Curiouser And Queueriouser - Tumblr Posts
Coming Up With Character Names
This is going to be a fairly short post, so if you guys want more information or for me to go into more depth, totally send me an ask and I’d be happy to.
Method 1: Building a name
This is can be a little difficult, but consider what traits your character has, and what sounds you associate with said traits. For example, if xe’s more blunt, maybe xir name has one or two syllables. If xe’s quieter, maybe softer sounds. If xe’s a fighter, maybe harsher sounds like k and t. It’s really up to you, but thinking about what sounds go with your character can be a great place to start.
Method 2: The keysmash
This is something that works better in fantasy and similar genres, but do a short keysmash-and-simplify. For example, “awerinaewoirp” might become Awryn, or Neywoir. Basically, it’s about finding patterns in random letters and cutting the rest out. You can use letters that aren’t actually there, or you can cut letters if you don’t want to use them.
Method 3: Historical/regional names
Think of what type of culture your characters live in or come from. Even if that’s in fantasy or some other planet in a sci-fi, what cultures does your character’s resemble. Then look up names from said culture. You can also mess with the spelling to make them fit the vibe of your story better.
Method 4: Baby name websites
Nameberry is my go-to. Basically, think of traits you want your name to have, or think of names that are similar to the one you’re going for, and browse through suggestions. You don’t have to keep any of them. but it can be good inspiration. Plus, appearing as a pregnant mom in your search history is a good way to spice up your searches of “how to gut someone with a knife.”
Method 5: Mess with the spelling
Note: do not go overboard with this. Basically the idea is to take a relatively normal name, and screw with the spelling. This is common especially in various YA genres such as postapocalyptic, or fantasy. You can add letters in, change letters to other letters, or take letters out.
a good writing tip i have if you wanna mature your writing is to consider that reading itself is an experience. you are crafting not just a story, but the very experience of reading.
a lot of writing advice intrinsically revolves around this fact, but i’ve rarely seen it directly stated. when people have complaints that a book uses too many modifiers for said (which is what we’re taught in grade school to learn more vocab), the annoyance comes from redundancy or clunkiness that takes the reader out of the moment.
“Aro started to laugh. “Ha ha ha,” he chucked” is the clearest example of this. It’s redundant. It tells the reader the same information three times, and that takes them out of it. Your readers are very smart and can pick up a lot of very subtle information. Very often, less is more. This is why Twilight is notoriously bad. Too many replacements for the word said that make the reading distracting, not immersive.
This is something I realized when I took workshop classes working on my degree. We got feedback on things like tone, word choice, pacing, and the overall experience of reading in addition to just the story. Readers want to be immersed in your story. Remember that great feeling you’ve gotten when you just totally slip away into the page and just lose yourself for hours? This is what you want to craft for your readers, and you can use that to your advantage: Maybe there are times when you want to pull the reader out of it because it works for your story. Then you do things like break the fourth wall, draw attention to the writing itself etc.
But the reverse is also true. You can consider things like pacing to help craft the experience of the story. If you want moments to last longer, write more about them. Flesh out the details for important scenes. You don’t need to spend paragraphs detailing every object in the room unless it’s relevant to the plot or you want to slow the story down. Conversely, you can spend less time on scenes you want to go fast, or that are less important. I do this a lot when I have time lapses where I want to portray a sense of what went on, but also want to get to the next scene. I’ll provide a few rich details as a bit of an aside to give readers the gist, then move on. If you only give a detail or two, your reader will fill out the rest, and that fact is rarely told to new writers, who find themselves trying to spend a lot of time making sure the reader’s vision exactly conforms to their own. It never will, and thats okay. That’s the beauty of it, actually. Let your readers use their imaginations. They really want to.
