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WORLD BUILDING CHECKLIST

If you are writing a book/story that takes place in another world, I have provided for you the complete world building checklist to ensure that you know your world inside out.

Economy A. Currency B. Poverty rate/line

Government A. Crime & Legal System B. Foreign Relations C. Politics D. War

The Land A. Physical & Historical Features B. Climate C. Geography D. Natural Resources E. Population

Society & Culture A. Arts, Entertainment, & Recreation B. Architecture C. Calendar D. Daily Life. E. Diet F. Ethics & Values G. fashion & Dress H. History I. Dining Customs J. Education K. Language L. Gestures M. Manners N. Meeting & Greeting O. Religion & Philosophy P. Social organization

Magic A. Magicians B. Magic and science C. Magic & Technology D. Rules of Magic

Technology C. Technology D. Medicine D. Transportation & Communication you're welcome <3

Fell free to reblog and fill it out if you want. I am curious to see the worlds in my fellow writers heads.

Follow me @leisureflame for more posts like this!

About the writing craft — Masterlist

Hello everyone! Since the followers on this tumblr have grown a little since I first started back in March, I've thought about doing a recap on the writing advice / craft posts I've done.

As you know, I am quite picky in calling in "writing advice", so these are much more meant to be like a "behind-the-scenes" "take-what-you-want" kind of posts.

[Disclaimer: the posts refer to a specific fanfiction, but they can be applied to anything—and I do apply them to original stories too)

PRE-PRODUCTION: Plotting, Inspiration, Ideas, Character design

About the fear before beginning to write a long story

Designing characters: The characters and the leitmotivs

On how I plot and divide the chapters

The foreshadowing series (Part 1 || Part 2 || Part 3 )

On endings—The Last Sentence

On inspiration

POST-PRODUCTION: Editing, rewriting

In killing your darlings when something doesn't work—and how necessary it is

On editing (from a real-life editor): The macro, the micro, an introduction to everyone

WRITING IN GENERAL

On why Nanowrimo doesn't work for me and what I do about it

On why I don't believe in "Writing advice"—and you should just read

On the difference between fiction and reality—and how people nowadays just confuse the tw

A writing year—in which I wanted to become famous, but didn't

If this is of any need to you, don't hesitate to save it or reblog it! I'm still writing about writing, but I thought there was no harm in doing a master list if anyone can find it interesting.

Also, do not hesitate to hit the ask box!

—hera

(pd: taggin @writeblrsupport in case they want to reblog for other writers!)

This is a very personal piece of art, but it's one that I think is really important and I've been helped by TONS like it, so here I go :D!! I've been working on this for a couple days straight now, and here's hoping that tumblr doesn't just kill the resolution

from me, to you, a very happy Autism Awareness and Acceptance month :]

Ref Recs for Whump Writers

Violence: A Writer’s Guide:  This is not about writing technique. It is an introduction to the world of violence. To the parts that people don’t understand. The parts that books and movies get wrong. Not just the mechanics, but how people who live in a violent world think and feel about what they do and what they see done.

Hurting Your Characters: HURTING YOUR CHARACTERS discusses the immediate effect of trauma on the body, its physiologic response, including the types of nerve fibers and the sensations they convey, and how injuries feel to the character. This book also presents a simplified overview of the expected recovery times for the injuries discussed in young, otherwise healthy individuals.

Body Trauma: A writer’s guide to wounds and injuries. Body Trauma explains what happens to body organs and bones maimed by accident or intent and the small window of opportunity for emergency treatment. Research what happens in a hospital operating room and the personnel who initiate treatment. Use these facts to bring added realism to your stories and novels.

10 B.S. Medical Tropes that Need to Die TODAY…and What to Do Instead: Written by a paramedic and writer with a decade of experience, 10 BS Medical Tropes covers exactly that: clichéd and inaccurate tropes that not only ruin books, they have the potential to hurt real people in the real world. 

Maim Your Characters: How Injuries Work in Fiction: Increase Realism. Raise the Stakes. Tell Better Stories. Maim Your Characters is the definitive guide to using wounds and injuries to their greatest effect in your story. Learn not only the six critical parts of an injury plot, but more importantly, how to make sure that the injury you’re inflicting matters. 

Blood on the Page: This handy resource is a must-have guide for writers whose characters live on the edge of danger. If you like easy-to-follow tools, expert opinions from someone with firsthand knowledge, and you don’t mind a bit of fictional bodily harm, then you’ll love Samantha Keel’s invaluable handbook

Writing and drawing amputee characters: Not every amputee wears prosthetics (and that's ok)

Not every amputee wears prosthetics, and not doing so is not a sign that they've "given up".

It's a bit of a trope that I've noticed that when an amputee, leg amputees in particular, don't wear prosthetics in media its often used as a sign that they've given up hope/stopped trying/ are depressed etc. If/when they start feeling better, they'll start wearing their prosthetics again, usually accompanied by triumphant or inspiring music (if it's a movie). The most famous example of this is in Forest Gump, Where Dan spends most of the movie after loosing his legs wishing he'd died instead. He does eventually come around, and him finally moving from his wheelchair to prosthetics is meant to highlight this.

The thing is, it's not that it's unrealistic - in fact my last major mental health spiral was started because one of my prosthetics was being a shit and wouldn't go on properly, despite fitting perfectly at the prosthetist's the day before. I'm not going to use my legs when I'm not in a good headspace, but the problem is, this is the only time non-prosthetic using amputees ever get representation: to show how sad they are. Even if that's not what the creator/writer necessarily intended, audiences will often make that assumption on their own unless you're very careful and intentional about how you frame it, because it's what existing media has taught them to expect.

But there are lots of reasons why someone might not use prosthetics:

they might not need them: this is more common in arm amputees because of how difficult it can be to use arm prosthetic, especially above-elbow prosthetics. Most folks learn how to get on without them pretty well. In fact, most of the arm amputees I know don't have prosthetics, or only have them for specific tasks (e.g. I knew a girl who had a prosthetic hand made specifically for rowing, but that's all she used it for).

