imaginarydragonling

[imaginarydragonling]

if you're trying to get into the head of your story's antagonist, try writing an "Am I the Asshole" reddit post from their perspective, explaining their problems and their plans for solving them. Let the voice and logic come through.

[imaginarydragonling]

When the sorcerer found the dragon, it was attacking a grape.

This was only possible because the dragon was not much larger than a grape itself, but she still had to do a double take to be sure the object it was fighting with such animosity was in fact inanimate.

She crouched so that her eyes were level with the top of the table and squinted at it. The dragon sank its tiny fangs into the grape’s skin and gave a great tug, succeeding only in throwing it and the grape into a backwards tumble. The tiny green reptile rolled to a stop with its whole body wrapped around the grape and shook its head ferociously, managing to pull its teeth out but also launching the grape across the table. It gave a mighty roar of anger (about as loud as a human clearing their throat) and stalked after it, tail swishing dangerously.

“Do you need help?” she offered.

The dragon froze mid-prowl and whipped its head around to look at her, looking so offended she almost apologized for asking.

“I mean, I could peel it for you, if that’s the problem.” She wasn’t sure it was getting the message. One could never tell how much human language these little creatures picked up by hanging around the magic labs. Some understood only such essentials as “scat!” or “oh fuck, that sure did just explode”, while others could hold entire conversations — if they deigned to interact.

This one looked like it was deciding whether she was worthy. Finally, it sniffed daintily and flicked its tail, scales clacking together. “Little monster is my prey, and you can’t have it. Found it first. Will devour it!”

“Oh, sure,” she agreed. “But you know it’s a grape, right?”

This was the wrong thing to say. It glared at her and then bounded away to the other end of the table, where it slithered up to the grape and pounced on it.

Grape and dragon promptly rolled off the edge of the table.

The sorcerer quickly went around to that side, alarmed that it would be stepped on. The labs were bustling with shoppers stopping by to watch demonstrations this time of day, and a small dragon wouldn’t be easily visible on the blue and green tiled floor.

“Horrible! Dirty!” The tiny dragon was screeching at the top of its lungs, holding onto its prey for dear life. It would have been hard to hear anyway, with all the noise of the labs, but with the sorcerer’s diminished hearing it took several seconds to locate the screaming creature.

She scanned the pattern of the tiles for it and sighed. “Oh, hold on, we mopped this morning.” She cupped her hands around it and deposited it into her skirt pocket, an indignity the dragon endured only with more screaming.

“An outrage! Put me down!”

“Shh,” she advised. Lab workers were strongly discouraged from bringing creatures into the back rooms, which was where she was heading, picking her way through the crowded front lab.

“Fuck pockets!” her pocket responded.

“Oh, you can curse. Wonderful.”

The dragon seemed to take this as an actual compliment. “Am multitalented. Can also compose poetry.”

“Really? Can I hear some?”

“No. For dragon ears only.” It sounded viciously pleased to hold this over her head. The bulge in her pocket rearranged itself, and she thought it might be trying to gnaw on the grape.

She felt herself smiling even as she tried to squash her mouth into a straight line. She liked this little bad-tempered thing, even though its spiky feet were digging into her thigh.

In the much quieter kitchen of the back rooms behind the lab, she transferred the wriggling, scaly handful from her pocket to the table. The dragon hissed out a few more insults as it got up and straightened itself out, but its jaw fell open when it finally took in its surroundings. She’d set it down next to the fruit bowl.

“There you go. Food mountain.”

The dragon’s shock didn’t last long. Abandoning the grape, it scraped and scrabbled its way up the side of the bowl and from there onto an apple, its claws leaving tiny puncture marks as it hiked to the top of the arrangement. “Food mountain!” It repeated, its gleeful crowing much clearer and almost sing-song without having to compete with the noise of the crowd.

She watched it turn in a circle, surveying the feast. “But… cannot eat it all,” it observed after a while, crestfallen. “Human-sized. Big shame.”

“Don’t you have nest-mates who can help you with it?” she asked. She had assumed not, from the way it had apparently been foraging for food on its own, but she needed to be sure she’d found a loner.

“No nest. No mates. No nest-mates. You’re rude.” It flopped down ungracefully, wings spread out flat on the apple like it was trying to hug the entire much-larger fruit.