So yeah best piece of writing advice I realized is to consider how your book will be experienced, not just on the plot or details. This is one of those writing “use the rules and break them strategically” things, and when you consider reading as an experience it can help you with things like word choice to craft mood etc. this was really beneficial to me and i hope it can be to you as well
Novel Writing Tools: The Draft Notebook
The best advice I can give for finishing a first draft is this: find the motivation to keep moving forward. Three easy ways to this are to give yourself a deadline, keep track of your daily word count, and save the editing for later. This means that the most useful tool you can arm yourself with to get through a first draft is a simple draft notebook.
There are only two components to a draft notebook: the productivity tracker and the idea diary.
The Productivity Tracker
In the first two page spread of your notebook, sketch a 4-week calendar. Depending on your personal deadline, you may want to use the next few spreads for additional months. A three-month timeline is a wonderful goal, if you have no NaNoWriMo plans.
Give yourself a daily word count goal, based on the estimated length of your novel and your deadline. You can also mark out days where you know you won’t be writing, and adjust your daily wc goal accordingly. (Have super busy Saturdays? Plan on taking those days off from the start.)
Write your daily goal somewhere to the side of your calendar, just so you have it.
Make tracking your daily goals fun.
Use stars to log your writing progress. (ex. One star equals 500 words, with a daily goal of 1500 words.)
Fill in the squares of days you’ve reached your goal with pretty colors.
Put scratch and sniff stickers on the days you’ve reached your goal. Whatever works for you.
You can also use a bar-graph tracker, using your total word goal as the y-axis, the date as the x-axis, and your daily goal as a line to hit each day.
If you want advice for sketching out your own calendar, check out bullet journal inspiration Tumblrs or scour Pinterest. Bullet journalists have that on a lock.
The Idea Diary
On the first blank page after your productivity tracker, write the date and everything you know about your new novel. This may be a four-page synopsis or a character’s name and age.
As you draft, update this section like a diary. Each day, write every new thing you discover about the story, everything you’re changing, you’re removing, you’re pondering. Write down all of the ideas that aren’t going into your draft that day. Keep it with you so you can jot down an idea that strikes you while you’re falling asleep at 1am or in the middle of cooking dinner.
Use this to keep yourself from returning to an old chapter and editing everything. Let it give you solace that all of your brilliant ideas for the second draft are safely recorded.
What happens once you finish the first draft?
Once you’re ready to start thinking about your next draft, you can read your diary section, and use all of those ideas to start planning your second draft.
While working on your second draft, you can even keep adding to your notebook. Make a little “Draft Two” cover page, sketch a new calendar, and start a new diary section.
The diary section will probably remain the same, with notes for future changes, except you might want to use your new first entry for a synopses, and a few main character profiles. The productivity tracker can be updated with goals for pages/chapters revised instead of words.
If you need additional help making your way through a first draft, take a look at my other posts:
What to Do When You Can’t Write
How to Finish a Draft
this is really how i feel sometimes
writing tip #3011:
your work should not be judged by its length, but by its girth
Hii!! I just want to ask if you have any tips or resources in writing character relationships?? Like I want to build a relationship between two characters in a relatively short time but i dont want it to feel rushed,,,,thank you so much!! Your blog has helped me alot!!
I have quite a few resources and advice on the topic of building romantic relationships in a story, so I’ve linked some relevant resources below that you might find useful:
How To Fit Character Development Into Your Story
Creating A Love Interest For An Introvert
Writing Opposites Who Attract
Resources For Plot Development
Guide To Plot Development
Describing Heartbreak
Developing Complicated Plots Around Characters
Writing Great Fanfiction
How To Write The Perfect Kiss
On Romantic Subplots
Resources For Romance Writers
Tips On Writing Skinny Love
Guide To Writing Friends To Lovers
Guide To Writing Enemies To Lovers
Guide To Writing Faded Love
Resources For Writing YA Fiction/Romance
Guide To Writing Will-They-Won’t-They
Rivalry vs. Abuse
Guide To Writing Forbidden Love
20 Mistakes To Avoid in YA/Romance
Balancing Fluff and Conflict
Best Friends To Lovers Resources
How to develop an Emeies-To-Lovers story
—
This blog is now my full-time job and first priority, so your support and engagement is critical to keeping this content regular and free of charge. Please consider Buying Me A Coffee for $3 or supporting me on Patreon for $5 a month (or more if you’d like).
