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NEW STORY

Follow a Demon stalk his prey... or is it his prey?

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A Vicious Cycle

The cycle — that was all Ceorcar could think about. It was all around him. Every step he took, every breath he pushed through his lungs, every battle he suffered through was in service to it. In his younger years he was blind to it. Though now, as he stood as the new Grandmentor of the Huntrivikyos Order, he could see it everywhere. Ceorcar was tethered to it; all he could do was play his part.

In his childhood, Nalias had told him that there was always an exception to every idiom and law. Ceorcar often pondered these words for the rest of his life. He found it paradoxical: if every certainty had its exception, then Nalias’ own rule had to have one. Yet, with every natural law, Ceorcar could find inconsistencies. Every mandate was bound to be broken: not all Cou-ul were bound to their hatred, not all Sprites were without spirit, not all Humans were infallible, and some cycles were broken. Not everything was made to last forever.

However, in these years after the ‘final’ war, he might have found an exception to Nalias’ old saying. The cycle of life and the struggle that came with it was eternal, and there was no escape from participating. Even the Goddesses were not immune to it; they struggled and fell as all mortals did. Humans, who walked the line of mortality and godhood, were still bound to the Doro Nand and forever intertwined with its fate. Though, they were only bound to it as long as they lived, and death came for all at some point. Even if Huntrivikyos could live forever, they were still human. Ceorcar was eventually going to slip up and perish all the same. He wasn’t the first Grandmentor, and he doubted that he would be the last.

There were some things that Ceorcar couldn’t control, and this brought him comfort. Actions had consequences, but some things happened no matter what choices he made — not everything was his fault or his triumph. This simple fact lessened the burden on his shoulders, but didn’t nullify it. No matter what, he still had to lead. To this very day, one hundred or so years after being named Nalias’ successor, Ceorcar felt unfit to lead. The fact that he had the lives of others in his hands was daunting, and someday those lives will be cut short. It was something that he had to live with.

Ceorcar ran his fingers down Nalias’ broken blade. Even if a hundred years have passed since Nalias’ death, the loss of his grandfather never stopped hurting. Ceorcar used to blame himself for it, but he came to understand something: Nalias had made his choice, and there was nothing Ceorcar could have done. All that Ceorcar could do now was try his best.

The young Grandmentor could hardly know what the future will hold, but he resolved to walk this path to the very end, even if it will cost him his life at some point. In the futility of the cycle there was life, and it was this life that Ceorcar was bound to protect. His people will not fall. He was willing to sacrifice anything to keep them safe, even the lives of his fellow Huntrivikyos. Although this fact pained him, he knew that as a Huntrivik he was willing to lay down his life for others, and he did not doubt that the others felt the same. He knew that even if he blamed himself, they wouldn’t blame him.

He knew who he was now, and what he had to do. The cycle was his burden to bear.

Ceorcar reverently gripped the hilt of Nalias’ sword and inspected it. The jagged, irregular edges of the shattered weapon stood in stark contrast to the expert Sprite craftsmanship of the hilt. The deep silver blade itself was starting to show signs of rust. Ceorcar always meant to clean the sword at some point, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that Nalias would have died laughing if he caught the boy trying to clean a broken blade. Ceorcar chuckled quietly to himself. It certainly would be an odd sight.

As Ceorcar thumbed the sharp, jagged edges of the blade, he heard a knock on his door. The Grandmentor sighed. He didn’t have any meetings until three hours past midday, and this disturbance was unexpected.

“Come in,” he said, trying his best to mask his disappointment.

The door opened and a young Huntrivik made her way inside the office. Her light armor and leather harnesses showed little to no wear, and the design of a serpent rested on her spotless dark-green cloak — a new graduate with little experience, and his personal apprentice.

“Acrethos, Grandmentor. I’m sorry to bother you, but I have important news for you,” the Huntrivik apologized.

“It’s okay, Rainor. What is it?”