Other mobility aids just work better for them: for me, I'm faster, more manoeuvrable and can be out for longer when I'm in my wheelchair than I ever could on my prosthetics. Youtube/tik tok creator Josh Sundquist has said the same thing about his crutches, he just feels better using them than his prosthetic. This isn't the case for everyone of course, but it is for some of us. Especially people with above-knee prosthetics, in my experience.

Other disabilities make them harder to use: Some people are unable to use prosthetics due to other disabilities, or even other amputations. Yeah, as it turns out, a lot of prosthetics are only really designed for single-limb amputees. While they're usable for multi-limb amps, they're much harder to use or they might not be able to access every feature. For example, the prosthetic knee I have has the ability to monitor the walk cycle of the other leg and match it as close as possible - but that only works if you have a full leg on the other side. Likewise, my nan didn't like using her prosthetic, as she had limited movement in her shoulders that meant she physically couldn't move her arms in the right way to get her leg on without help.

Prosthetics are expensive in some parts of the world: not everyone can afford a prosthetic. My left prosthetic costs around $5,000 Australian dollars, but my right one (the above knee) cost $125,000AUD. It's the most expensive thing I own that I only got because my country pays for medical equipment for disabled folks. Some places subsidise the cost, but paying 10% of $125,000 is still $12,500. Then in some places, if you don't have insurance, you have to pay for that all by yourself. Even with insurance you still have to pay some of it depending on your cover. Arm prosthetics are even more expensive. Sure, both arms and legs do have cheaper options available, but they're often extremely difficult to use. You get what you pay for.

they aren't suitable for every type of environment: Prosthetics can be finicky and modern ones can be kind of sensitive to the elements. My home town was in a coastal lowland - this means lots of beaches and lots of swamp filled with salty/brackish water. The metals used in prosthetics don't hold up well in those conditions, and so they would rust quicker, I needed to clean them more, I needed to empty sand out of my foot ALL THE TIME (there always seemed to be more. It was like a bag of holding but it was just sand). Some prosthetics can't get wet at all. There were a few amputees who moved to the area when I was older who just didn't bother lol. It wasn't worth the extra effort needed for the maintenance.

People have allergies to the prosthetic material: This is less of a problem in the modern day, but some people are allergic to the materials their prosthetics are made from. You can usually find an alternative but depending on the type of allergy, some people are allergic to the replacements too.

Some people just don't like them.

There's nothing wrong with choosing to go without a prosthetic. There's nothing wrong with deciding they aren't for you. It doesn't make you a failure or sad or anything else. Using or not using prosthetics is a completely morally neutral thing.

Please, if you're writing amputees, consider if a prosthetic really is the best mobility aid for your character and consider having your characters go without, or at least mix it up a bit.

For example, Xari, one of the main characters in my comic, uses prosthetics unsupported and with crutches, and uses a wheelchair. They alternate between them throughout the story.

things people do after having a nightmare that isn’t crying

struggle to catch their breath

grab onto whatever’s close enough to ground themselves in reality

become nauseous / vomit

shake uncontrollably

sweat buckets

get a headache

things people do to combat having nightmares if they occur commonly

sleep near other people so they can hear the idle sounds of them completing tasks

move to a different sleeping spot than where they had the nightmare

leave tvs / radios / phones on with noise

just not sleep (if you want to go the insomnia route)

sleep during the day in bright rooms

things people with insomnia do

first, obviously, their ability to remember things and their coordination will go out the window

its likely they’ll become irritable or overly emotional

their body will start to ache, shake, and weaken

hallucinate if it’s been long enough

it becomes incredibly easy for them to get sick (and they probably will)

add your own in reblogs/comments!

WEBSITES FOR WRITERS {masterpost}

E.A. Deverell - FREE worksheets (characters, world building, narrator, etc.) and paid courses;

NotionByRach - FREEBIES (workbook, notion template, games, challenges, etc.);

Hiveword - Helps to research any topic to write about (has other resources, too);

BetaBooks - Share your draft with your beta reader (can be more than one), and see where they stopped reading, their comments, etc.;

Charlotte Dillon - Research links;

Writing realistic injuries - The title is pretty self-explanatory: while writing about an injury, take a look at this useful website;

One Stop for Writers - You guys... this website has literally everything we need: a) Description thesaurus collection, b) Character builder, c) Story maps, d) Scene maps & timelines, e) World building surveys, f) Worksheets, f) Tutorials, and much more! Although it has a paid plan ($90/year | $50/6 months | $9/month), you can still get a 2-week FREE trial;

One Stop for Writers Roadmap - It has many tips for you, divided into three different topics: a) How to plan a story, b) How to write a story, c) How to revise a story. The best thing about this? It's FREE!

Story Structure Database - The Story Structure Database is an archive of books and movies, recording all their major plot points;

National Centre for Writing - FREE worksheets and writing courses. Has also paid courses;

Penguin Random House - Has some writing contests and great opportunities;

Crime Reads - Get inspired before writing a crime scene;

The Creative Academy for Writers - "Writers helping writers along every step of the path to publication." It's FREE and has ZOOM writing rooms;

Reedsy - "A trusted place to learn how to successfully publish your book" It has many tips, and tools (generators), contests, prompts lists, etc. FREE;

QueryTracker - Find agents for your books (personally, I've never used this before, but I thought I should feature it here);

Pacemaker - Track your goals (example: Write 50K words - then, everytime you write, you track the number of the words, and it will make a graphic for you with your progress). It's FREE but has a paid plan;

Save the Cat! - The blog of the most known storytelling method. You can find posts, sheets, a software (student discount - 70%), and other things;

I hope this is helpful for you!

Also, don't forget to check my gumroad shop, where you can find plenty of FREEBIES (from notion templates for writers to workbooks and sheets).