$5+ Patrons receive the following immediately upon pledging: early access to all wordsnstuff content, participation in polls to choose upcoming wordsnstuff content, downloadable PDF articles, requests prioritized, direct advice chat with me, Access to patron discord server with fellow writers, and much more!
If people could see my Ao3 history
Horse terms for writers
Gelding - An adult male horse (3 years or older) that’s been neutered.
Stallion - An adult male horse (3 years or older) that is not neutered.
Mare - An adult female horse (3 years or older), used interchangeable for both fixed and unfixed female horses.
Pony - A full grown horse under 14.2 hands.
Foal - A newborn horse.
Weanling - A colt or filly that is 6-12 months.
Yearling - A horse between 1-2 years old.
Colt - A male horse under 3 years old.
Filly - A female horse under 3 years old.
Hand - Measurement of how tall a horse is, one hand = four inches.
Tack - Riding equipment.
Halter - Headgear you put on a horse to lead them, can be made of leather or fabric.
Gait - Speeds a horse can got.
Trot - Gait faster than a walk but slower than a canter.
Canter - Gait faster than a trot but slower than a gallop.
Gallop - Faster than a canter, basically the highest speed a horse can go.
Lunging - Exercising a horse by walking them in a circle, usually done with a halter and lunge rope.
Lunge Rope - A long rein/rope used when lunging a horse, typically 20-40 ft long.
Colic - Pain in a horse’s stomach ranging from mild to severe, can be fetal if not treated.
Cribbing/Windsucking - Biting onto a fence post and sucking in air, horses do this when they’re extremely bored.
Farrier - Someone who dresses and trims a horse’s hooves.
Bridle - Headgear used to control and maneuver a horse.
Bit - The metal mouthpiece of the bridle.
Frog - The triangular part of the inside of the hoof.
Rain rot - A fungal infection horses can get on their backs, easily treatable with antibiotics.
Mucking - Cleaning out a stall.
Hot blooded - Extremely energetic, excitable horses. Hot blooded horses are used for more speed driven tasks.
Cold blooded - Very low temperament, very relaxed horses. Cold blooded horses are used for more labor driven tasks.
Draft - Large, working horses.
Feathers - The long, fuzzy fur on a horse’s hooves, usually found in Draft breeds.
Do you have any tips for switching point of view? Like my story i want written with 1st person following the main character around but at somepoint i wanna do 3rd person showing what another character is up to during a specific time period. Is there a way to smoothly transition? Or should i avoid doing that
First-Person POV for Protagonist/Third-Person for Another Character
When you’re talking about switching from one character’s POV to another, and switching from say first-person to third-person, you should do it after either a line break, scene break, or chapter break. This break lets the reader (and the editor) know that this POV change was intentional. You’ll also want to use a phrase that transitions into the next POV character to keep things extra smooth. Imagine the following is an excerpt from a chapter of a novel...
POV/POV Character Transition with No Break
As I wandered down the park’s deserted path, leaves falling all around me, I couldn’t help but wonder what Pete was up to in L.A. at that very moment.
Pete slammed on the breaks, narrowly avoiding a fender bender with the car in front of him. “Learn how to drive, moron!”
Note: See how jarring and confusing that change is without a break? One minute you’re in the first-person POV of the protagonist, walking through an autumnal park, and suddenly Pete is slamming on the breaks... what?! Also, notice how the first section transitions into the second by mentioning Pete... sort of a hand off from one POV character to the next.
POV/POV Character Transition with Line Break
As I wandered down the park’s deserted path, leaves falling all around me, I couldn’t help but wonder what Pete was up to in L.A. at that very moment.
Pete slammed on the breaks, narrowly avoiding a fender bender with the car in front of him. “Learn how to drive, moron!”
Note: That extra line obviously looks more significant in a page of text rather than between just two example lines. But even here, it does just enough to separate the two.