“We intercepted a Thraika passing through the mountain range in the south. He was a messenger of sorts — a message for you.” Rainor elaborated.

“This is the farthest west a Thraika has ever been. Hardly a good sign,” Ceorcar said mostly to himself, “You said it had a message for me? Where is it then?” Rainor shifted her weight nervously. “It perished shortly after telling me its message.”

Ceorcar immediately grew curious regarding the circumstances of its passing, but elected to ignore it and not question her about it further, for now. “Then tell me what it’s message was.”

“Actually Grandmentor, it was more of a challenge,”

“A challenge?” Rainor nodded solemnly. “The Thraikas told me that a Human now leads them, and that this Human personally wants to duel you.”

Ceorcar’s heart sank. Deep down he knew who this other Human was. There was only one who was willing to betray his people like this, going against his nature. Ceorcar’s past was coming to haunt him once more.

“His name — what was his name?” the Grandmentor asked

“It’s him. Yuanor has returned,” Rainor confirmed what Ceorcar had already known.

Ceorcar set down Nalias’ blade and picked up his hatchet and knife, nestling them into their holsters. The Grandmentor walked out of his office, Rainor following close behind.

“Where are you heading?” she asked, trying to keep pace.

“Settling old scores and reopening old wounds. Kaivir is in charge until I get back,” Ceorcar left without another word.

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I mean I don’t intentionally read books that I hate, but every so often I find a book with prose so flat it gives me a bone deep “I could do it better than that” reaction and that propels me into writing, so I like to keep books like that around.

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Horror literature is better than horror movies and games because authors can’t use jump scares and are forced to actually unnerve you with their writing instead of relying on people’s anxiety and expectations to be startled.

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Don’t let anyone tell you that writing is easy.

People oftentimes think that anyone can be a good writer because it’s just words. People might devalue writing and say that you should be doing something better and more lucrative with your time.

Writing takes effort, writing takes skill, writing takes discipline and writing takes practice.

It’s staying up until 6 in the morning because you want to get all of your thoughts down before you forget them. It’s tearing your hair out because you’re stuck, and you don’t know how to continue on. It’s rereading your writing and hating the words you’ve written because they sound so stilted and boring.

Writers, what you are doing now is an impressive thing. You’re attempting to create an entire world from scratch, create compelling characters that will capture the hearts of readers, trying to explain that brilliant scene in words when you can visualize it so clearly in your mind.

It can be a really difficult and daunting task, but you’re doing it and you’re doing it well. It’s not worthless, it’s not meaningless, and it has a lot of value. 

Writing is the joy of your characters coming to life. It’s the rush that you get when you finally get to that one scene you’ve been dying to write. It’s feeling like you want to cry when someone tells you that they loved what you wrote. It’s that sense of accomplishment you get when you can look back at what you’ve written and say “wow… I actually did this.” It’s the sense of fulfillment you get when you’ve had a productive day. It’s those long days of just thinking about how your story is going to surprise you, and planning ahead 20 novels in advance because you love your writing and your story. It’s the joy of creating, the fruits of your labor, and the excitement of sharing it with other people who will love it just as much as you do.

Nothing will ever take that away from you. Let yourself be proud of being a writer. Give yourself a pat on your back and say “Hey you know what? I love writing, and I’m doing great.” Because you are. You’re doing something really hard, and you’re doing it well.

Writing is an art that can touch people’s hearts, and if that’s not magical I don’t know what is.

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Not to be furiously antimodern but like. Existence has meaning

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When you get the advice to “read more” to get better at writing, it’s not very concise and really sounds unhelpful after the third time you’ve heard it. So here, this is what you’re getting out of it (besides grammar or whatever):

You observe the way a story is organized and how it achieves its flow

You become familiar with tropes and archetypes

Story structure becomes an easy to recall memory, and every novel you’ve ever read becomes a reference book

You develop how you write stylistically, the things you hate and the things you try to emulate

You gain the skills to critique books in a smart manner, and therefore can recognize flaws in your own works that you remember bashing a novel for

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Man, why don’t people pay for writing? Artist paints a little thing? They sell it. Writer writes a little thing?

