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General Writing Tips, Guides and Advice

Plot and Conflict

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All About Names

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sarcasm is my only defense: Masterlist of Writing Help for Writers

Crap Cutting Core Characters

10 11 vital questions to ask yourself about your character before you start writing.

Internal 1. What do they want and why do they want it? 2. What scares the hell out of them? (Alone? Dark? Poor?) 3. What did they believe by the time they were 10? (Big boys don’t cry?) 4. What is their fundamental truth? (Family first? Good things come to those who wait?) 5. What makes them happy?  (What do they think will make them happy?)

External 1. What are their family relationships like?  2. Who do they look up to? 3. Friends - people typically hang out with others who are like-minded    4. Is there anyone they do/don’t trust? Why? 5. How do they talk? (Distinct voice, tone, style, make them stand out - formal, laid back, intellectual, do your research if you decide to use a speech disorder)

+1 Do they have any medical conditions that would have an impact on any of the answers above?

THIS IS AMAZING!! I have been looking for something like this! :D

I didn’t come this far to only come this far

Types of Motivations

Survival motivation: Characters with this type of motivation are trying to stay alive

Regret motivations: Characters did something they regret and want to make amends

Fear motivations: Characters are afraid of something bad happening (can range from murder to humiliation)

Nobel motivation: Characters doing something for the greater good, or for someone else

Basic motivations: Can include survival, curiosity, guilt, desire, or peer pressure.

Evil motivations: Can include hate, pride, revenge, greed, or jealousy

all it takes to be a ‘real writer’ is having written a single word outside of having to write for something like work or school. You do not need a degree, you do not need to have x many words written. you do not need to be published. all you gotta do, is love writing. remember that.

—

Tobias Wolff

20 Basic Plots

1. QUEST - the plot involves the Protagonist’s search for a person, place or thing, tangible or intangible (but must be quantifiable, so think of this as a noun; i.e., immortality).

2. ADVENTURE - this plot involves the Protagonist going in search of their fortune, and since fortune is never found at home, the Protagonist goes to search for it somewhere over the rainbow.

3. PURSUIT - this plot literally involves hide-and-seek, one person chasing another.

4. RESCUE - this plot involves the Protagonist searching for someone or something, usually consisting of three main characters - the Protagonist, the Victim & the Antagonist.

5. ESCAPE - plot involves a Protagonist confined against their will who wants to escape (does not include some one trying to escape their personal demons).

6. REVENGE - retaliation by Protagonist or Antagonist against the other for real or imagined injury.

7. THE RIDDLE - plot involves the Protagonist’s search for clues to find the hidden meaning of something in question that is deliberately enigmatic or ambiguous.

8. RIVALRY - plot involves Protagonist competing for same object or goal as another person (their rival).

9. UNDERDOG - plot involves a Protagonist competing for an object or goal that is at a great disadvantage and is faced with overwhelming odds.

10. TEMPTATION - plot involves a Protagonist that for one reason or another is induced or persuaded to do something that is unwise, wrong or immoral.

11. METAMORPHOSIS - this plot involves the physical characteristics of the Protagonist actually changing from one form to another (reflecting their inner psychological identity).

12. TRANSFORMATION - plot involves the process of change in the Protagonist as they journey through a stage of life that moves them from one significant character state to another.

13. MATURATION - plot involves the Protagonist facing a problem that is part of growing up, and from dealing with it, emerging into a state of adulthood (going from innocence to experience).

14. LOVE - plot involves the Protagonist overcoming the obstacles to love that keeps them from consummating (engaging in) true love.

15. FORBIDDEN LOVE - plot involves Protagonist(s) overcoming obstacles created by social mores and taboos to consummate their relationship (and sometimes finding it at too high a price to live with).

16. SACRIFICE - plot involves the Protagonist taking action(s) that is motivated by a higher purpose (concept) such as love, honor, charity or for the sake of humanity.