POV/POV Character Transition with Scene Break
Note: This is even more clear with the scene break. We have left one location and gone to another. We’ve left one character and gone to another. A whole new scene feels natural, and as long as we’re done with the protagonist’s scene and are moving into Pete’s scene, this works best.
POV/POV Character Transition with Chapter Break
As I wandered down the park’s deserted path, leaves falling all around me, I couldn’t help but wonder what Pete was up to in L.A. at that very moment.
Chapter Seven Pete
Pete slammed on the breaks, narrowly avoiding a fender bender with the car in front of him. “Learn how to drive, moron!”
Note: This is my favorite method, with or without the name label (it’s not necessary if you have another way of establishing the POV,) because it’s very clear you’re in a new POV and whose it is. The change from first to third is much less jarring this way. And, again, it works great if you’re done with the previous character’s scene and ready for this character to have a scene or a few.
————————————————————————————————-
Have a question? My inbox is always open, but make sure to check my FAQ and post master lists first to see if I’ve already answered a similar question. :)
One thing I’ve learned about writing is ”give everything a face”. It’s no good to write passively that the nobility fled the city or that the toxic marshes were poisoning the animals beyond any ability to function. Make a protagonist see how a desperate woman in torn silks climbs onto a carriage and speeds off, or a two-headed deer wanders right into the camp and into the fire. Don’t just have an ambiguous flock of all-controlling oligarchy, name one or two representatives of it, and illustrate just how vile and greedy they are as people.
it’s bad to have characters who serve no purpose in the story, but giving something a face is a perfectly valid purpose.
how to keep people in character: a guide
I have gotten some requests for advice on how to write specific characters, but the underlying principles to keeping characterizations canon-compliant can apply to writing anyone in any series. Better yet, this advice may help you come up with character interpretations that feel both canonical yet original (and distinct from mine!).
You can reduce characterization to three basic principles:
1) Habits and speech patterns
Habits and speech patterns serve as “shortcuts” that immediately connect the character to the canon. The audience recognizes these cues and will associate them to the actual character.
Speech patterns are particularly important to keeping a character recognizable. As soon as the speech pattern of a person deviates from canon with no explanation, the suspension of disbelief will break for an audience. A common issue I see in shipping fics is that people will make a character give the love interest a pet name that just would never leave their mouth in canon-compliant situations.
Habits can be verbal tics (e.g. they say “babe” a lot), bodily motions (e.g. touching their hair or pushing up their glasses), behavioural trends (e.g. eating a lot), or even phrases that come up often. The latter I find is underused but very effective. Here’s the thing about people in real life: they will repeat phrases and stories, sometimes even verbatim, to different people! If you lift a line out of the show or book and re-contextualize it, it’ll immediately feel like the canon.
Habits come with two caveats:
Do not overuse the tics. It can be annoying and intrusive, especially when used more frequently than in canon!
Do not rely too much on these habits for characterization. Your character may come off as a shallow imitation of canon without “substance” if so.
The next two tips will help give your characterization substance and originality.
2) Drivers in decision-making and thought patterns
People in real life often have patterns in the decisions they make or the thoughts they have because of some kind of underlying motivation, whether or not they are cognizant of it. The same will apply to well-written characters in fiction. Try to think about any significant decisions the character makes in canon and why they might exist. (Hot tip: If these motivations are not explicitly stated in the canon material, this is where you can come up with some extremely juicy headcanons!)
Understanding the fundamental drivers behind the character’s actions will allow you to extrapolate and write what they’d do in the situations in your fanfic. These non-canon situations can include relationships! It’s a common issue for romantic relationships in fanfic to feel OOC because the characters act inconsistently with their canon decision-making and thought patterns solely for their love interest.
Examples of common drivers in fiction:
Abstract values such as freedom, revenge, survival, self-preservation. (If you’re writing anything political, try to figure out how they value conservatism vs liberalism, anarchy vs authoritarianism, etc).