-> Check out my freebies

Happy writing! <3

Geology of Natural Disasters and How to write them into your fictional universe.

So, you want to write about a natural disaster to advance your plot and torture your players/characters even more? Let me tell you how, accurately.

I feel like unless it is a volcano, natural disasters are a pretty slept on plot drivers, and some of them are really cool and unique! Today, I will talk to you about land slides, earthquakes (And earthquake related disasters), and volcanoes.

Landslides: Probably one I see the least in stories, but one that would be incredibly interesting to write into a plot where they believe in curses. Landslides can happen along ocean bluffs, slightly hilly areas, and highly mountainous areas, this means it is something that can happen in most landscapes. But what can trigger a landslide? Mostly all you need to trigger a landslide could be just abnormally large amounts of rain, excessive deforestation (with a little bit of rain), or an earthquake. If you don't want to use deforestation or an earthquake as a catalyst, a really cool indicator that the land is slipping and may be prone to a collapse is J hooked trees.

This indicates that there is soil creeping slowly over time, and it may lead to a major landslide.

2. Earthquakes: Probably one of the easiest things to write, earthquakes can happen anywhere, but they are most common in places that are tectonically active areas. There are about three types of environments you can expect earthquakes to be common. The first is just rugged mountains, if your landscape looks like this, you should write in earthquakes. Associated hazards could be landslides, avalanches, and large falling rocks.

The next landscape could be a thin mountain range, next to the ocean, very scenic, but very dangerous. Essentially, I am describing a subduction zone environment.

Earthquakes in these areas could equal a couple different associated disasters. Scenario one: A very large earthquake happens, and the ocean begins to recede. This is a tsunami, enough said. If you are writing a tsunami though, please, please, do not write it as a large wave, thank you. Also, a common way people are hurt by tsunami's are from them going into the ocean because they don't understand a tsunami is going to happen.

Scenario two: A large earthquake happens, your characters are in a valley and suddenly the ground begins to liquify as the ground shakes, once the shaking stops, the ground becomes solid like nothing ever happened, except everything has suddenly sunk into the now hard ground. This is called liquefaction and it typically happens in areas that have loose dirt or lots of saturated soil.

Scenario three: There are a lot of small earthquakes, they do not cause a lot of damage, but you begin to notice that one of the isolated mountains has a plume rising. Earthquakes can indicate lava moving underground and the filling of magma chambers.

The next environment that can host lots of earthquakes would be regions that have a lot of really deep valleys and small mountain ranges (not cone volcanoes), but overall seems pretty flat.

This indicates a transform fault like the San Andreas. If you want to hint at there being earthquakes in the area, you can show fence posts that are suddenly several feet out of line at a dilapidated farm or something similar.

(These earthquakes are different because they are cased from sideways movement, not an up-and-down movement this hint can only be used for this environment). Volcanoes would not be found here, but liquefaction and landslides could still occur here.

4. Volcanoes: If you thought earthquakes had a lot of information, volcanoes do too. First you have to ask yourself, what kind of volcano you want to have, what kind of eruption style? So lets break down the kind of eruptions you can have and what their landscapes look like. Hawaiian Shield volcano: This will produce a smooth fast lava, the landscape typically is pretty flat, but there will be small cones and the rocks can have a ropey or jagged texture and the rocks will be almost exclusively black to dark red.

Stratovolcanoes: These will be solitary mountains, typically, that look like perfect cones (Picture shown in earthquake section). These will have large ash cloud eruptions and pyroclastic flows, they may have some lava, but typically most damage is done from the pyroclastic flows (think Pompeii). Some hints of these, other than describing the cone features (which can be hidden by other mountains), would be to talk about petrified wood! Trees can get fossilized in the ash and I imagine it would be very strange to find this rock that clearly looks to be a piece of wood, but its a rock. Subcategory- Calderas: Used to be a large stratovolcano, but they erupt so explosively that the entire cone collapses and creates a basin.

There are a lot of kinds of volcanoes out there, so forgive me for just putting an infographic and then talking to you about these really rare types of eruptions that I feel like people should know about.

Okay lets talk about blue lava (kind of) and black lava

You will notice the lava is still red in the middle of this image, during the day these would look like a normal eruption, but at night the burning sulfur would make it appear blue. Some cool features other than this, would be that any water in the area would become very acidic and burn the skin due to sulfuric acid. This would again be really cool if you are trying to describe a 'cursed' land.

Black lava: This happens only in the east African rift I believe, but it is a carbonatite lava, but if you are writing in a rift valley (where the continent is tearing apart to form a new ocean) this might be a cool feature. The lava will cool white and will quickly erode, it makes for a very alien landscape!

Anyway as always, this is supposed to be an introductive guide for the basics of writing geology to create cool landscapes/features into dnd or fictional universes, if you are a geologist please understand my oversimplification of tectonics, I didn't want people to run away.

A Workshop for Creating Magical/ Fictional Crystals: A Guide from a Geologist

Hi folks, its me, here to talk about fictional writing again! Today I'm just tackling the idea of magical stones/mana stones by looking at existing minerals today and some neat properties that they have, and how you can apply these things to a fictional world. The goal is mainly to help you if you are stuck trying to come up with a unique magic system, or a unique identification/characteristic of your mineral.

First Things First: Mineral Shapes

I am exhausted, petered out, down-right fatigued by seeing every mineral depicted with having the crystal structure of calcite and quartz. There are soooooo many cooler, more interesting crystal structures, don't you think you would stop and take a look at a perfect cube in nature? It is completely unsettling.

Second: Color

Color within minerals can either be really important, or not important at all! It is your choice to decide if color is going to be something that means something to your mineral. But what are some times when the color is important? Well.... there are some elements that are called chromophores, this classification just indicates that these elements, when present, will determine the color of whatever they are in. So, if you wanted to treat mana like a chromophore, you could say, "Oh everything that contains mana turns green!" This could mean that regardless of the mineral, if that mineral is a specific color, it means it contains mana. This concept is exciting because you can just stop here and use minerals that already exist! You can also use it as an indicator for a magical ore! Chromophores are typically metals, so if you are making a new metal weapon, making the ore of that metal a unique color would make a lot of sense!

