#Authoring

[mmavverickk]

actual footage of my face when people comment on my fics and tell me i ruined their days, broke their hearts, made them sob, etc

[xenvaei]

Wondering what Fins Above is? Scrolling through xenofiction tags trying to find fantasy books made for older teens and adults? Looking for aquatic settings?

Fins Above is a xenofiction book series about merfolk, mimics, and the struggle for freedom in an alternative version of Earth. The power system is biological, meaning it relies exclusively on the environment and has a historical background in lore. It's extensive books and information can be found here!

Said content within writing is sometimes explicit; mentioning sexual abuse/assault, sex scenes and adult content, violence and gore, war and disturbing imagery. Read at your own discretion.

[scifrey]

I was honored and delighted to be asked to participate in IngramSpark 's #AuthorSpotlight series!

The video has just dropped, and it's all about what inspires my creativity and pushes me to write.

[mydarlingdearestdead]

Her heart was on fire.

Set aflame by the words dripping sickly sweet off his tongue.

Ignition and accelerant, all in one.

[kendsleyauthor]

Author Q&A Tomorrow!

At long last The Restoration Program releases tomorrow (July 1)! To celebrate, @marydublinauthor and I will be hosting an author Q&A on Instagram Live at 11AM EST! We'll share info about the book, answer questions, and provide info on a few giveaways we have coming up! 👀

We hope you can join us! 🎉🎉🎉

[lostetter]

I have a book out today tumblr!!!

Not only is it Valentine's Day, it's THE CAGE OF DARK HOURS pub day! Get yours and share it with someone who's hot. <3

[rmhashauthor]

I'M TRYING 😭

It's just difficult because I'm trying something new. I've never written a 'dark' romance before and I have some VERY specific goals (writing a dark romance that ISN'T abusive or toxic but is still kind of fucked-up on the surface, writing some really scary shit without glorifying or romanticizing it, and just getting real good and nasty with it 😉) that are going to be really challenging for me. In a good way - I've read some INCREDIBLE books that HAD to be ten times as hard to write as they were to read, and I can't imagine the authors didn't spend many nights lying awake, staring at the ceiling and wondering "What the HELL is wrong with me? What am I even DOING? Am I insane? Do I need therapy or a lobotomy??"

Sometimes I wonder if I should start drinking 🍸

I think part of my hesitation is due to my inexperience in the genre, my concern that I won't do it 'right', and my anxieties around not having the experiences I'm planning to write about - I've never purposefully committed a crime, I've never been friendly with dangerous people, I've never been to space (nor do I plan to - space is TERRIFYING) and I've never endured the kind of treatment my main girl has. I'm going to have to make up a LOT of stuff on the fly and keep track of it, and I'm going to have to learn even more about stuff I've never been exposed to like organized crime and hands-on technical fixes. On top of all that, I'll need to walk a fine line between "this is so fucked-up" and "ohhhh this is HOT!"

The other thing is that I'm already a 'published' author and I feel like I have some high standards to meet and exceed. STARFISH is still my best work so far, IMO, and I still feel like The Dragon Prince's Consort didn't quite deliver the same quality. I learned a lot from it, but there's a part of me that isn't really happy with how I wrote the last third of the story. Some of that can be attributed to the fact that I was rushing things a bit, and some of it was because I had started a new job which ate up a LOT of my mental and emotional bandwidth. Since I took over for my mentor, though, I've been running things pretty smoothly so I'm hoping that my brain will come back to me soon. (Also fuck ADHD and anxiety - I'm told that going back to the gym will help)

In the meantime, I just have to keep trying. It doesn't matter how many times I have to re-start, re-write and re-structure, I can do this as many times as it takes. My Beloved Husband is FULLY supportive of me and my goals, so I have that in my corner 💜 So, I soldier on. You can't edit a draft that doesn't exist, and a shitty draft can be made un-shitty. Besides, writing is one of those things that both keeps me sane and lets me be completely unhinged so I'm not going to let a little difficulty stop me from doing it. I'm too goddamn stubborn for that 😃