Baggage and trauma relating to familial issues or past relationships, which can often result in maladaptive trends in behaviour or hard-lined moral codes and ideals.
Significant relationships that affect their needs, goals, etc. Pay attention to platonic, familial, or romantic bonds that are strongly featured in the canon.
All these examples are interrelated. Often our abstract values will arise from baggage, which then influence relationships, which in turn influence our values. Try to think about how each of these types of drivers may relate to one another for your characters.
Stories tend to have the most layered characterizations when the author has identified two drivers that are in conflict with one another, or one that leads to opposing behaviours. This can also be the starting point for character growth, whether it’s a hero’s journey or descent into a villain role.
3) Cultural context
Cultural context is a subcategory of drivers that I often find is overlooked.
The culture in which someone was raised will often influence their decision-making habits, whether they conform to it or outright reject it. Recognizing the cultural context for a character can be very useful for figuring out cool little headcanons or extrapolating behaviour/opinions in the absence of canon material.
Some examples of how culture contributes to behaviour:
The kind of art and hobbies they enjoy, or at least are on their radar.
Knowledge they would have about certain topics—even mundane things like musical instruments, certain skill sets, etc.
Their judgments on themselves and other characters, as well as the values they’d project onto their relationships.
The actions they would take when trying to conform to social norms of the time period—or even the set of actions that might occur to them!
It’s a pet peeve of mine when characters behave in a way that ignores their cultural context, simply because it won’t feel realistic! Since I’ve been relating this to shipping, I will make this point: what time period and country (or coded culture) is this character in? What are courtship norms like? And, if we’re going to go the nsfw route, what “interests” (haha) would exist?
Here are some quick examples of this analysis applied to two different characters: Hakuryuu Ren (Magi), Daryl Dixon (TWD). These are characters I’ve gotten requests for—let me know if anyone is interested in others!
Keep reading
Can you give tips on how to write slow burn? Thanks in advance!
I am going to be very honest.
I’ve never written a slow burn in my life. I’m writing (mostly just planning so far) one now for the very first time. It’s very exciting.
What I’ve done is:
Interrupted almost kisses. They shall not even kiss until maybe the very last page.
Enemies to lovers so they have to build trust first.
Have them bond but never think the other one likes them back.
Always a reason not to confess.
Halfway through one will be hurt and the other will care a lot. At the end this is switched. We like that good angst.
Lots of light flirting.
Everyone knows they’re like each other (except for them.)
It helps when there is a compelling reason why they can’t be together, not just “they won’t confess cuz drama.” If not enemies, have their love conflict with their goals in the story.
Push them together and then push them apart. Over and over again. “They almost confess but then- something is revealed.” “They almost kiss but then- they’re reminded why they can’t be together.” This is a very fine line to walk because you run the risk of aggravating your reader is it’s not a good reason.
Microsoft really out here trying to stifle my creativity
Fantasy Guide to Hair
Hair is one of the facets of the characters' look as well as worldbuilding. Hair has always been important to many cultures such as the Vikings and Native Americans. So here is the Fantasy Guide to hair @cat-inthe-corner
Hairstyles
I am always asked what styles historical women wore. The truth is we can't exactly know for sure. Besides, if you spend your time describing a character's hairdo you will put your audience to sleep. Really you can paint a vague picture for your audience and that'll do.
Down and unadorned: Girls of every class wore their hair down to show they were unwed. Married women always wore their hair up and covered it. Only prostitutes wore their hair down and uncovered.
Braid/Plait: Braids were an easy tidy away hair. Braids were pinned to the head and set under headdresses. Braids lasted longer that any other hairstyle.
Wigs: Some historical women and men wore wigs. Wigs were seen as cleaner and easier to maintain. The Egyptians shaved their heads and wore wigs. The Renaissance revived wigs. Wigs were rather gross and most wearers carried long pins to scratch their heads.
Bob: The humble bob was a popular haircut throughout the Mediaeval period for men. Bobs came back into fashion in the 20s for women seen as a daring rebellion against the patriarchy.