However, your mineral can also just be every color of the rainbow like quartz and perhaps that's what makes identifying your mana stones elusive and create an illusion of scarcity that your character can solve.

There are other things that can change the colors of minerals, like radiation damage, and electron exchange, but I think that is beyond what would be helpful! So lets talk about some unique color properties that happen in nature that seem magical in the first place! Maybe you don't need to design a mana stone, but you want a unique gemstone that only the royal family passes down or something (IDK).

The first one is the alexandrite effect! This is where a mineral can change color in natural light vs. incandescent light. (the mineral itself is not changing, but the lights contain different amounts of different colors that then get absorbed by the stone). Even if you don't use electricity in your fictional world, you could have the colors change in the presence of light magic. This could create fun misunderstandings about what the mineral is reacting to!

Pleochroism

Pleochroism is something that most minerals have, it is frequently used to help identify minerals in thin sections, however minerals are usually not pleochroic enough for it to be visible to the naked eye! Pleochroism is just a fancy name to describe the change in how light is absorbed based on the angle of the mineral! So if you scroll up to the first image where I showed a lot of crystal shapes, most of them have angles where they are longer and shorter! This will effect the way light travels in the crystal. Tanzanite is a popular mineral that does this.

Photochromism

This is when a mineral will change color (in a reversible way) when exposed to UV light (or sunlight), I am not going to go too into the details of why this is happening because it would require me to read some research papers and I just don't feel like it. The mineral that is best known for this is Hackmanite!

Alright! These are all the really cool color effects that might inspire you or maybe not, but now I am going to talk about how you might find your minerals within a rock!

When I see a lot of magical caves/mines, typically I see them with some variation of a geode honestly, but most minerals are not found like that! Now I am sure most of you guys have seen a geode, so I will not really talk about those, but I will talk briefly about porphyroblasts which is when the mineral grows larger than the minerals around it, this happens in metamorphic minerals!

sorry random stranger, but this is an image of garnets inside a finer-grained rock at gore mountain in New York!

Another way you might find minerals is in a pegmatite! This is when all minerals are really large! This is a formed from really slow crystalizing magma!

But something else to think about is that your mineral might just be massive, it doesn't have to have distinct crystals, it may be similar to jadeite where small grains grow together which leaves it looking smooth and seamless! A note about all of these is that you would have to mine into the rock to find these, there would not be any natural caves in these rocks! Caves are only ever really formed in limestones and maybe marbles (rocks that react with acid).

How can your characters identify these minerals?

Typically when you are out in the field you will look to see what type of rocks the minerals are found in (The overall texture of the rock will tell you how it formed). If you know how the rock formed, it will narrow down the amount of minerals you need to think about by quite a bit! Next, you are going to look closely at it and observe its crystal structure, does it have an obvious crystal? if so what is the general shape? If it is broken, how did it break? Did it fracture like glass or did it break along uniform planes. Some minerals have a thing called cleavage (breaks along planes of weakness). If a mineral exhibits this habit, it will again help narrow this down. Next we can look at color. Color can be misleading, because minerals like quartz can be any color imaginable, but minerals like olivine will always be green! The next thing your character can do is test for hardness, minerals all have a specific hardness that can help identify it as well.

After you go through all of this, your mineral might have some special property! This could be magnetism, fluorescence, reactions to acid, or any of the color changing effects I mentioned above! Other than that, your character can take it back to a lab and do a number of things to identify it, but the most typical thing would be for them to make a thin section (very thin piece of the rock) and observe it under a cross polarized microscope!

On that note folks! I hope this helped in some way in thinking of new magic mineral properties! I have other guides that explore some different fictional worldbuilding issues you might run into, but if you have any topics you would like me to cover please that I haven't mentioned already, let me know!

Fantasy Guide to Building A Culture

Culture is defined by a collection of morals, ethics, traditions, customs and behaviours shared by a group of people.

Hierarchy and Social Structures

Within every culture, there is a hierarchy. Hierarchies are an important part of any culture, usually do ingrained that one within the culture wouldn't even question it. Hierarchy can be established either by age, gender or wealth and could even determine roles within their society. Sometimes hierarchy can may be oppressive and rigid whilst other times, ranks can intermingle without trouble. You should consider how these different ranks interact with one another and whether there are any special gestures or acts of deference one must pay to those higher than them. For example, the Khasi people of Meghalaya (Northern India), are strictly matriarchal. Women run the households, inheritance runs through the female line, and the men of the culture typically defer to their mothers and wives. Here are a few questions to consider:

How is a leader determined within the culture as a whole and the family unit?

Is the culture matriarchal? Patriarchal? Or does gender even matter?

How would one recognise the different ranks?

How would one act around somebody higher ranking? How would somebody he expected to act around somebody lower ranking?

Can one move socially? If not, why? If so, how?

Traditions and Customs

Traditions are a staple in any culture. These can be gestures or living life a certain way or to the way a certain person should look. Traditions are a personal detail to culture, they are what make it important. Tradition can dictate how one should keep their home, run their family, take care of their appearance, act in public and even determine relationship. Tradition can also be a double edged sword. Traditions can also be restrictive and allow a culture to push away a former member if they do not adhere to them, eg Traditional expectations of chastity led to thousands of Irish women being imprisoned at the Magdelene Laundries. Customs could be anything from how one treats another, to how they greet someone.

How important is tradition?

What are some rituals your culture undertakes?

What are some traditional values in your world? Does it effect daily life?

Are there any traditions that determine one's status?