STOP BEING SELF CONSCIOUS ABOUT YOUR CREATIONS STOP SECOND GUESSING WHAT YOU REALLY WANNA DO STOP DEBATING IT'S WORTH. LET YOUR ART SERVE YOU INSTEAD OF THE OTHER WAY AROUND

[i-used-to-be-a-spy]

"you should be at the club" I should be working on my fanfic

[hayatheauthor]

10 Non-Lethal Injuries to Add Pain to Your Writing

New Part: 10 Lethal Injury Ideas

If you need a simple way to make your characters feel pain, here are some ideas: 

1. Sprained Ankle

A common injury that can severely limit mobility. This is useful because your characters will have to experience a mild struggle and adapt their plans to their new lack of mobiliy. Perfect to add tension to a chase scene.

2. Rib Contusion

A painful bruise on the ribs can make breathing difficult, helping you sneak in those ragged wheezes during a fight scene. Could also be used for something sport-related! It's impactful enough to leave a lingering pain but not enough to hinder their overall movement.

3. Concussions

This common brain injury can lead to confusion, dizziness, and mood swings, affecting a character’s judgment heavily. It can also cause mild amnesia.

I enjoy using concussions when you need another character to subtly take over the fight/scene, it's an easy way to switch POVs. You could also use it if you need a 'cute' recovery moment with A and B.

4. Fractured Finger

A broken finger can complicate tasks that require fine motor skills. This would be perfect for characters like artists, writers, etc. Or, a fighter who brushes it off as nothing till they try to throw a punch and are hit with pain.

5. Road Rash

Road rash is an abrasion caused by friction. Aka scraping skin. The raw, painful sting resulting from a fall can be a quick but effective way to add pain to your writing. Tip: it's great if you need a mild injury for a child.

6. Shoulder Dislocation

This injury can be excruciating and often leads to an inability to use one arm, forcing characters to confront their limitations while adding urgency to their situation. Good for torture scenes.

7. Deep Laceration

A deep laceration is a cut that requires stitches. As someone who got stitches as a kid, they really aren't that bad! A 2-3 inch wound (in length) provides just enough pain and blood to add that dramatic flair to your writing while not severely deterring your character.

This is also a great wound to look back on since it often scars. Note: the deeper and wider the cut the worse your character's condition. Don't give them a 5 inch deep gash and call that mild.

8. Burns

Whether from fire, chemicals, or hot surfaces, burns can cause intense suffering and lingering trauma. Like the previous injury, the lasting physical and emotional trauma of a burn is a great wound for characters to look back on.

If you want to explore writing burns, read here.

9. Pulled Muscle

This can create ongoing pain and restrict movement, offering a window to force your character to lean on another. Note: I personally use muscle related injuries when I want to focus more on the pain and sprains to focus on a lack of mobility.

10. Tendonitis

Inflammation of a tendon can cause chronic pain and limit a character's ability to perform tasks they usually take for granted. When exploring tendonitis make sure you research well as this can easily turn into a more severe injury.

This is a quick, brief list of ideas to provide writers inspiration. Since it is a shorter blog, I have not covered the injuries in detail. This is inspiration, not a thorough guide. Happy writing! :)

Looking For More Writing Tips And Tricks? 

Check out the rest of Quillology with Haya; a blog dedicated to writing and publishing tips for authors!

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[inkskinned]

please i love you i'm begging you bring back suspension of disbelief bring back trusting the audience like. i cannot handle any more dialogue that sounds like a legal document. "hello, i am here to talk to you about the incident from a few minutes ago, because i feel you might be unwell, and i am invested in your personal wellbeing." "thank you, i am unwell because the incident was hurtful to me due to my childhood, which was bad." I CANT!!!!

do you know how many people are mad that authors use "growled" as a word for "said"? it's just poetics! they do not literally mean "growled," it's just a common replacement for "said with force but in a low tone." it's normal! do you hear me!! help me i love you please let me out of here!!!

[mydarlingdearestdead]

Running Through The Airport Love?

Ambrose and Finch, minus the Ambrose bit

"Do you love him?" Maya tilted her head with the question, "Like real running through the airport love?"