Hnnnggg I dunno dude. Here’s a list of hundreds of literary journals. Maybe a handful of them will give you 60 bucks once if you beg and win the lottery of life.

Go write for exposure! Entertain us! We are not entertained! *spits*

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I’m not sure if you all realize how much it means to a writer when you comment on their work. It’s more than a like or a reblog, it’s actual interaction between you and the writer.

It doesn’t even have to be about the work! Tell them how you stayed up late reading, how your day is just a little better because of their work.

Heck, just stop by to say hi!

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Paragraphs and When to Break Them

anonymous  asked:

I always have problems with paragraph breaks. Is there such thing as too many paragraph breaks? Also, I have a feeling only fanfictions or internet fics have paragraphs when a new character speaks. Do printed books also do that? Because I didn’t see that I think.

While there is some degree of personal style to paragraph construction, there are still very specific rules about when you should start a new paragraph.

You should start a new paragraph when…

1. A different person is speaking

So, what you’re seeing in fan-fiction is actually correct. Every time a different character speaks, it should begin a new paragraph. Even if they only say a single word or a few words, it will appear on the line alone. Here’s an example from The Raven Boys by Maggie Stiefvater:

The conversation is between Maura and “the man,” with Persephone chiming in at the end. 

Paragraph 1 (Maura) “It’s when…” Paragraph 2 (the man) “Is it more…” Paragraph 3 (Maura) “Not if you…” Paragraph 4 (the man) “Fine…” Paragraph 5 (Maura) gestured for… (and later) “Persephone, would you…” Paragraph 6 (Persephone) “Oh dear…”

2. Someone else does something

You should also start a new paragraph when someone else starts to do something. Look at this example from The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins:

Paragraph 1 - Gale tosses a berry toward Katniss. Paragraph 2 - Katniss catches the berry in her mouth and eats it. Paragraph 3 - Gale pulls out his knife as Katniss watches.

3. When a character first appears in a scene

When a character first appears in a scene, whether they arrive during the scene or were already there but haven’t been pointed out yet, you should start a new paragraph. Take a look at this scene from Twilight by Stephenie Meyer:

Paragraph 1 - Bella describes the inside of Edward’s house upon arrival. Paragraph 2 - Bella first notices Edward’s parents waiting to greet her.

4. The scene shifts when something new happens

Sometimes something occurs in a scene that changes the mood or the trajectory of a scene. It could be your character starting to feel sick at a party because they’re coming down with the flu. It could be flashing lights because the police just arrived to break up the party. Or maybe the music suddenly stops because the party host’s parents are standing in the front doorway looking aghast. Here’s an example from The Beholder by Anna Bright:

When the music quiets and the doors swing open, a new paragraph begins. Now, in this case a character also speaks. Personally, I might have started another new paragraph for that, but that’s a style choice, like I mentioned earlier.

5. When the “camera” moves

If you imagine everything happening in the novel as being “on screen,” any time something happens that would require “the camera” to pan over to something else or be moved to a new position, that’s a good time to start a new paragraph. 

6. The time or place changes

Any time you skip ahead in time (for example, “Later that day…” or “The following week…”) or the setting changes (such as, “Meanwhile, two doors down, Angie was being grounded…” or “When we got to gym class…”

7. The subject changes or a new idea is introduced

If your protagonist narrator is expounding upon the layout of their village, and then they begin to talk about their dystopian government, that should happen in a new paragraph. That way, you don’t get something like, “My friend Peeta waved as I passed the bakery and made my way toward the market. The Capitol had been ruling Panem for centuries, and it was not a forgiving government.” See how that’s confusing? She’s talking about bakeries and markets, then makes this non sequitur about the government.