Values and Opinions

Values and Opinions are the bread and butter of any culture. This is the way your culture sees the world and how they approach different life hurdles. These may differ with other cultures and be considered odd to outsiders, what one culture may value another may not and what opinion another holds, one may not. There will be historical and traditional reasons to why these values and opinions are held. Cultures usually have a paragon to which they hold their members to, a list of characteristics that they expect one to if not adhere to then aspire to. The Yoruba people value honesty, hard work, courage and integrity. Here are some questions to consider?

How important are these ethics and core values? Could somebody be ostracised for not living up to them?

What are some morals that clash with other cultures?

What does your culture precieved to be right? Or wrong?

What are some opinions that are considered to be taboo in your culture? Why?

Dress Code

For many cultures, the way somebody dresses can be important. History and ethics can effect how one is meant to be dressed such as an expectation of chastity, can impose strict modesty. While other cultures, put more importance on details, the different sorts of clothes worn and when or what colour one might wear. The Palestinian people (من النهر إلى البحر ، قد يكونون أحرارا) denoted different family ties, marriage status and wealth by the embroidery and detailing on their thoub.

Are there traditional clothes for your world? Are they something somebody wears on a daily basis or just on occasion?

Are there any rules around what people can wear?

What would be considered formal dress? Casual dress?

What would happen if somebody wore the wrong clothes to an event?

Language

Language can also be ingrained as part of a Culture. It can be a specific way one speaks or a an entirely different language. For example, in the Southern States of America, one can engage in a sort of double talk, saying something that sounds sweet whilst delivering something pointed. Bless their heart. I have a post on creating your own language here.

Arts, Music and Craft

Many cultures are known for different styles of dance, their artwork and crafts. Art is a great part of culture, a way for people to express themselves and their culture in art form. Dance can be an integral part of culture, such as céilí dance in Ireland or the Polka in the Czech Republic. Handicrafts could also be important in culture, such as knitting in Scottish culture and Hebron glass in Palestine. Music is also close to culture, from traditional kinds of singing such as the White Voice in Ukraine and the playing of certain instruments such as the mvet.

Food and Diet

The way a culture prepares or intakes or treats certain foods are important to a culture. In some cultures, there is a diet yo adhere to, certain foods are completely banned. With Jewish culture, pork is prohibited along with fish such as sturgeon, along with shellfish and certain fowl. Meat must also be prepared in a certain way and animal byproducts such as dairy, must never be created or even eaten around this meat. This is known as kosher. The way one consumes food is also important to culture. In some cultures, only certain people may eat together. Some cultures place important on how food is eaten. In Nigerian culture, the oldest guests are served first usually the men before the women. In Japanese culture, one must say 'itadakimasu' (I recieve) before eating. Culture may also include fasting, periods of time one doesn't intake food for a specific reason.

What are some traditional dishes in your world?

What would be a basic diet for the common man?

What's considered a delicacy?

Is there a societal difference in diet? What are the factors that effect diet between classes?

Is there any influence from other cuisines? If not, why not? If so, to what extent?

What would a typical breakfast contain?

What meals are served during the day?

What's considered a comfort food or drink?

Are there any restrictions on who can eat what or when?

Are there any banned foods?

What stance does your world take on alcohol? Is it legal? Can anybody consume it?

Are there any dining customs? Are traditions?

Is there a difference in formal meals or casual meals? If so, what's involved?

Are there any gestures or actions unacceptable at the dinner table?

How are guests treated at meals? If they are given deference, how so?

Collaborative writing is a labor of love. What if it could be easier? 

Think connected drafts, not disconnected files. 

Think effortless version history and control. 

Think in-document chat. 

Far away from the prying eyes of AI and LLMs.

Ellipsus is a new writing tool for people who write together!

Two new features have arrived this week: Comments and Dark Mode! :D

We’re looking for feedback from folks who care a lot about writing.

Check us out, and join the Ellipsus beta.

writing tip. let your characters lose in ways that matter. Let them lose in ways that can't be fixed. Give them permanent scars. Loved ones who will never come back. Mistakes they had every opportunity to avoid but still made, that will never get fixed. Let them feel guilty for things they actually did wrong, not just traumatic shit that happened to them that wasn't their fault. Let your characters lose for real. Your story will never have any real meaning beyond light entertainment if the audience knows you're too much of a coward to let your hero actually, really lose.

Podcast recommendation master log!!! :3

I’ve listened to well over 100 hours of podcasts from a lot of different genres so I’m gonna give you some recommendations. These will all be audio dramas so no ttrpgs or conversation podcasts. I’ll include a short description, the amount of episodes they have as I’m writing this (not including bonus content), if it’s finished, and probably my own little thoughts about it cus I have too many thoughts. Please feel free to add any podcasts you recommend that I didn’t include I’m always looking for more!!

Recommendations under the cut. Fair warning there’s a lot

The White Vault

six seasons 52 episodes

a repair team is sent to Outpost Fristed in the vast white wastes of Svalbard and unravel what lies waiting in the ice below. I love you graham casner you grumpy old man

The Silt Verses

three seasons 35 episodes

Carpenter and Faulkner are worshippers of an outlawed god. They travel up the length of their deity's great black river, searching for holy revelations. As their pilgrimage lengthens and the river's mysteries deepen, the two acolytes find themselves under threat from a police manhunt, but also come into conflict with the weirder gods that have flourished in these forgotten rural territories.

Spirt Box Radio

Three seasons 93 episodes [finished]

Sam Enfield, a former postboy with no experience in the arcane arts, takes over the radio show following the disappearance of the previous host. Sam soon discovers there are more than ghosts haunting the show, and finds himself amidst a mystery which threatens everything he knows about the world beyond his tiny basement broadcast studio, and maybe even himself. I listened to all of this in Quebec so to me this podcast is French

Ghost Wax

One season 45 episodes

A horror fiction podcast following the work of the last "reclaimer", investigating a series of unnatural killings by raising the dead and committing their final statements to wax cylinder. Please listen and like ghost wax I want more fanart and fanfics pleassseeeee

Clockwork Bird

one season 30 episodes [finished]

After the disappearance of Robin Jaeger, a man with four metal limbs, Shelly Croft organises recordings taken from the computer of Dr Sophie Bennett, one of the lead scientists on the synthetic limbs project, and uncovers more than just scientific breakthroughs.

