you kiddo, this website has you covered! Originally @modmad made a post about it, but her link stopped working and I managed to fix it, so here’s a new post. Basically, this is a costume rental website for plays and stage shows and what not, they have outfits for several different decades from medieval to the 1980s. LOOK AT THIS SELECTION:

OPEN ANY CATEGORY AND OH LORDY–

There’s a lot of really specific stuff in here, I design a lot of 1930s characters for my ask blog and with more chapters on the way for the game it belongs to I’m gonna be designing more, and this website is going to be an invaluable reference. I hope this can be useful to my other fellow artists as well! :)

Did you find this helpful? If you’re able, maybe buy me a coffee please? :D

COBG'S Guide to Surviving NaNoWriMo!

Guides, Resources, and Writing Tips Oh My!

Guide to Murphy’s Law. (What can go wrong, will go wrong)

1. Back it up! Dropbox, Google Drive, Icloud. A few years ago I would have said USB or Data CD, but in this day and age I would say keep it in the cloud. All my writing files are saved on Dropbox which means every time I save, it’s already updated on dropbox and on my other computer. So, if my computer crashes I don’t have to worry. Remember back it up! 2. Get By With A Little Help from Your Friends. Know where you can go for support. Do you have a writing buddy? Are you on a forum? Do you have a friend who is going to commit to the challenge? Have their info ready, because at some point we all crack. Just have someone or someones who will listen to you complain about how you are the most awful writer and why the hell did you start this process in the first place. That person will hopefully remind you why you’re doing this and all the things you can get out of it. 3.Tools Assemble Sure you’re using your computer, but have your other tools ready. A notebook, your iphone with your notes, your index cards. Also, remember your outlines, your character sheets, your research and have wiki and google on standby.

Guide to keeping our sanity.

1.Give up your Harry Potter, Pulitzer prize winning notions. NaNoWriMo is an exercise. It’s a test in endurance, in will power and focus. It is also a rough draft which means it is going to suck. Secondly, most full manuscripts are from 80k-100k…so it’s not a full novel. Do not spend your time freaking out about how good it is. Good comes later. Just get 50k words down. 2. Avoid the distracting parts of the internet. Facebook, twitter and even Tumblr. Unless, you are going to get writing tips, do some quick research or check in with your writing partner you should NOT be on the internet. It’s as simple as that. 3.Don’t compare yourself to others. Just, because you can write 5k words in one day does not mean you are Shakespeare. Just, because you have barely scraped past your daily goal doesn’t mean you suck. Everyone writes at their own pace. 4. You are not ready for Beta Readers. No one needs to be reading what you are writing! No one. This first month is not for getting feedback and figuring out if your book makes sense. It’s to get it all down. It’s to bring the beginning, middle and end of your story into existence. This is not the time to bring in opinions that will only discourage you or give you a false sense of your skill. Again, your first draft is gonna suck! 5. Stop editing! I do not care if you noticed a an extra comma, if you’re not sure you spelled that big word correctly or if something seems not right. Leave it. When you’re doing you’re rewrite, that’s the time to edit.

Guide to Keeping Healthy.

1. Water. When I am writing, I can literally go days without drinking a glass of water. Stay hydrated. Keep your mouth moist as your fingers do the talking. 2. Take breaks. I don’t mean go sit and watch all your primetime shows during your allotted writing time, but…. yup go to the bathroom, walk around your living room, eat your meals and have a stretch. Staring at a computer or word processor for hours can get to your back, your hands, your wrists, your shoulders and your eyes. 3.Comfort and Support. I have wrist pain (I think it’s carpal tunnel, but my doc disagrees) so I wear a brace especially when on my computer. I also have padding below my keyboard. Think about what will keep you comfortable. Fingerless gloves, cushions, feet warmers. I don’t know, but be comfortable.

Guide to Your Happiness.