She gave it a moment to be dramatic, and then offered it the grape, minus the peel. “You seem to have a good grasp on human-speak.”

It grabbed the grape without so much as a thank you. “Yes. Have composed poetry in both Dragonese and Humanese. Not for humans to hear, though.” Bragging cheered it up a little.

“You mentioned. I can’t hear very well, anyway.” She pulled up a stool and sat down. “Actually, I’ve been looking for a helper.”

“An assistant,” it said, apparently showing off its Humanese. “An attendant. An aid.”

She watched it bury its snout in the grape, juice dribbling down onto the apple it sat on. “Yes. A hearing aid. How would you feel about having a job?”

It smiled craftily. “Would feel positively, if job comes with chocolate chips.”

“It could,” she said, grinning. She had some friends who employed bird-sized dragons as messengers, but this was the first time she’d heard of one negotiating its salary for itself. “It certainly could. What’s your name?”

“Peep,” said Peep. “It is self-explanatory.”

“Don’t worry, I got it.”

Peep expressed its doubt that humans ever got anything, but she thought the tiny, prickly creature might be warming up to her.

[imaginarydragonling]

Your Beta Readers are Always Right

              That’s not to say that you take every single recommendation or piece of feedback that they give you, but rather that you shouldn’t argue with your beta readers. They are always correct, because they will (should) always give you their honest thoughts and interpretations of your work. To call them wrong would be to call them lying… And unless you’ve run into a super evil beta reader who is trying to discourage you through lying about what they think of your work, why would they lie to you?

              If one beta reader hates your work but five others love it, that’s not to say that one person is wrong. This is data. No matter what you or others say, that beta reader’s feedback still stands on its own. It says, maybe this book isn’t for everyone—if I was the writer, would I address this? No, because no work is going to please everyone, and 5/6 is pretty good.

              If someone thinks your MC is annoying (and they aren’t meant to be)—that’s what they honestly and truly think. It’s your job to decide if that’s an issue you’re going to address or not. If 9/10 people say that, maybe that’s a good hint that you should go back in.

              I’ve given feedback that has caused people to explain specific parts of their work to me as if to say, “no—because look at this.” I’ve read the same thing they’re giving me—I still think what I originally thought. I wasn’t lying, and I’m not going to think differently from reading the same thing twice. Does that mean they always have to take my notes? Absolutely not—it’s up to them to decide whether the problem that I see is worth addressing. Just because I might put down a book for some reason, doesn’t mean that everyone would, and doesn’t mean that the book needs to cater to what exactly I like.

              I hope this makes sense! What’s the most helpful note a beta reader has ever given you?

[imaginarydragonling]

Do people still watch Kuroko no Basket? 'cause i currently am and these 2 got a massive grip on me atm

[imaginarydragonling]

Sanzo once said he wanted a motorbike because he thought it would be useful after the journey.~

[imaginarydragonling]

Distinguishing Between Character Perspectives

                I’m sure many of you are already working on projects that have multiple characters that hold perspective (as in, we follow the story from their eyes), or you will someday. Whether you do it chapter by chapter or just intentionally head-hop, distinguishing between perspectives of characters is important both for clarity to the readers (we want to be able to hop into any part of the story and know who we’re with) as well as for conveying character!

                We do this through building the narrator with the character’s voice.

                Whether you’re writing first person, third person omniscient or limited, or even second person, your narrator is going to have a voice. This voice is the voice of the character you are following.

                Narrator voice works almost the exact same as how you would write your character voice. Your narrator is going to tell the story matching the attitude and background of their character. Background will influence the kind of words they use, the way they see the world, and how they would comment on it. In an easy example, if your character doesn’t swear—their narrator definitely wouldn’t, unless the character swears inside their own thoughts but not out loud.

                Attitude is telling personality through voice. Take for example, your character has just walked into the bar:

                “The bar was filled to the brim with sweaty drunks falling over each other, barely cognizant of the drinks they were spilling--much less so the people around them.”

                Versus

                “Upbeat dance music filled the bar. A crowd had formed in the middle of the floor, people cheering and dancing together like the rest of the world hardly mattered.”

                Same situation, far different attitude.

