deerwight

[deerwight]

Out of the blue, your spouse asked you if you would still love them if they turned into a worm. Thinking it was a little odd, you said that yes, of course you would. It was a short time later when you realized that they actually meant “wyrm.”

[deerwight]

Lesser-known steps of the writing process:

Finding all the paragraphs where you used some hyper-specific word more than once

Rearranging paragraphs that you swear you wrote in the right order but turned out to be totally backwards

Going for a walk, coming up with the perfect line, and forgetting it as soon as you get home and open your laptop

Creating a separate document where you can dump all of those nice sentences that no longer fit in anywhere

Waking up in a cold sweat because so-and-so was supposed to be barefoot but never actually took his shoes off

[deerwight]

Writing Tips Master Post

Character writing/development:

Character Arcs

Making Character Profiles

Character Development

Comic Relief Arc

Internal Conflict

Character Voices

Creating Distinct Characters

Suicidal Urges/Martyr Complex

Creating Likeable Characters

Writing Strong Female Characters

Writing POC Characters

Building Tension

Plot devices/development:

Intrigue in Storytelling

Enemies to Lovers

Alternatives to Killing Characters

Worldbuilding

Misdirection

Consider Before Killing Characters

Foreshadowing

Narrative:

Emphasising the Stakes

Avoid Info-Dumping

Writing Without Dialogue

1st vs. 2nd vs. 3rd Perspective

Fight Scenes (+ More)

Transitions

Pacing

Writing Prologues

Dialogue Tips

Writing War

Writing Cheating

Worldbuilding:

Worldbuilding: Questions to Consider

Creating Laws/Rules in Fantasy Worlds

Book writing:

Connected vs. Stand-Alone Series

A & B Stories

Writer resources:

Writing YouTube Channels, Podcasts, & Blogs

Online Writing Resources

Outlining/Writing/Editing Software

Writer help:

Losing Passion/Burnout

Overcoming Writer's Block

Fantasy terms:

How To Name Fantasy Races (Step-by-Step)

Naming Elemental Races

Naming Fire-Related Races

How To Name Fantasy Places

Ask games:

Character Ask Game #1

Character Ask Game #2

Character Ask Game #3

Miscellaneous:

1000 Follower Post

2000 Follower Poll

Writing Fantasy

[deerwight]

remembering it’s my book and it can be silly if i want it to. freedom.

[deerwight]

we have GOT to abolish the paperback only being released a year later scheme brother i simply am not purchasing your $40 hardcover book

[deerwight]

Writers should NOT feel guilty about:

Skipping a day of writing.

Not having a perfect first draft.

Partaking in sinister, arcane rituals for inspiration.

Working at their own pace.

Enlisting demons and/or helpful spirits to aid them with editing.

[deerwight]

wait do people read first person stories and think they're the ones in the story???

Saw people talking about not liking first person, which is fair, but their reasoning was like "I would not do that" and I don't understand that mindset.

First person stories are still about a character. A character making their own decisions. First person isn't about you???? At least I thought it wasn't. What am I missing? I've always seen first person as just a more in-depth look into a character's mind and stricter POV. Not as a reader stand-in.

[deerwight]

how it feels to be online these days

[deerwight]

A character can be sympathetic while still being 100% wrong; this is the entire premise of many unreliable narrators.

[deerwight]

can't say enough positive things about the humble square bracket in a writing draft. [place name] [adjective] [description of x] you have saved me from staring at a poorly crafted sentence for hours more times than you could ever know,

[deerwight]

we need to make using chatgpt embarrassing bc sorry it really is. what do you mean you can’t write an email

[deerwight]

We need happy and wholesome nice queer representation to remind us that being queer doesn't doom you to a short life of loneliness and misery and we need fucked up and toxic queer representation to remind us that queer people are human beings who are messy and complicated and are not required to be beacons of moral goodness

[deerwight]

It's such an amazing feeling when someone picks up on something in your writing that you 100% intended but didn't think people would notice. Like, YES!! My writing properly conveyed the thing it was supposed to!!! You are so awesome for noticing that!!! I am so awesome for writing that!!! I feel so good about my story now!!!!

[deerwight]

Play idea: perform MacBeth, but when the witches are doing their prophecy thing, they segue into telling the story of Hamlet. Hamlet is chatting with the ghost when it starts telling a Midsummer Night’s Dream. The audience becomes slowly aware that the programs and advertisements did not publish a runtime for the performance. Ushers start handing out new programs, with new actors’ names on them in previously unmentioned roles. Every single known Shakespeare play is nested inside the performance. The theatre doors are locked. 

[deerwight]

how to write a plot twist:

surprise your readers!

surprise yourself because you have no idea what’s going to happen next either.

[deerwight]

Your blood is in the art.

Whatever it may be. However you might feel about it.

You put effort into it. You put blood in your art, with sweat and tears. Over the years, there will be buckets of blood and sweat and tears. They keep growing, keep stacking up.

Is that not effort?

Is that not love for your craft?

[deerwight]

You don't need anyone's approval for the stories you write and the art you create. But it's also absolutely valid to want some approval from your audience. Kudos and likes don't determine your creation's worth. But it just feels amazing to receive them.