If you need help remembering, go to Google Image Search and type in “paragraph rules.” You’ll typically find lots of colorful graphics that lay out these rules, so you can pick one you like, print it out, and keep it handy when you’re writing. :)

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Tolkien is god tier i love him

every time I see the words “Tolkien ripoff” in reference to fantasy I laugh, because while there’s a lot of Tolkien ripoff in worldbuilding it almost never crops up in plot or theme or characterization

like

where are my stories about the decay of the world from the glory of days gone by?

where’s the motif of limb loss?

where’s the longing for the return of something worth following?

where are the bloodthirsty oaths that tear sanity to shreds?

where are the evil spirits who try and destroy the gods with steampunk V-1 buzz bombs (looking at you, The Lost Road)?

where’s my continent-wide dialectical shift ending in massive arguments over the proper pronunciation of a name? where’s my family drama centered around sparkly rocks? where are my dragons the size of mountain ranges?

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Warning to writers

While you are worrying about whether beta readers will steal your ideas, there is a more genuine threat on the horizon.

When offered a publishing contract, please do all your research before you sign. There are a number of fakes and scammers out there, as well as good-intentioned amateurs that don’t know how to get your work to a wide audience. I won’t tell the heartbreaking stories here - there are too many.

Being published badly is worse than being never published.

It can destroy your career and your dreams.

The quick check is to google the publishing house name + scam or warning.

But, to be sure, check with these places first. They aren’t infallible (nothing is) but they can help you protect yourself. They are written and maintained by expereinced writers, editors, publishers and legal folks.

Absolute Write: Bewares and Background Checks

Preditors and editors

Writer Beware

and the WRITER BEWARE blog

Keep yourself and your work safe.

This is really important, so if you are a writer or have writer friends, or you are a writing blog, please reblog it.

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Things I Try to Remember When I’m Nervous About Writing

1. Write what you want to read. 

2. There is no problem with a story so great that it cannot be fixed in revision. Keep going.

3. If your story is as uncreative as you think it is, you wouldn’t want to write it so badly. You want to write it because there’s a unique spin on it you have never seen, and want to express. Many people may write similar stories, but it’s the details that make it personal. You may not know it now, but there is someone who is looking for exactly what you’re writing. If you don’t finish it, they’ll never see it. 

4. You can write something amazing and still be met with silence. There are myriad reasons for this that have nothing to do with the quality of what you produce. 

4.1 It’s okay to repeat post your work if no one has seen it. 

4.2 It’s okay to post your work in multiple places.

5. You don’t have to agree with every criticism (but take it gracefully anyway). 

6. Most writers are scared of the same things you are.

7. Don’t judge your works in progress against the archives of finished, polished stories other writers have put together. Archives are Internet portfolios and generally don’t show all the multitude of failures, incomplete, and draft-form works those writers are also struggling with. They aren’t perfect and you don’t have to be, either. Keep working and you will have a portfolio of your own. 

8. Don’t be afraid to share your ideas with other writers. It’s not annoying as long as you’re not self-important about it. Be humble and gracious, and others will reciprocate.

8.1 You can’t write as well in a vacuum; the more people know that you are working on something, and what, the more support you will get for that work. Starting a dialogue before you post something will make it more likely people will read it when you do post it. 

9. It’s okay to take breaks. If the ideas just aren’t coming, go do something else for a while. 

10. Be kind to yourself. Don’t call yourself names. You are not a failure, or uncreative, or boring. You wouldn’t call other people those things, so don’t do it to yourself. 

I don’t know if these are helpful to other people, but they are helpful to me, so just in case, here they are!

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Hello. Your blog has a lot of great advice and thank you so much for sharing them, but i have another question for you: what are the best ways to share your work? On Tumblr and internet in general? I have some short stories I want to see the light of say, but i don't know where to share them and how. Thanks for the response in advance. You rock! :)

Where to share your work online:

While I’m sure that there are other places to post writing online, these are the ones that I’m familiar with, and the ones that I think are most popular within the Writeblr community.