                Your narrator for different characters will use their tone, their word choices, and convey a specific and unique outlook on the world. All of this conveys their character in an intimate way (the narrator is almost like their inner-thoughts or literally seeing through their eyes) and will make reading works with multiple perspectives far more interesting!

                (However, this also applies even if there’s only one perspective!)

                What are some unique choices you made for your narrator/characters’ voices?

[imaginarydragonling]

Would You Hug Them?

[imaginarydragonling]

online communities are so strange because people slip away so easily. you can be on here for years, folding people you've never met into the fabric of your daily life, and then they disappear, leaving only ghost posts scattered across tumblr behind. or their blog stays dormant, for weeks, months, years, until you're only still following them because you remember that they love sunflowers or they were kind to you when they didn't have to be or the last thing they posted was sad and raw and you still worry about them sometimes.

and sometimes they come back when you least expect it, years later, even, and there's this sudden rush of relief like there you are, there you are, even though you barely knew each other.

there's a strange kind of love to it. i don't know you and i want to hold your hand across miles and time zones and oceans. i can still see the imprint of you in this community you left. you don't think anyone will notice or care when you're gone, but we notice and we care and we wish you well.

i hope you're all okay out there. i hope the sun is shining on your face and you are breathing deeply. i miss you.

[imaginarydragonling]

dam…….. that website “you feel like shit” (it’s like a questionnaire / troubleshooting guide for when you feel like shit) really works………………….. im not even all the way thru it and i even half-assed a lot of the suggestions and i already feel loads better

[imaginarydragonling]

Hitting a wall with your WIP? Try writing about it.

Hot tip: Keep a journal about your writing. When you're feeling stuck, writing down your feelings and thoughts about your WIP can help you find creative solutions. You can use this journal for anything—waxing poetic about how much you love your characters, ranting about how frustrated you feel, exploring new plot ideas or problem areas. It can help if you do this longhand, with a pen, but anything works.

Some ideas of what to write in your writing journal:

Dreams

Random thoughts

Story ideas

Notes about your current WIP

Notes about a book you're reading, or a writer you'd like to emulate

Your feelings about your writing in general, or your current WIP

Plot ideas

Interesting conversations you'd had that you might want to steal for dialogue

Song lyrics that may one day inspire you to write a story

Literally anything that comes into your brain

If writing about writing isn't for you, try drawing or singing about it. Anything that switches up your brain and gives you a new perspective will be helpful. I had a writing teacher once who would have us pace around the room and monologue to ourselves. And I know of several musicians who draw their songs as a way to help them compose.

If you go the journaling route, consider buying a cheap journal. Sometimes buying a nice journal can fill a person with anxiety about what to write in it, because the journal is so… special. Go to the dollar store and buy a spiral bound notebook, or take some paper out of the recycling and staple it together. It might make you feel less intimidated about using it.

Hope this helps!

/ / / / /

@theliteraryarchitect is a writing advice blog run by me, Bucket Siler, a writer and developmental editor. For more writing help, download my Free Resource Library for Fiction Writers, join my email list, or check out my book The Complete Guide to Self-Editing for Fiction Writers.

[imaginarydragonling]

✍️ more fic writer asks!

reblog & your followers can send asks with the questions they’d like you to answer!

the last sentence you wrote

a character whose POV you’re currently exploring

how you feel about your current WIP

a story idea you haven’t written yet

first sentence of the fifth paragraph of an unpublished WIP

the word that appears the most in your current draft (wordcounter.net can tell you)

your preferred writing fonts

if you had to write a sequel to a fic, you’d write one for…

start to finish, how long did it take you to write the last fic you posted?

what is the longest amount of time you’ve let a draft rest before you finished it?

a WIP you’d like to finish someday

a trope you’re really into right now

a fandom you’re thinking about writing for

where do you get your inspiration?

favorite weather for writing

favorite place to write

talk about your writing and editing process

if you keep them, share a deleted sentence or paragraph from a published fic

the most interesting topic you’ve researched for a fic

in what year did you publish your first fic?

when did you publish your most recent fic?

do you ever worry about public reaction to what you’re writing? how do you get past that?

pick three keywords that describe your writing

how do you recharge when you’re not feeling creative?

besides writing, what are your other hobbies?

are you able to write with other people around?

your favorite part of the writing process

your least favorite part of the writing process

how easy is it for you to come up with titles?

share a fic you’re especially proud of

[imaginarydragonling]

Neil Gaiman wrote Coraline by setting himself a 50 words a day goal.

