I Love The Ambiguity Of The Term ‘WIP’. Is It A Project In It’s Third Draft? A Final Draft Being

Beware the Ides of March 🔪

Very much inspired by this post by @papanorth

🦉 new fantasy writeblr? do me a solid and reblog this.

by new I mean anyone who started anywhere between 2018-2020. my dash is so dead, it needs your content and I want to get to know all the cool content creators who turned up while I was sleeping on this platform. help me.

✨WIN AN ANIMATED CHARACTER DRAWING!! ✨ 

Hey guys, decided to do a follower giveaway to welcome the new year! Wanted to say a HUGE thank you to all of you for sticking with me and my various fandom and OC obsessions. I wish I could draw stuff for every single one of you! 

Giveaway Rules:

Reblog this to participate. Multiple reblogs count, but try not to spam!

Must be following me (new follows welcome!)

Ends January 1st. Winner must respond within 2 days!

The animation will be relatively simple, like the above examples—no complex fight scenes or run cycles etc.

Drop me a message if you have any questions! Thanks again, and good luck!

Psychology for writers: first impressions matter

I was thinking about plotting, and about telling a story chronologically or not.

It reminded me of first impressions and the primacy effect. Solomon Asch studied this in the 1940s I think. The primacy effect shows us that we appoint more weight to information that we learn first than to information we learn later.

He studied this by giving two groups of people a list of personality traits. For example, group one is introduced to a woman, “This is Anna. She is beautiful, funny, spiteful and mean.” Group two, however, hears this: “This is Anna. She is mean, spiteful, funny and beautiful.”

The second list is of course the reverse of the first list. You would think that both people form the same impression of Anna, because they are given the same adjectives. But no. Group one had a more positive impression of Anna and were more prepared to forgive her for her meanness and spitefulness than group two.

This is how you can use the primacy effect for your characters:

Introduce your main character by showing her doing something good first.

If you plan to redeem a villain in the end and make your readers feel positive towards him, show him having some small positive traits first, for example petting his kitten.

If you want your readers to go, “I knew this character was bad even though everyone trusted him, I just had this feeling he’s up to no good!”, show him doing something bad first, like kicking the kitten, and then some good acts. (”I never forgave him for kicking that helpless kitten!”)

Flashbacks, flash forwards and other ways to tell your story non-chronologically can influence the impression your readers have of your characters compared to a linear, chronological story.

I hope this was helpful. Don’t hesitate to ask me any questions, and happy writing!

Follow me for more writing advice, or check out my other writing advice here. New topics to write advice about are also always welcome.

Tag list below, a few people I like and admire and of course, you can be too. If you like to be added to or removed from the list, let me know.

Keep reading

“Why are fanfictions always so much better written than canon??”

Because they’re catered to you and your ideas of what the characters, story, etc. should be, which doesn’t always line up with canon.

It’s not a matter of which one is objectively better, but of audience. 

Fanfiction is made for fans by fans with copious amounts of fanon concepts made to appeal to, well, the fandom. This is not inherently bad, and obviously the amount of fanons and which ones will vary from fic to fic, but given that the quote above generally only applies to fics the poster likes…yeah. That fic is written specifically for you and the people who agree with you. Again, not inherently a bad thing.

BUT that is not the case for canon. Canon is not written for the fandom; the fandom can’t form until after the canon exists. How that fandom changes as different people come and go as they decide they do or don’t like the directions canon takes is another story, but nonetheless unlike fanfiction it is not written to cater to fanon concepts and preferences. And “not catering to fanon” is not synonymous with “bad writing”.

Now that said, yes there are obviously fanfics out there that are objectively very well-written and creative, and yes there is canon material out there for whatever book/movie/tv show/etc that objectively isn’t so great.

But most of the time, your perception of fanfics is better because they’re tailored to your biases. Not because they’re objectively better-written.

Again, there’s nothing inherently wrong with that–it’s completely normal to prefer/enjoy things that fit your opinions/headcanons–but maybe step back and consider that a moment before you go and bash the creators of your favorite book/movie/show for not following the same plot of your favorite fic.

Let’s have more inconveniently weird characters in 2019

I want more characters who’s quirks haven’t been romanticized a gazillion times.

Oh shyboy#42728 sits alone at lunch with his sketch book? He’s a brilliant artist but he doesn’t talk to anyone? What a weirdo.

Imnotliketheothergirls#123567889 has a passion for reading unlike every other girl in her school?

Nah man. Let’s spice things up, i want more neurodivergent characters with wack (but healthy) coping methods. let’s normalize and romantisize the fact that some people are weird and this is not a bad thing.

I’m talking about that boy who talks to people he’s made up when he’s upset. He introduces each of them to the girl he likes and she thinks it’s cute.

There’s a girl that counts her steps and once she reaches 22 she can breath again. Her girlfriend walks with her.

They know ASL and sign the first letter of people’s words to deal with nerves. Their partner now knows how to sign their name.

When he thinks he might cry he looks for something blue to hold and/or chew on. His boyfriend gives him blue chew necklaces and they learned how to make blue food together.

It’s 2019 and being weird is not a negative trait, and all you funky kids deserve to feel loved because of it.

Constellations Ask Game

Project Asks:

Andromeda - Describe your main characters Aquarius - Who’s your least favorite character to write? Aries - Share a line that you’re proud of! Cancer - What’s the name of songs from the musical rendition of your project? (aka, have fun! come up with fun names) Cassiopeia - What’s your favorite scene so far? Corvus - Who or what is the villain of the story? Draco - Who’s your favorite character to write? Gemini - What inspired you to write this project? Hydra - Tell us why you love your project. Libra - Which relationship dynamic do you enjoy writing the most? Lyra - Give us a few songs that fit your project! Persei - What genre is this project in? Pyxis - Are there any major themes or messages you’re writing to show? Taurus - Tell us why you hate your project. Ursa Major - What scene are you looking forward to writing? Ursa Minor - What’s the setting?

Writer Asks: Apus -  What’s the hardest part about writing for you? Aquila - What do you do when you’re stuck in your writing? Caelum - Do you write outlines? Why or why not? Canis Major - Do you like writing character-driven stories or plot-driven stories?Canis Minor - Share an excerpt of old writing and new writing to see how far you’ve come! Crux - Villains or Heroes? Indus - Are there any characters or stories you miss writing? Tell us about them! Leo - Do you have a favorite place to write? Lupus - Have you abandoned other WIPs? Tell us about some and why you abandoned them? Musca - Do you like sharing your writing? Orion - Do you listen to music while writing? Pavo - Where do you get inspiration from? Phoenix - How do you develop your ideas? Puppis - Give us a piece of advice! (about anything) Sagittarius - Do you like to collaborate? Virgo - Describe your favorite tropes.

some fucking resources for all ur writing fuckin needs

body language masterlist

a translator that doesn’t eat ass like google translate does

a reverse dictionary for when ur brain freezes

550 words to say instead of fuckin said

638 character traits for when ur brain freezes again

some more body language help