Finch faltered. In truth, the question stumped him. For weeks, Ambrose had been vital to every fantasy and daydream, a frequent visitor in his dreams even. But did that indicate love? Or that Finch was fooling himself into thinking it was love?

Maya had a distinct talent for making those around her confront those questions lingering on the fringes of their minds.

Finch, to put it informally, felt played.

[kendsleyauthor]

THREE SLEEPS until THE RESTORATION PROGRAM!!! 🧬🧬🧬

It has been so nerve-wracking but amazing to share this book with people who aren't in our very niche community! Advance reader reviews have been amazing so far 💕

Annnd since I'm trying to sell the book locally too, that means sometimes I have to explain the size-difference to a human person in real life 😅

P.S. Don't forget @marydublinauthor and I are hosting an Instagram Live session on July 1 to celebrate the book's release! 🥳🥳🥳

[limelemonchi]

freak Pines

[bluetraverser]

Fuck webnovel.

I got this comment on a story from my Other AO3 Account this morning.

(Info redacted because I prefer keeping these accounts separate but no one follows me on the side blog I have for that account.)

The story was posted almost a year ago and is relatively “popular” by my average statistics even though it has tropes and themes that are big turnoffs for a lot of people (hence separate accounts). This popularity is undoubtedly because it’s a Marvel Loki story and that fandom is massive.

So there is obviously an algorithm or a bot scrubbing ao3 statistics and leaving this comment on fics that meet a certain metric with the main character of the fic inserted into the comment.

I had a little time to kill this morning so I decided to investigate further. And y’all this is so predatory. Come on this journey with me. It made me mad. It may make you mad.

First, if you go to Webnovel’s website, you HAVE to choose between male lead or female lead stories before you can go any further. WTF?

And that’s weird, but this gets so much worse. This is basically a pay-to-read site that has different subscription models. Which… okay BUT! The authors don’t get paid! Look at that comment again. They’re promising a supportive and nurturing community, but zero monetary compensation. It’s basically, “post your stuff here so we can get paid and you can get… nice vibes?” I mean look at this Orwellian writing:

Using the phrase “pay-to-read model” in the same sentence as “qualitative changes in lifestyles for authors” deliberately makes you think that you can get paid and maybe even make a living on this website. But that’s not actually what it says and authors will not receive one red cent.

Oh but wait, the worst is still to come. In case this breaks containment (which I kind of hope it does) this is where I mention that I’m a lawyer in the US.

I don’t do intellectual property or copyright law but I do read and write contracts for a living. So I went to look at their terms of service. It was fun!

Highlights the first, in which Webnovel gets a license to do basically whatever they want with content you post on their site. This is how they get to be paid for people reading authors’ writing without paying them anything.

Highlights the second, in which Webnovel takes no responsibility for illegally profiting off of fan fic. This all says that the writer is 100% responsible for everything the writer posts (even though only Webnovel is making money from it).

Highlights the third which say that by posting, the author is representing that they have the legal right to use and to let Webnovel use the content according to these terms. So if a writer posts fan fiction and Webnovel makes money from people reading the fan fiction, and the House of the Mouse catches wise, these sections say that that’s ALL on the writer.

So that’s a little skeevy to start off with but the thing that is seriously shitty and made me make this post was that these assholes are coming to ao3. They are actively recruiting people in comments on their fan fiction. And they are saying they are big fans of the character you’re writing about and that they share your interests.

They are recruiting fan fiction writers and giving every impression that you can make money from posting fan fiction on their site and hiding the fact that you absolutely cannot but they can make money off of you while you try, deep in their terms of service which no one but a lawyer who writes fan fic and has some time to kill will read.

I see posts on here regularly from people who don’t understand how this stuff works, don’t understand that they (and others) can not legally make a financial profit from fan fiction. And there are tons of people who will not take the time to dig into the details.

Don’t deal with these bastards. Fuck Webnovel.

[brightbluedot]

to succeed in adult friendship you must remember the key tenets of child friendship:

Play Toys

Play Pretend

Snack Time