.:Developing Your Own Species:. by Veidara, literature
Literature
.:Developing Your Own Species:.
• Unusual Characteristics: Creating a species usually stems from the writer envisioning a character or a group with characteristics impossible for a human to have. Determine what odd characteristics you have in mind for your characters and collect them together to begin to form traits of a species. Determine any unusual markings or colorations, how they hold themselves, their tendencies, and begin to think about powers and special abilities apart from that which a human can do.
• Powers: Writing normal lice of life humans isn't for everyone. Characters with powers are unique and intriguing if you can write them as such. Be carefu
100 Questions to Ask Your OC by viralremix, literature
Literature
100 Questions to Ask Your OC
Hello, folks! The purpose of this exercise is to delve deep into a character's mind and tease out interesting eccentricities about them, the bits and pieces of unique information that make them special. Each question is designed to help think about the character more and understand them. Whether you're responding to one question or all of them, hopefully your character speaks to you all through it!
PERSONALITY PROFILE
1. People don't behave the same way all the time. In fact, they generally have a mask for every social group -- friends, family, business. Sometimes they have a different mask for different groups of friends. How does your
.:Create Your Own SPECIES Bio Template:. by Veidara, literature
Literature
.:Create Your Own SPECIES Bio Template:.
If you’re dabbling in the genres of supernatural, paranormal, fantasy, science fiction, and horror, you’re probably going to want to make at least one of your own species eventually. And that’s why I made this short and concise form for you to fill out! This form is free to use but only for those who give credit to me.
Species name:
Outward distinguishable feature of species:
Any notable habits/tendencies:
Any enhanced or extra powers or abilities:
Describe how they discover, train, and harness their abilities:
Various strengths and skills of the species overall:
Various weaknesses and detriments of the species overall:
An
Basic Statistics
Name:
Nickname:
Meaning of name:
Origin of name:
Age:
Sex:
Blood type:
Nationality:
Ethnicity:
Race:
Sexual Orientation:
Current status:
Political Party:
Police/Criminal/Legal record:
Socioeconomic level as a child:
Socioeconomic level as an adult:
Birth date:
Birth place:
Current residence:
Occupation:
Title/Rank:
Hobbies/Pastimes:
Talents/Skills/Powers:
Past History
Hometown:
First Memory:
Most important childhood event that still affects him/her:
Why/How?
Other memories/events that still affects him/her and why/how:
Past failures s/he would be embarrassed to have people know about and why:
Bigg
Note: I wrote this after reading a similar article in The Writer magazine about a year ago. Hope it's helpful!
Not all characters are created equal. Here are some steps to make yours superior.
1) Desire
Figure out what your character wants, needs, desires. A closer relationship with God? A place to belong? Just to survive? Figure it out. You cant move on to number 2 until you have.
2) Fear
Now that you know what your character most desires, you should be able to figure out what he/she most fears. Doing the wrong thing, being alone, death? They are the polar opposites of your characters desires.
3) History
Go back i
7 Steps to Creating a Great Protagonist by DesdemonaDeBlake, literature
Literature
7 Steps to Creating a Great Protagonist
PLEASE NOTE THAT WHILE THIS PAGE WILL REMAIN ACTIVE FOR PURPOSES OF EDUCATION AND RECORDS, IT IS OUTDATED. CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE NEWEST VERSION.
7 Steps to Creating a Great Protagonist
Anybody Can Write a Novel
Chapter 3 “Characters” – Section 3 “The Protagonist”
With Links to Supplementary Material
So I've talked about a couple types of protagonists, and how to create them: Heroes and Antiheroes. As well as what types of Character to Use or to Avoid. But not every Protagonist will be a hero or antihero. Today, I'm going to discuss what universal attributes make a great protagonist, that will drive your
Please copy and paste this into a Word document or deviation. Then highlight the information after the colons and type over it.
Setting
Time/Era: Exact year or approximate time
Name of Country: For fun, you could alter the name of an old country to amuse more educated readers. For example, I altered the Assyrian Empire's name for a conquering people to evoke images of brutality and Mesopotamia.
Geography: Keep track of all the places you mention and their approximate locations. I find it handy to draw a rough map of the area.
Landscape: Trees, soil, water, buildings... Imagine you were flying over the place in an airplane. What would you
Blank OC Reference Sheet by AmandaLyn11, literature
Literature
Blank OC Reference Sheet
Character Reference Sheet-ness
Basically this reference sheet covers pretty much everything a person would ever need to know about your character.. and then some.