The Strange Case of Starship Iris

Two seasons 22 episodes

In 2189, Earth narrowly won a war against extraterrestrials. The Strange Case of Starship Iris is about what comes after. It's a story of outer space, survival, espionage, resistance, identity, friendship, found family, romance, and secrets.

Not Quite Dead

Two seasons 25 episodes

Alfie is a nurse working overtime on the night shift in A&E when a patient comes in with her throat torn out. The girl on the gurney is the first of many, baffling staff and horrifying the public. Eventually, Alfie almost becomes another victim of the walking, but is saved by the same man he saw dripping blood into his patient's eye. He's Casper, and he's a vampire, and now he's saved Alfie's life the two of them are inescapably bound together. Another brush with death later, Alfie must make a choice: death or undeath. I love vampire doctors it’s a real good niche

The Mistholme Museum of Mystery Morbidity and Mortality

Six seasons 58 episodes

An audio tour through the Mistholme Museum of Mystery, Morbidity, and Mortality and learn about the interesting exhibits. Things are going smoothly in the museum until a museum wide lockdown is triggered. I relate so much to the audio tour guide

The Vesta Clinic

One season 15 episodes

Dr Underwood is a doctor on a space clinic she helps patients of many different species and complies them into a diagnosis. Really good character designs I wanna draw all of them

The Kingmaker Histories

Two seasons 14 episodes

On the 19th of February, 1911, Colette Geise experienced a migraine that ruined her life. This is the story of what happened next.

Hello From the Hallowoods

Three seasons 140 episodes

a cosmic narrator follows the increasingly connected residents of the forest at the end of the world. It's a bittersweet story that explores queer identity, horror genre tropes, and finding hope in humanity's last moments.

Jar of Rebuke

Two seasons 25 episodes

Follow Dr. Jared Hel's journey as he works to rediscover his forgotten past and finds his place within the small Indiana farm town of Wichton and the cryptozoological organization he works for called 'The Enclosure. Talk about gay am I right (I love them)

Fawx & Stallion

One season 10 episodes

London, 1889. When the residents of 221B Baker Street leave town for the weekend to solve one of their most famous cases, no one is left to clear a poor housekeeper's name of a crime she didn't commit. Well, no one except for their neighbors at 224B...

Malevolent

Four seasons 37 episodes

Arkham Private Investigator Arthur Lester wakes up with no memory of who he is or what has happened, only a nameless, eerie voice guiding him through the darkness.Blind, terrified, and confused, his journey will lead him towards a series of mysteries in the hopes of understanding the truth of what has transpired.As cosmic horrors seep into the world around, Arthur must ask himself whether this entity truly seeks to help him, or are its intentions more...Malevolent. I love the character relationships in this podcast I love them so much they deserve a break

Victoriocity

two seasons 13 episodes

Even Greater London, 1887, Inspector Archibald Fleet and journalist Clara Entwhistle investigate a murder, only to find themselves at the centre of a conspiracy of impossible proportions.

Desperado

Two seasons 23 episodes

Blood magic, Voodoo magic, old gods, new gods: We've got it all! Follow the story of misfits from all over the world, as they try to survive and protect their heritage from modern-day crusaders.

The Night Post

Three seasons 55 episodes

In Gilt City, conscripted couriers are both respected and shunned. They inhabit the borderlands between a growing industrial society and the untamed, arcane frontier that surrounds it.

Tell No Tales

One season 25 episodes

Leo Quinn works for Better Place, the world leader in ghost removal, but they're having some doubts about the ethics of their work. They're building a device that should let them capture the voices of ghosts, to prove once and for all that Better Place needs to start treating spirits with the humanity they deserve - and to unravel some mysteries in the process. I can’t wait for season two I am INVESTED

Nowhere, On Air

Two seasons 42 episodes

Semi-late night community radio broadcasts from a strange little town in the Crowsnest Pass, Alberta (aka, not just the middle of nowhere, but nowhere itself). Weird happenings and shady government

Elixir

One season 11 episodes

Elsie's sister Lou is missing. The only clue she has leads her to a Hush bar: one of the last remaining—and illegal — establishments where people consume magical elixirs. Vera's family has made elixirs for generations at The Jaded Rose.With her father imprisoned, she is responsible for protecting their traditions...no matter the cost.But as Vera helps Elsie find her sister, a temptation more potent than any elixir arises: risking it all for each other.

Tales From the Low City

One season 8 episodes

Deep beneath the soil of a dead world, there is life.Tales From The Low City is a collection of tales from a strange, bleak, and beautiful world where all creatures great and small, ambitious and content, bipedal and tripedal and quadrupedal must come together and make something like “civilisation" if I get back into dnd I WILL be stealing the creatures from this podcast

Neighborly

One season 40 episodes

Neighbourly follows the residents of Little Street, house by house. What they do, how they interact with each other, and what skeletons are hiding in their closets. This show is so good another one that I’m patiently awaiting season two

The Lost Cat Podcast

five seasons 49 episodes [finished i think]

Man looks for his cat in an odd ass city he drinks a lot of wine. I love imagining what the main character looks like after going through all this shit

The Antique Shop

One season 50 episodes [finished]

A woman finds a job at an antique shop which seems to sell supernatural items that often to more harm than good

In Transit

Two seasons 27 episodes [finished]

Aboard the spaceship Eurus, a series of murders occur onboard - mirroring distressing radio signals from Eurus' sister ship, Notus, Officer Alecto McAlpine finds herself lost in the middle of a conspiracy. With the begrudging help of low-level communications coordinator Cairo, they begin to find that the ship's journey is the least of their concerns.