Quick Writing Tip: Set Realistic, Easy-to-Reach Writing Goals

This is especially key for writers with anxiety and new writers! Avoid writer’s block, anxiety, depression, paralysis, etc. by setting your writing goals low and achievable. There’s nothing wrong with setting the bar low so you can raise your confidence. You’ll feel much better if you make an easy-to-reach goal and achieve it than if you set a hard-to-reach goal and fall short. Be realistic about what you can do. If you aren’t writing at all right now, set a goal to write for 5 or 10 minutes every day. If you’re already writing an hour every day and want to go further, commit to an hour and 15 minutes a day. Set your goals low and inch up incrementally!

[imaginarydragonling]

20 Questions to ask your beta readers/editors

              When I edit for people, I ask them to come up with three questions for me to answer about their work. While every piece might benefit from different questions, here’s a little list of what you could ask someone to answer!

Who is the main antagonist?

Which character is the carrier of the story? (for multiple POVs)

Did you skim any parts?

When did you start rooting for the MC?

Which point did you recognize the antagonist?

What would you guess comes next?

At what point did you stop reading?

(If they’re reading from beginning to end) what was the theme?

What is the MC’s main flaw/conflict

At what point did you feel the story had begun? (Inciting incident)

What questions do you have about the world?

Who was your favourite character?

Who was your least favourite character?

Which chapter was the strongest/weakest?

Where and when does the story take place?

Are there any politics to the characters/events?

Which lines of dialogue stick out to you for the character’s voice?

Are there any characters/scenes/chapters you think could be taken out?

Did the ending feel resolved?

Was the hook effective?

Any other questions you guys like to ask?

[imaginarydragonling]

Absent Gods

I've been praying to a God I don't believe in.

I don't know why, or when, but I have. Every now and again I find myself stopping in coffee shop windows and quiet waiting rooms; praying.

There are no words exchanged, none from me, and none from them, but we speak to a degree, silently. It's not peace, certainly not, but it is a form of clarity. Quiet and surrendering.

I don't know whose God I've found in the barren wastelands of my distrust, in the guarded walls of my lust, but I've found a God I don't believe in; and that's granted me enough.

We don't talk every day, we barely talk at all, but I often find myself talking, regardless of the silence. It's the only silence that never rang in my ears, made my heartbeat seem so loud, so distant.

It feels right, at times, like how a good pen feels or a nice soft sweater not too hot for summer. For that, I haven't tried to figure out who this God is, perhaps by intention.

It may be odd, but I know, whenever I need to, whenever I can, there's someone, something out in the world, or not, listening, acknowledging, and that's enough to me.

I've been praying to a God I don't believe in, and for now, that's fine.

[imaginarydragonling]

Loving your blog, it's really helping me with my writing. I was wondering if you had any resources on "posh" english language? I am struggling to find the right words for a present time semi-posh english character. I keep using the "wrong" words - I know they are too "common" but can't think of proper alternatives that will make her sound more posh. I keep googling, but not with much success. If you've got any tips or resources that I could read in preparation, I would really appreciate it!

I don’t really write much on specific dialects or linguistics, but I have several posts that might have something along the lines of what you’re looking for. I’m sorry if you don’t find anything, but I don’t really specialize in that sort of thing.

Resources For Writing Period Pieces: High Middle Ages & Renaissance

Resources For Writing Period Pieces: 1600s

Resources For Writing Period Pieces: 1700s

Resources For Writing Period Pieces: 1800s

Resources For Writing Period Pieces: 1900-1939

Resources For Writing Period Pieces: 1940-1969

Resources For Writing Period Pieces: 1970-1999

These might have resources for specific dialects somewhere in them and that might lead you to posh english accents, regional english accents, common vocabulary, etc.

Useful Writing Resources

Useful Writing Resources II

Resources For World Building

These have miscellaneous sections that might be worth looking into.

Resources For Creating Characters

Resources For Describing Characters

These are generally about characters and I’m sure there’s something in there about character voices and dialects.

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