17. DISCOVERY - plot that is the most character-centered of all, involves the Protagonist having to overcome an upheavel(s) in their life, and thereby discovering something important (and buried) within them a better understanding of life (i.e., better appreciation of their life, a clearer purpose in their life, etc.)

18. WRETCHED EXCESS - plot involves a Protagonist who, either by choice or by accident, pushes the limits of acceptable behavior to the extreme and is forced to deal with the consequences (generally deals with the psychological decline of the character).

19. ASCENSION - rags-to-riches plot deals with the rise (success) of Protagonist due to a dominating character trait that helps them to succeed.

20. DECISION - riches-to-rags plot deals with the fall (destruction) of Protagonist due to dominating character trait that eventually destroys their success.

by Pavel Simakov

I never understood why writers, and artists in general, should either go big otherwise they have failed. Like yes, I probably won’t be the next Stephen King and that is fine. I may as well publish a book or two, give a couple of interviews in the local newspapers and have a fanbase of like 1000 people. And it would be fine. Sure I would love to get big, but I’m also a real pessimist so…

Anyways the point is, for any other job the average is good. A doctor doesn’t have to find the cure for cancer to be respected. An architect doesn’t have to build the next Eiffel tower. A teacher is doing enough just by teaching a dozen of children how to read and write.

Just do your thing. Make sure you are doing it well. Keep your hopes high but don’t ever consider yourself less because society said so.

I’d personally be thrilled with 1000 true fans. I think a lot of indie writers would be. I think you’re underestimating the persistence and work that getting that sort of a following takes. There’s a marketing theory that all a creative needs is 1000 true fans to make a living.

Of course it takes more than publishing one or two books to get to that point. (I know this having published 2 books!). But if I had 1000 true fans, ie people who will buy every book I publish, and some of them willing to shell out a bit more for extras on Patreon then I’d be making serious income. Not quit your day job level (not at the speed I’m currently writing) but well on the way. And I’d definitely consider myself a success.

Fun OC Questions

1. Have they ever brought home a stray animal? If so, how did that go?

2. What is something that your OC and their best friend knows about one another that no one else would know?

3. How does your OC greet their best friend in public?

4. How does your OC greet their partner in public?

5. Your OC meets a magical talking frog with a quest, what is your OC’s next move?

6. What song does your OC goes absolutely wild to? Describe how they get wild.

7. Your OC is running from the guards, why are they most likely running from them?

8. How would your OC describe their best friend using three words to a stranger?

9. Your OC decides they can dye their own hair, with their very little knowledge about hair, how does this go? Do they have their friends with them, supporting them? Do they do it when they are alone? Do they do it before a big and upcoming event?

10. Your OC accidentally becomes a vampire for a day, what is the first thing they do with their new found powers?

11. Your OC decides to dress as their best friend for Halloween as a joke, what do they do to look like their best friend?

12. What is something completely random about your OC that even you, as the writer, find confusing?

13. How does your OC celebrate their birthday? What is their wildest birthday story?

14. Your OC and their friends decides to go to a restaurant at 3am, what restaurant are they going to, and why are going to a restaurant at 3am?

15. Your OC now gets to strut around in a cape, what colour is the cape and what do they accessorize the cape with?

HMU!

There are 3 brands of character songs, any song you associate with a character will fit one or more of these categories:

1. The lyrics fit

2. The song just carries those Character Vibes, often times inexplicably, regardless of lyrics

3. You really liked that song at the same time you liked the character

These are the facts

I love a writer that loves their own work!! hell yeah!

Want me to gush about my OCs?

Send me a “🖊+an OC“ and I will talk about that OC! It can be a headcanon, a fun fact, a small paragraph of backstory- anything!

Alternatively, send in just a “🖊“ and I will talk about any one of my OCs at random!

Facebook / Twitter / Ko-fi / Buy the book

My main problem as a writer is that I don’t write because “I have a story to tell”. I write because there are worlds I want to visit, ideas I want to explore, people I want to meet, conversations I want to hear, emotions that I want to express, and impossibilities I want to make real.

Which means that I still need a fucking plot.

go on anon and tell me what u secretly think of me