The Dead Letter Office of Somewhere, Ohio

Three seasons 19 episodes [finsihed]

The Dead Letter Office of Somewhere, Ohio is a horror-comedy fiction podcast set within one of the last remaining Dead Letter Offices in the country. Join Conway, Wren, and the rest as they archive strange, spooky, surreal pieces of lost mail.

The Sound Museum

One season 1 episode

Paris travels the world collecting interesting sound recordings for thier museum. I hope this show continues I’d love to see where it goes but who knows

Bodies in Space

One season 5 episodes

A sci-fi comedy podcast following the misadventures of the ragtag crew aboard the spaceship Eutychia, the captain of which is trying to get out of a hole of debt while ignoring other, bigger disasters unfolding in the background.

Wooden Overcoats

Four Seasons 59 episodes [finished]

Rudyard Funn and his equally miserable sister Antigone run their family's failing funeral parlour, where they get the body in the coffin in the ground on time. But one day they find everyone enjoying themselves at the funerals of a new competitor - the impossibly perfect Eric Chapman! With their dogsbody Georgie, and a mouse called Madeleine, the Funns are taking drastic steps to stay in business. What I imagine the UK is like

Middle:Bellow

One season ten episodes [finished]

A silly guy can travel to the bellow the place where ghosts live and helps them solve odd problems. Very comfy show to me

City of Ghosts

One season ten episodes

Eleanor "El” Rivkin is an information broker who sees and hears real ghosts but also suffers with hallucinations and ends up getting intangled in a mystery of corruption and murder

I am in Eskew

One season 29 episodes [finished]

in the horror-filled and impossible city of Eskew, a man makes recordings of his day-to-day experiences, hoping to reach the outside world. What I imagine the UK is like

Girl in Space

One season 13 episodes

Audio diary of just a girl in space hanging out like normal but then things start to change.

Camp Here & There

One season 33 episodes

Tune in to the loudspeakers of a small midwestern sleep-away camp plagued by supernatural terrors and natural disasters.

Sydney Sargent, resident camp nurse, cheerfully reports on all the dangers just below (and above) our feet. I love this podcast so so much and I wish the creator the best

Do you Copy?

One season 14 episodes

When Red Tail National park shuts down due to a possible ecological disaster, three campers continued their trips, and two park rangers stayed to keep an eye on the radios. Recordings from these individuals were recovered and due to a mistake that cost a lot more than expected, [REDACTED] must sort through the recordings and try to make sense of what happened.

Elaine’s Cooking for the Soul

Two seasons 13 episodes

post-apocalyptic cooking podcast hosted by Elaine Martinez, DDS, in her dental clinic. Each week she brings on a guest to cook up a shelf-stable, nutrient-dense recipe to share with the survivors of the recent nuclear event.i haven’t cooked any of these recipes so idk if they are good but I do plan to try some they seem like cheap things to make

That’s all I’m doing for this one I say as if this isn’t an insane amount. I have plenty more podcast recommendations if needed. Also turns out tumblr has a tag limit and it also just gets extremely glitchy on mobile when you add a lot of tags which isn’t surprising considering this is tumblr

imagination (1963) - harold ordway rugg

"chekhovs cat / schrödingers razor / occams gun"

Wordsnstuff Masterlist

Masterlist

Plot Development

Character Development

World Building

Research Resources

Prompts/Challenges

Drafting

Editing

By Genre

Kate’s Advice

Playlists

Daily Prompts | Author Quotes

Link to Google Sheets version

PATREON | KO-FI

Make a Request | Spotify

Did I daydream this, or was there a website for writers with like. A ridiculous quantity of descriptive aid. Like I remember clicking on " inside a cinema " or something like that. Then, BAM. Here's a list of smell and sounds. I can't remember it for the life of me, but if someone else can, help a bitch out <3

TOOL: OC QUESTIONS GENERATOR

a neat little generator that gives you a random question for your ocs! find the generator here! // my oc page (if you’re interested)

>> FEATURES

over 600 different questions, covering every aspect of character building

easy to use, no unnecessary distractions, just a very straightforward generator

content warnings on the page itself, as well as in the first screenshot

will receive updates every now and then when i come up with new questions!

>> NOTES

please send me a dm if there’s a content warning missing, i’ll add it to the page immediately!

if you have any ideas for questions, feel free to let me know and if they’re not on the list already, i’ll add them!

feel free to use this tool for personal projects or tell your friends about it, as long as you don’t try to steal the code of the page or claim the generator as your own :)

i do not take credit for all the questions in this generator, i’ve gathered them at some point from both my own brain as well as stuff online

likes are always welcome, reblogs much appreciated! also consider checking out my art while you’re here B)

We need kink at pride because “kink” isn’t just kink. “Kink” is:

That boy wearing jeans that are too tight

Your neighbors and their “friend” that lives with them

Having a beard and wearing a skirt

Wearing any kind of choker

Literally anything else they decide goes against the “norm”, and it can be literally anything. That is why we need kink at pride.

How to write the passage of time

Time is a crucial element in writing that shapes the narrative. From linear progression, to flashbacks and foreshadowing, it gives you complete control of how your story unfolds.

Here are some tips to describe the passage of time to make your narratives more compelling.