-Basics-
Lets face it. If somebody were to just glance over the reference sheet, at least you can feel some reassurance in knowing that they got the bare minimum
Name (Nickname):
Age:
Please if youre going to give your character some ungodly, few centuries old, age, make sure to include what age they looks like. Otherwise all shall assume they appear to be a rumpled piece of leather, ran over by some sort of moving vehicle, after being regurgitated by a cat. Obvio
Story Writing for BEGINNERS by OokamiKasumi, literature
Literature
Story Writing for BEGINNERS
-----Original Message-----
I want to write a story. I have a couple of ideas, but no idea what to do with them, or even how to begin! Help?!
-- Newbie Writer
So when you wanna write a story, where do you begin? With your PASSION!
Write what you KNOW & LOVE
What do you KNOW, really? What do you love to Do, to Study, to Think About, to Talk About...? Whether it's cave-diving, model trains, skate-boarding, sewing, horses, mythology, ghost legends, or particle physics your passion is where you will find your most unique and powerful work.
Make a list of all the things you know well and all the things you've done -- seriously! Mythology
5 Tips for Casual Writers by DesdemonaDeBlake, literature
Literature
5 Tips for Casual Writers
5 Tips for Casual Writers
Anybody Can Write a Novel
Chapter 9 “Types of Writers” – Section 5 “Casual Writers”
With Links to Supplementary Material
I finally have internet again, and so will be talking today about Casual Writing—an attitude toward storytelling that is more laid back and finds a secondary place when compared to other interests. There is great power in this sort of writing that comes through a greater sense of detachment from the words on the page, which allows for very powerful editing, and no feeling of being hurried. However, as a secondary skill and interest, there must be measures i
Fishing for INSPIRATION? by OokamiKasumi, literature
Literature
Fishing for INSPIRATION?
Fishing for INSPIRATION?
~~~~~~~~~~~
Your imagination is a pond that you fish your ideas from. Like any fishing pond, what you catch depends on what you've stocked your pond with and how much you put in there. If you fish for only the occasional idea, your little ideas have time to breed creatively until they overflow the pond, leaping right out into your hand -- and onto your keyboard. If you fish a lot, you will have to restock -- Frequently.
A Dry Pond = Writer's Block
What's in YOUR Imagination?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What do you KNOW?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What do you love to Do, to Study, to Think About, to Talk About...? Make a lis
How to Start and Stay Writing by illuminara, literature
Literature
How to Start and Stay Writing
I recently solicited my watchers to ask me writing questions that I would then attempt to answer in a writing guide such as this. This article is my first response, and there will be many more to come.
I've been asked to give advice on ways a writer can begin to put words on a page. The bottom line is as simple as this: sit your butt down and write.
Duh, right? It's the only way I know to actually write.
Sure, sitting your butt in a chair is easy, but getting your fingers to move and stay moving is a challenge. Here are three things that have helped me.
1) Have a goal.
Your goal can be as simple as "describe the person in this picture" o
Writing Chapters Tutorial v.2 by TahBayEss, literature
Literature
Writing Chapters Tutorial v.2
DaGrblz's Process to Writing Chapters
version 2
Step 1: Plot Planning
Make a sort of timeline for your whole story.
-Draw a line across a paper
-Start the first entry at the very beginning, but write tiny and sideways, so there is room for every event on your timeline.
-This timeline gives general ideas of what will happen in the story.
-Now go back and mark the events of bigger importance and/or indicates a time skip/flashback in the story.
-This organizes my thoughts of where to begin and end a chapter.
Step 2: Chapter Planning
Write out the specific events of the chapter you are about to write.
-Get a piece of noteboo
The Wasteland AKA the MIDDLE by OokamiKasumi, literature
Literature
The Wasteland AKA the MIDDLE
The Trackless Wasteland known as: The MIDDLE
-----Original Message-----
The middle (of a story) KILLS me. I freeze when I have to decide which way things are going to go, and how, and that happens during the middle for me.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-----Original Message-----
Middle, middle, middle... It's the Slough of Despond!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
-----Original Message-----
The Middle is where I usually fizzle out.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The middle is DANGEROUS territory.
Why? Because the Middle of a story is where you have a million-and-one options, a million-and-one directions to choose from, and a million-and-one ways to really sho
I Have Writer's Block! by MissLunaRose, literature
Literature
I Have Writer's Block!
Don't panic. Don't blame yourself. Writer's block requires a thoughtful, logical approach. Give yourself a little grace and time to think.
The first thing we tend to do when we have writer's block is to leave the book. We close the file or notebook and say we'll get to it later. Well, sometimes that works, but sometimes we still haven't touched it a week later. Or a month later. At that point things get a little worrisome. That's why I've compiled this list.