1. Caffeine. You’re just sitting at a table, but writing is busy work. It will make you feel tired, your brain feel foggy and suddenly bed seems like the perfect place even if it’s just 5pm. You need something to keep you lucid. For me it’s a cup of Lipton tea. But for others it can be soda and the ever important coffee. 2. Snacks. I am going to buy myself a party size pack of Reese’s Buttercup and probably my favorite ice cream candy bar, because they give me a rush of pleasure with every bite. But, I am also going to buy red grapes, because I love them. Gather your snacks before hand. Your guilty pleasures and your healthy ones. Have something close by that you can munch on while the creative juices are flowing.

Guide to your personal Motivation.

1. Computer Wallpaper. For the last few weeks my wallpaper is this beautiful black on white number that I found on tumblr by Brewed Rebels that reads “You musn’t be afraid to dream a little bigger darling.” It’s a quote from the film Inception and every time I turn my computer off, close a window, etc I see it. It’s my inspiration. My dream is to be a writer and every time I see it it reminds me not to be afraid of my big dreams. Get something like that for yourself. 2. Goals and Rewards. We know the ultimate goal is 50k words in 30 days, but set some smaller goals and give yourself a reward. The most common practice is probably giving yourself a small gift every 5k words you complete. This can be a book, a bag of candy…anything that can motivate you.

My daily goal is to watch an episode or 2 of Supernatural, which I am currently binge watching. You may want to put another reward at the end of the 30 days as well. The ultimate reward is of course 50k, BUT you can talk yourself out of that. You can always say things like ‘well, I don’t have to get 50k now, I can just keep writing in December.” No, give yourself more incentive if you think you may talk yourself out of it. Perhaps you should say “if I finish this book I can buy that expensive purse I’ve had my eyes on and walked past three times last week.” You know what I mean. Treat yourself to something. Give yourself the ultimate reward that you can afford. 3.Bragging Rights Remember! You can’t tell all your friends that you’re a legit novelist and that you have written a book, if you don’t WRITE THE BOOK. Bragging rights is probably one of the best things in the world. It will take someone 10 years to do something you are going to do in 30 days. Remember that.

Below are resources such as writing tips, dictionary sites, story generators, places to look up names and other tips from all over the web.

Guide to Working Through Writer’s Block

Six Simple and Difficult Tips for Beating Writer’s Block. Symptoms and Cures for Writer’s Block 13 Famous Writers on Overcoming Writer’s Block 10 Types of Writers Block and How to Overcome Them Overcoming Writer’s Block

NaNoWriMo Tips from the Web

Writingbox’s 10 NaNoWriMo Tips Fuck You Writing Habits’ NaNoWriMo Resources Kris Noel’s NaNoWriMo Goals Writing Sources and Tips’ Writing Your First Novel Post NaNoWriMo for the News and Insane

Helpful Tools Guide

Scrivener NaNoWriMo Trial Offer -BEST writing software (IMO) YWriter - Free Writing Software. A list of Progress trackers and word counters Cliche Finder Write or Die- productivity app that forces you to write by providing consequences for distraction and procrastination World Lingo- Translations The Best of British- American’s guide to speaking British

Writing Tips

The Snowflake Method The 8 Point Plot Arc 34 Writing Tips that Will Make You A Better Writer Invaluable Writing Tips

Writing Indexes

NaNoWriMo Tips from 2011 & 2012

COBG Writing Tips Index -everything from characterization tips, genre tips & Technique tips Guide to Writing Science Fiction Fantasy Worldbuilding Creating Fantasy & Sci-fI Worlds Realistic Travel Chart

Name Help

Behind the Name -Name Meanings. Seven Sanctum-A collection of ‘generators’ that make random characters, plots, ideas and more Serenity- generates places, character names, title generator and descriptions

Resources

Grammar GirlCommnet Grammar Owl English Online Grammar

http://www.merriam-webster.com/ http://dictionary.reference.com/ http://thesaurus.com http://words.grammarly.com/ http://www.visualthesaurus.com/

Take A Short Break

http://www.dailypuppy.com/ http://cuteoverload.com/ http://geek-and-poke.com/ http://www.funnyordie.com/ http://www.collegehumor.com/ http://www.peopleofwalmart.com/ http://www.theonion.com/ http://www.latenightmistakes.com/