Wattpad 

Fictionpress 

Fanfiction.net

Archive of Our Own

Tumblr

@heywriters wrote up an awesome post about where to post your writing online that goes into a lot more detail than I did here, so I would recommend checking it out! They did such a good job that I don’t really have anything to add.

I’ve also answered a similar ask about posting writing before! I posted about how to use tumblr to post writings online here. I recommended posting on an external site while using tumblr to network.

How to gain an audience:

So you’ve posted your work somewhere online — that doesn’t necessarily mean that people will automatically read it however. There are hundreds and thousands of stories on these websites; it’s hard to get noticed. If you want people to read your writing, you’re probably going to have to put work in.

Networking on Tumblr

One of the best ways to gain an audience is to be the audience for someone else. If you start reading other people’s writing on Tumblr, give them feedback and share your thoughts about it, people will notice you. The more familiar and friendly you are with someone, the more likely they are to come check our your writing.

If you want people to know about your writing, you have to post about them! 

Examples of how Writeblrs post about their writing:

Making moodboards for their OCs and WIPs.

Participating in ask games and tag games for their OCs and WIPs.

Posting excerpts from their WIPs.

Sharing various thoughts about their stories, whether it be about the process, questions, plans, etc.

And lots of other ways too!

If you post your writing on another website and you want to promote it on tumblr, you should definitely include a link! Here is my format for how I would post a link to my stories on tumblr.

Snazzy post title for organizational and eye-catching purposes.

Some sort of image, gif, aesthetic at the top (if that’s your thing) to draw attention.

The actual link to the writing.

A little spiel about what it’s about. This is where you sell your writing and let people know why they should click!

Possibly an excerpt if there’s a line or a paragraph you want to showcase.

Maybe some personal thoughts about it. Sharing certain thoughts and feelings about your writing is something that’s often done on tumblr, but not on other writing websites simply because there’s not always a space for that. It can help personalize you to your followers, and it’s kinda like an exclusive sneak peek for your tumblr readers.

Tag list (if you have one).

Not all writing websites will have a good way to network and find readers, so I definitely recommend cross-promoting on tumblr.

You might not immediately gain an audience, and it’s easy to get discouraged, frustrated, and feel like you’re a bad writer. (I have a post on dealing with that here). Building an audience on tumblr can be a slow process, but as long as you keep at it and keep posting, you’ll eventually find people that are interested in your work!

Networking on other sites:

Be sure to use proper tags and genres when posting your writing! 

I’m not sure about the other websites, but I know that on Wattpad (and possibly others), there is a concept called Swaps. Essentially, if someone is looking to swap, you make a deal that you’ll check out their story, and they will check out yours in exchange.

On writing websites that have a forum component, there’s often a section to look for feedback and swaps. This is by far the best way to find readers on websites like these. I won’t deny that some writers are just looking for a free read and have no intention of honoring the swap… But I would advise you to just go for it and participate in as many as you can! Lots of people do honor the swap, and every single one that does is a potential new reader.

I know Wattpad’s forums also has a section where you can promote and advertise your writing — do this as much as possible! I believe that fanfiction and fictionpress also have some sort of forum feature.

Sometimes advertising and promoting yourself feels super weird, braggy and like something you shouldn’t do. That’s not true! You should be proud of your work, and there’s no shame in wanting people to read it. Learning how to market yourself is a really good skill for a writer to have, so it’s an okay thing to do!

Thanks so much for asking @neirawrites! I’m so sorry the response is so late. I hoped this helped at least a little bit!

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Seven years after, I see you again 😚

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“if it’s not plot relevant, cut it!!” is such awful writing advice

if JRR Tolkien had cut every bit of Lord of the Rings that wasn’t directly related to the central plot, it would have been just one book long, COLOURLESS and DULL AS DIRT. 

all the little worldbuilding/character details are what draw you in and give the central plot weight, FOOL