Use the natural world

Describe the changing seasons

Show plant growth and death

Visualise the ebb and flow of tides

Describe the decomposition of flora and fauna

Describe the ways that landscapes change on long journeys

Use the weather to illustrate time jumps

Illustrate the affect that shifting shadows have on a location

Use heavenly bodies like stars, the rise and set of the sun, and phases of the moon

Describe physical activities

Show family gatherings and how they change over the years

Describe the process of finishing a creative pursuit

Create repetitive activities and routines

Have a character engage in an activity, like gardening, that visually changes

Have your characters learn a new skill

Write a change in location that requires a journey to get from point A to point B

Use your setting's seasonal celebrations to illustrate a time shift for individual characters and their world

Use sound

Describe the ticking of clocks

Have your characters' voice change with their age

Illustrate changing musical styles

Have your characters improve an audible skill like singing, swordplay, or learning a musical instrument

Show a character's conversational style changing as they grow

Use the sounds of nature, like leaves becoming brittle as they crunch underfoot, or rain turning into storms

Use silence to illustrate it getting late

Describe objects

Have food left out go mouldy

Illustrate buildings and settings being overtaken by nature

Show the lifecycle of a family heirloom

Describe textiles fading and degrading over time

Describe the freshness of paint; is it wet and glistening, or cracked and dry?

Illustrate technological change and advancement

Describe the repairs in a beloved object

Show a common object like a pencil to describe how it changes with use

Sci-Fi Resources

one of the best resources for worldbuilding sci-fi stuff on the internet definitely is Atomic Rockets which is dedicated largely to Rocketpunk, with a tendency towards hard science fiction opposed to soft stuff, but you can use it to make soft sci-fi if you want.

the website was built out of the writer's love for Heinlein's torchship concept and also works as a resource for sci-fi authors and game designers. it's filled with examples of tech from a whole bunch of sci-fi works, from old pulp scifi to modern day scifi greats. (which makes it great to help you come up with your own ideas or flesh out your world with stuff)

it's filled with ideas and they're highly detailed like check out the section for the historical gyrojet (an abandoned weapon design that shot miniature rockets instead of conventional bullets)

Other resources i like using are the youtube channels: Spacedock and Issac Arthur

Spacedock analyses space ships (both irl historical rocketry as well as the fictional depictions) but also looks at sci-fi tech and ideas. (here's a good video about Avatar's best feature: hollywood's most realistic depiction of a interstellar ship)

Isaac Arthur is a futurist (who is incredibly optimistic) and looks at potential future technologies but with a bias towards realism. Usually practical things that could theoretical exist instead of out there stuff that can't exist under our current understanding of physics. (check out his video on Orbital Rings which is my favorite kind of megastructure)

by the way, scifi doesn't have to be realistic but understanding some of the ideas behind this stuff can make your setting feel more fleshed out. so i hope that helps with this.

tiktok has me STRESSED with their “cleaning aesthetic” vids, so here’s some things you should NOT mix when cleaning, and keep in mind that these can be components in cleaners that should not be mixed (for example, windex usually has ammonia in it and thus should be treated the same way):

bleach and vinegar: creates chlorine gas

bleach and ammonia: creates chloramine gas

bleach and rubbing alcohol: creates chloroform, hydrochloric acid, and chloroacetone

bleach and toilet bowl cleaner: if you’re using an acid-based toilet bowl cleaner, combining it with bleach will create chlorine gas 

bleach and mold or mildew stain removers: acid-based stain remover=same as above

bleach and oven cleaners: many oven cleaners contain sodium hydroxide, which creates chlorine gas when combined with bleach

bleach and lysol: chlorine gas once again

(really just never mix bleach with anything other than water) (please stop fucking around with bleach)

drain cleaners: if you use one drain cleaner, do NOT follow it up with another. follow package directions on the one you’re using. you could cause an explosion that could also blind you if it gets in your eyes. 

hydrogen peroxide and vinegar: you can spray these on the same surface and wipe down in between and make sure it’s dry before applying the other, but don’t combine them in one container bc you’re going to make peracetic acid. 

surface cleaning powders: products based on oxalic acid-based cleaners (Bar Keepers Friend) and products based on trichloroisocyanuric acid (Ajax/Comet powders) create chlorine gas

source 1

source 2

source 3

source 4

source 5

good rule of thumb: always stick to one cleaner per surface/item that you’re cleaning to avoid interactions

People, especially games, get eldritch madness wrong a lot and it’s really such a shame.

An ant doesn’t start babbling when they see a circuit board. They find it strange, to them it is a landscape of strange angles and humming monoliths. They may be scared, but that is not madness.

Madness comes when the ant, for a moment, can see as a human does.

It understands those markings are words, symbols with meaning, like a pheromone but infinitely more complex. It can travel unimaginable distances, to lands unlike anything it has seen before. It knows of mirth, embarrassment, love, concepts unimaginable before this moment, and then…

It’s an ant again.

Echoes of things it cannot comprehend swirl around its mind. It cannot make use of this knowledge, but it still remembers. How is it supposed to return to its life? The more the ant saw the harder it is for it to forget. It needs to see it again, understand again. It will do anything to show others, to show itself, nothing else in this tiny world matters.

This is madness.

how to avoid repetitive writing? like reusing phrases and words too much

How to Avoid Repetitive Writing

1 - Avoid overusing conjunctions (and, for, but, yet, etc.)

Why You're Overusing Conjunctions

2 - Avoid starting sentences the same way over and over...

How to Avoid Repetition with Sentence Beginnings

3 - Avoid repeating dialogue tags...

Avoiding Repetition with Dialogue Tags

4 - Avoid repetitive emotional/body language descriptions...

Struggling with Repetitive Body Language

5 - Avoid repetition due to excessive filter word use...

Guide: Understanding Filter Words

Bonus: Improve Your Vocabulary!

1) Use a thesaurus to diversify your vocabulary and eliminate repeated words (when appropriate.) Just remember that just because a word is a synonym doesn't mean it's the right choice. For example, you wouldn't want to replace "cat" with "tomcat" unless it's a male cat.

2) Look for "word of the day" calendars, blogs, apps, social media pages, etc. For example, Merriam-Webster has a "Word of the Day" e-mail you can subscribe to.

3) Read, read often, and read a variety of things. Books, short stories, fan-fiction, newspapers, magazine articles, blog posts, comics, graphic novels, poetry... the more you read, the better. Pay attention to unfamiliar words and try to figure out their meaning, then look them up to see if you're right.

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I've been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I've learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

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