Historical Hair Care
Women have been obsessed with having perfect hair for centuries. Women have always sought to find anything to help make their hair smoother, curlier, bigger and shinier.
The Egyptians often used castor oil and almond oil on their hair. It smoothed their hair as well as protected it. The Egyptians were rather into wigs and to keep them smelling fresh, they melted soft perfumed wax comes onto the wigs.
Tudor and Elizabethan women would use animal fat or lard in their hair. It would keep the hair in the shape it was teased into (historical hairspray) as well as smooth it. However, it drew lice and flies and must have smelt ghastly after a few days.
Assyrian women and men curled their hair by using hot iron bars and oil. Sound familiar? This was the predecessor of the curling iron (or as I call it-that-very-hot-stick-my-sister-leaves-on-the-table).
The Ancient Indians oiled their hair to prevent baldness which is still used today in parts of India.
As hair was not often washed in the 17th & 18th centuries, people turned to powders and pomades. The powder were made of flour and starch to soak up grease from the hair. Pomades were to make the hair smell nicer.
A popular conditioner of the times was made from bacon fat. Since women didn't want to go about smelling like breakfast, the fat was often cut with rosewater or lavender or another scent.
Women would have combed their hair with brushes and lice combs. Most women pre-19th century would keep their hair styled for days or weeks on end. After the 19th century, women began to brush and comb their hair regularly.
Mediaeval women washed their hair with soap made from animal fat mixed with ashes and vinegar.
Victorian/Edwardian women often washed their hair with eggwhites to get shinier hair. The Empress Sisi famously had a head of gorgeous hair which she was obsessed with. “Every three weeks it was washed with raw eggs and brandy, a procedure which took an entire day, including drying. After washing her hair, the Empress would don a long, waterproof silk dressing gown and walk up and down until her hair dried.”- Ludwig Merkle.
Dye
Hair was dyed throughout history just like it is today. Some colours were easily found, some not.
Blonde hair was the most desirable colour for Mediaeval/Renaissance women. Blonde hair was often obtained by using a concoction of olive oil, white wine, alum. Other ways of obtaining blonde locks involved using saffron, tumeric and skins of onions. It could also be washed with limes and dried in the sun.
Red hair was not a popular hair colour in mediaeval times but it became popular after Elizabeth I. The Romans often scalped Celts to make wigs from their hair. Red hair could be made from using Henna which is orange in colour.
Brown hair can be obtained by mixing indigo and henna. It is not permanent but can be after a few rinses. This is likely what Sansa Stark is currently using in ASOIAF. (Green hair like Wylla Manderly's would be obtained by either fucking up a dye job or mixing the blonde with blue.)
Blue hair if you want to go wild could likely be made from woad leaves and blackcurrants skins.
Accessories & Headresses
Pins: Most hair pins looked rather like pens. Hair would be wrapped about it and then pinned up on the head of the wearer, really not so different to bobby pins today. Pins were a favourite gift to give women of most time often made of wood, ivory, metal and were worn by ladies of all classes.
Ribbon: Ribbons were used by both classes. Thin strips of material would be woven through the hair in order to keep it neat as well as look great. Upper classes had the ribbons made of silk and other fine fabrics.
Feathers: Feathers were worn in all time periods. Elaborate towering do's were often graced with plumes to add extra height.
Headbands: Headbands have been about for years throughout most of civilization. From slim ribbons across brows to jewelled headbands of the 20s, headbands were a simple yet classic look.
Final word on horror, I promise, but I think great horror of any genre hits you in the hindbrain. You can ask yourself post-facto why something works, talk out the logic and its loopholes, but the initial flush of terror? the flinch, the finger digging into your limbic system/guts? that’s what horror is. And no matter how you frame it, discuss it or dissect it, that first flush of shock, pleasure, or revulsion endures.
Sometimes you don’t make art that changes the world.
Sometimes you make art that just makes someone’s shitty day a little bit easier to bear.
And that?
That’s damn good too.