If I was a famous author I would publish a book with ten different endings which all went to print with varying degrees of rarity, but not tell the fans about it so that I could watch their confusion as they disagree over how the story ended. Then when they figured it out I would ‘come clean’, telling them that I had released eleven alternate endings and watch them panic again as they all try to find the last ending.
are you satan
Writing Tips 77: Naomi’s Advice for writing Abusive Relationships
I was asked to make a rebloggable version.
1. Be bold, vicious and detailed.
There are different kinds of abuse and they are all damaging to a person. In our current social climate it seems to me that authors and readers have no idea what an abusive relationship is. Bella Swan and Edward Cullen are in an abusive relationship. Travis Maddox and Abby from Beautiful Disaster are in an abusive relationship. Braden and Joss from “On Dublin Street” are not quite there, but they are straddling the line. Christian Grey from “Fifty Shades of Grey” is probably the most terrifyingly controlling man in any book I have ever read and it has nothing to do with the fact that he is into the BDSM lifestyle.
If you are going to write an abusive relationship you have to be aware that abuse has been glamorized and glossed over. Extreme jealousy is now seen as romantic, because “he’s so afraid of losing me.” If a guy isn’t insanely passionate, breaking down doors and watching the heroine sleep then “he doesn’t care enough.” If the guy is trying to isolate the heroine, have control of the way she dresses or where she goes it’s because “he doesn’t want to share me.”
It is scary as hell out there and if you are going to write this kind of relationship you have to go for it 100%. You can not dilute or gloss over how horrible it is. You have to make it very clear that this is not romantic, it is not sweet, it is abusive and this kind of guy may love you forever, but he will probably also destroy you in the mean time
2. Research.
Everyone is different. Every relationship is different, which means that every abusive relationship is also different. Do research. When I was in film school I wrote a short film about a woman who runs from an abusive relationship. I did hours of research on the web. Do you know that survivors of domestic abuse run blogs and websites? These incredible women put all their emotions on the web in the hopes that women who are living through it will read it and be inspired to leave. It is amazing. These stories will break your heart, they will piss you off, frighten you and fill you with conviction. There were nights where I wanted to grab a baseball bat and just go after these husbands. The point is that I found two stories that touched me so deeply, I wrote for hours.
If you have never been in this kind of relationship you have NO IDEA what it’s like. You have no idea, so don’t for a second think that you can come up with these emotions from scratch. If you want to delve deep into the brain of the victim, of the person who sleeps beside their abuser every night, then you have to find their thoughts. You still wont really know what it’s like, but this will give you a better starting point then your preconceived notions of what it means to be abused.
Fantasy World Maps
Anonymous asked: Do you have any advice for someone who is trying to build a fantasy world map?A map, you say? Well, here’s this article on city design by Jon Roberts of Fantastic Maps. Here’s another from him on how to design a town and another on worldbuilding using maps. That last one might be the most useful to you.
Here are a few more how-tos on fantasy map-making:
- GHMaps: Making Fantasy Maps
- Fantasy-Faction: Mapmaking for Fantasy Authors
- R.L. Meyers: How to Create Your Own Fantasy World Map
- StormTheCastle: Map Making for Fantasy Writers
- eHow: How to Make & Design Fantasy Maps
- HubPages: Drawing a Fantasy Map for Your Novel or Short Story
Want more? Here are some articles on Fantasy genre development that might pique your interest!
- Fantasy Worldbuilding Questions by Patricia C. Wrede
- Writing Science Fiction and Fantasy: A Few Quick Tips
- Fantasy Cliches (and other things) I Can’t Stand
- The Writers Helpers: Fantasy Genre Help
- Book List: Journeys and Quests
- Ten Fantasy Clichés That Should Be Put to Rest
- Writing Science Fiction/Fantasy: What to Avoid
Thank you for your question! If you have further questions or a comment to add, hit us up!
-C
How I picture my action scenes
How I write my action scenes
» How To Poison Your Fictional Characters
A short list of several types of poison and their effects.
So, today’s my birthday, and for some reason I always end up waking up really early when I get a year older. We’re talking five am early. So, I wake up and go get some breakfast before I take a shower, and my dad’s up because he’d getting ready to head of to our stand at the flea market.
He greets me with the biggest smile, and tells me happy birthday over a cup of coffee (really good Guatemalan brand coffee too. I highly recommend you all try some.) And before he goes off for the day, he gives me a hug and kiss and he tells me, “Thanks for making me a dad.”
Yeah, I’m happy, and I wanted to share. Have a good day guys!
Tips on - Describing Hairstyles
Writing about hair and hairstyles is something that always seemed more difficult to me than other kinds of physical description for a character. And there will always be a point, as a writer where you’ll have to describe what your character’s hair look like, no matter if it’s always like this or for a special occasion. So, I collected some links I thought could be useful on the matter, whether about the writing part in itself or more an ‘inspiration part’
WRITING
- List of colors, hair types and hairstyles
- List of words to use in a character’s description (three parts about hair, but a lot of other things)
- 200 words to describe hair
- How to describe hair
- Words used to describe the state of people’s hair
- How to describe your haircut
- Hair color sharts
IN HISTORY
- 1920’s hairstyles (women)
- Roman Hairstyles
- The history of hair colors
- History of Hair
- Hairstyles History
INSPIRATION AND IDEAS
- Ponytails (with small descriptions for each)
- Wavy hairstyles (with descriptions as well)
- ‘Simple’ hairstyles (with descriptions)
- Hairstyles pictures
- Hairstyle gallery (contains some DIY with descriptions in the right categories)
- Braids (three words description/names)
- Hairstyle general tag
- Wedding Hairstyles
- Men Hairstyles
- Hairstyles Gallery (some descriptions, well organized)
- Hairstyle describe personality
Five quick tips to get into revising that manuscript
I love revision. But I also really, really hate it. It’s hard work, and it’s a lot of critical hard work. One of the hardest parts is sitting my butt down and forcing myself to get to it, so as I delay doing just that, here are some of the rituals I do that help me focus:
- Take care of primary needs. This means I’ve eaten, because food in my belly keeps my energy up and focused, and whenever my thinking power starts to wane, I know I need to eat again and I do so as soon as I can. Anything else I might need (such as tissues or snacks) I make sure is within arm’s reach of me.
- Take care of ritual needs. For me, this means I go through my dashboard first, make my tea, detox for a bit, do some blog work and cross a few to-do’s off my list, perhaps go for a walk, and then begin rereading where I last left off. A set pattern that I follow makes it easier for me to get into working mode.
- Listen to a few songs that pump me up. Upbeat songs get my creative powers focused, but the key is that I can’t be scrolling Tumblr or reading something else simultaneously. I have to listen to a few songs, let myself think only about my story, and become fully immersed and invested. This helps create a driving need to work on it.
- Revise in solitude. When I write, I write to music. When I revise, it’s more like library time. I need to be able to hear my story without the music, to see it clearly and without any influence that music gives. If I don’t have absolute quiet, I keep my headphones on to block out noise. If my street’s particularly noisy, I have rain, or white noise to block out distracting noise.
- Seven minutes of uninterrupted focus. The first few minutes are agonizing, torturous, and I writhe and resist and only by the sheer force of will am I able to press on. But after those first few minutes, I completely switch on and go with great speed.