1. Try taking a walk or bike ride. Sometimes you just need the time to yourself. I know you've probably heard this before, but that's because it works. Let your mind drift to your chara
Tips and advice for writing better angst by Animedemon001, literature
Literature
Tips and advice for writing better angst
Before you start writing the most tragic back story ever for your character, I’d like to point out that not all good characters need angst. Its best if used sparingly and not the main focus of the plot. Also, just because someone’s OC has an angsty past, does not immediately make said character a Mary-Sue. If they have angst for all the wrong reasons, then they are a Mary-Sue.
If you are writing certain types of trauma (rape, child abuse, ect.) try to include a trigger warning, unless it is a fanfiction of something that possesses the same exact type of trauma.
Part one: Writing Angst in General
First decide why you want to gi
6 Tips for Creating Paragraphs in Your Novel by DesdemonaDeBlake, literature
Literature
6 Tips for Creating Paragraphs in Your Novel
6 Tips for Creating Paragraphs in Your Novel
Anybody Can Write a Novel 2.0 Chapter 7 “Editing” – Section 2 “The Paragraph”
“I will try to cram these paragraphs full of facts and give them a weight and shape no greater than that of a cloud of blue butterflies.”
-Brendan Gill
Once you have completed a first draft that is broken down by carefully constructed plot-points and chapter breaks, the next element you need to look at is the paragraph. Think of paragraphs as the glue by which you hold the sentences, which form your story, into cohesive and unified ideas. The difficulty, however, is that
------Original Message------
"If you have Action and Dialogue, do you really NEED Description too?
What is the difference?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Layers of Fiction
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dialogue Only
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Himawari-chan, I have your lunch!"
"Ah, Watanuki-kun!"
"Here you go Himawari-chan!"
"Thank you, Watanuki-kun!"
"You are very welcome, Himawari-chan."
"I see. Of course. Thank you, Yuuko-san. Do I need to tell you what she said?"
"No! No, you don't, and I don't want to hear it! I don't need a freaking baby-sitter!"
"Yuuko thinks you do."
"That's her! Not me!"
"Are you a fortune-teller?"
"No! Of course not!"
"I'll
REALITY CHECK!
Writing for Profit
It's Not just an Adventure - It's a JOB.
Whoever told you that writing fiction for publication - for money - is supposed to be Artistic, Fun, or Easy -- LIED.
Writing may look artistic, and creative writing certainly is artistic (that's why they call it Creative Writing,) but writing for a living; writing for publication with the intent to get paid on a regular basis is NOT artistic, it's NOT always fun, and it certainly is NOT easy.
Writing for publication is WORK. Sure, some of it is fun, but the bulk of it is mind-bending, eye-straining work. Don't get me wrong, creativity is part of the job of writi
10 Tips for Creating a Protagonist by DesdemonaDeBlake, literature
Literature
10 Tips for Creating a Protagonist
10 Tips for Creating a Protagonist
Anybody Can Write a Novel 2.0
Chapter 5 “Characters” – Section 2 “Protagonists”
(Previous Tutorial) (Next Tutorial)
“Plot is people. Human emotions and desires founded on the realities of life, working at cross purposes, getting hotter and fiercer as they strike against each other until finally there’s an explosion—that’s Plot.”
—Leigh Brackett
Apart from Primary and Secondary Protagonists, there are many other different protagonist characters-types that can drive a story—ranging from heroes, to villains, to antiheroes
Essentials of a Short Story by OokamiKasumi, literature
Literature
Essentials of a Short Story
Essentials of a Short Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Quotes raped from a critique of Nathanial Hawthorn's Twice Told Tales by
Edgar Allen Poe - 1837
Edgar Allen Poe, celebrated as one of the finest short fiction writers of all time, was also a literary critic. These are bits of his wisdom on writing short stories, gleaned from one of his critiques.
"The true critic will but demand that that the (story's) design intended be accomplished, to the fullest extent, by the means most advantageously applicable " -- Poe
Poe's Prerequisites -- in a Nutshell:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To deliver fullest satisfaction, a short story should be structured:
1) To
The Art of VILLAINY ~ Making Realistic Villains for your Fiction ~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"People will do far more to Avoid Pain than they will to Seek Pleasure."
-- CIA Profiler Gavin DeBecker on Human Nature
True Predators
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When I craft a villain, I go out of my way to make darned sure that my fictional villains are as realistic as the villains we face in real life. I begin by giving them ordinary human Issues.
Within every villain (fictional and non-fictional) there's a human issue at core that drives them to BE villains in the first place. Even mass murderers have reasons (however twisted) for doing what they do.
NO villain