#Editing Tip 5: Editing for Variation

[thecraftyfoxthewriterscorner]

Editing Tip #5: Editing for Variation

A couple of line and copyediting tips to help you make your story shine. ✨

Hey Story Crafters,

Fall is in the air! The days are getting shorter and cooler, and pumpkin spice is back on the menu. I’m not really a fan of cooler weather, but low humidity and crisp air is pretty nice.

In this post, I want to cover a couple of line and copyediting tips that you can use during revision to help make your story shine even more. These tips are best used after you’re confident in and happy with your story from a big-picture level (in other words, after all the developmental editing is done).

If you’re just starting out as a writer, this might be a higher level of self-editing than you want to tackle at this point of your career. You still might want to check out the following tips, just to see if you want to add them to your self-editing toolbox to use in the future.

Word Choice Variation

Ever sit down to revise your story, switch out a word to introduce a little variation (like switching “amazing” to “awesome”), only to realize that you used that word earlier in the same paragraph? Or even just in the previous sentence?

It happens to me a lot as a writer. And it can happen during revision, or during the initial process of writing (because we all have a few words that we tend to fall back on and overuse). There are words that are expected to be frequently used (e.g., “and”, “said”, “the,” etc.), and because they are used so frequently, they tend to fade into the background. They don’t draw attention to themselves. But then there are less frequently used words that do draw attention, which makes it more obvious when they are used close together.

This is where the Search/Find function in your word processer comes in handy. Just type in the word you want to search for, and review how frequently that word appears in your story, and where that word appears. Depending on the results, you might want to consider switching up your word choice.

Sentence Length Variation

If you want to experiment with tone and mood, varying the length of your sentences can give you different effects, depending on what you’re going for.

For example, long, flowing sentences can help give a sense of continuous movement.

On the other hand, if you’re going for bursts of impact, short, punchy sentences will be the way to go. Just. Like. This.

Depending on the point of view you’ve chosen to use to tell your story, there is a delicate balance between your writerly voice and the POV character’s voice. But this is still a technique you should keep in mind, whether you use it as a writing exercise or try to incorporate into your writing.

As a writing exercise, you can take one block of text and try writing it from a different POV character, using sentence length variation to reflect a specific POV character’s personality.

Upcoming Events

ACES VCON 2024: This week is the ACES: The Society for Editing Virtual Conference! I’m super psyched to attend and learn from my fellow editors.

Flights of Foundry 2024 (September 27-29): Back for its 5th year this weekend is Flights of Foundry, the virtual, worldwide event for speculative creatives! I’ll be a participating on 2 panels: Let’s Fight! [Hour 4.0 = 4PM ET on Friday, September 27] and Ask an Editor (Session 1 of 2) [Hour 29.0 = 5PM ET on Saturday, September 28]

Also, I’ve still got a few editing slots open for this year! If you’ve recently finished a project (whether it’s a short story collection, a novella, or a novel) and you’re looking for an editor, please get in touch.

Send me an email!

Until next time!

Best,

Leah

Visit The Crafty Fox Editing Services

Connect with me on social media!

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Substack post: https://thecraftyfoxwriterscorner.substack.com/p/editing-tip-5-editing-for-variation

[hiiragi7]

Not my usual content, but I made something I wanted to share...

Edit: Now with an ID from @a-captions-blog! Thank you for writing it!

[Art description: A Pokémon-themed comic featuring OP as a Pikachu. Long description follows.

1. The tips of Pikachu’s ears are shown with text that says, ‘I’m a Pikachu / My world is filled with lots of cool stuff. Sometimes it feels like anything is possible!’ Under this is a collage showing a Charizard, a Pidgeotto, a Nidoking, an Eevee, and an Ivysaur, all in the background as the Pikachu looks up in wonder. Text reads, ‘All sorts of types, all sorts of attacks, all sorts of Pokemon.’

2. Text says, ‘But...only two ways a Pikachu’s tail could look.’ Two boxes in the upper corners show the male and female Pikachu tails, respectively. The male has a rectangular end to his tale, and the female has a heart-shaped end to hers. Text continues, ‘So then, what am I?’ A large drawing of the narrator Pikachu is shown, with an arrow pointing to their tail, whose end is split somewhat like scissors and doesn’t match either the male or female drawing above.

3. Text says, ‘Too pointy to be [female], too much of a V-shape to be [male]. I thought there was something wrong with me.’ Under this are three cascading panels showing the Pikachu from below at an angle emphasizing their tail. The second panel shows mel further away, and in the final panel she have disappeared entirely. Text on the panels reads, ‘I felt / very, very, very / alone.’

4. Text says, ‘But then, something happened. I found others like me.’ The art shows the narrator reaching out to another Pikachu. Under this are three other Pikachu. One has a rounded tail, one has a tail that has been stitched up to be rectangular, and one has a tail with a slight spike at the tip.

5. Closeups are shown of each of the tails from the previous panel, with text that says, ‘Round tails, scarred tails, spiky tails.’ Under this is a drawing of the Pikachu all hugging with lightning coming from their cheeks. Text reads, ‘They told me nothing was wrong with me, and I wasn´t alone anymore.’

6. Text says, ‘There are many ways a Pikachu’s tail can look. I’ve heard there’s at least over 30 different variations.’ Under this are two panels. The first panel shows the narrator lying on their back on a background of male and female symbols. Text reads, ‘Some days are still hard.’ In the second panel, the Pikachu with the scarred tail is shown with text that says, ‘My friend tells me her tail used to look just like mine. It was taken from her.’

8. The narrator is shown sitting and looking upwards. Text reads, ‘Some trainers won’t accept Pikachu that aren’t [male] or [female]. They alter our tails without our consent. But things are getting better. We are making change. We’re fighting so that our tails will be left alone.’ Under this is a panel showing the four Pikachu running happily towards the right. Text reads, ‘We’re all on a spectrum. Every tail looks different; anything is possible.’

The final text reads, ‘This is a comic about intersex people.’ The watermark in the lower right says @ PostManic. \End descriptions

[byoldervine]

Writing Tips - Beating Perfectionism

1. Recognising writing perfectionism. It’s not usually as literal as “This isn’t 100% perfect and so it is the worst thing ever”, in my experience it usually sneaks up more subtly. Things like where you should probably be continuing on but if you don’t figure out how to word this paragraph better it’s just going to bug you the whole time, or where you’re growing demotivated because you don’t know how to describe the scene 100% exactly as you can imagine it in your head, or things along those lines where your desire to be exact can get in the way of progression. In isolated scenarios this is natural, but if it’s regularly and notably impacting your progress then there’s a more pressing issue

2. Write now, edit later. Easier said than done, which always infuriated me until I worked out how it translates into practice; you need to recognise what the purpose of this stage of the writing process is and when editing will hinder you more than help you. Anything up to and including your first draft is purely done for structural and creative purposes, and trying to impose perfection on a creative process will naturally stifle said creativity. Creativity demands the freedom of imperfection

3. Perfection is stagnant. We all know that we have to give our characters flaws and challenges to overcome since, otherwise, there’s no room for growth or conflict or plot, and it ends up being boring and predictable at best - and it’s just the same as your writing. Say you wrote the absolute perfect book; the perfect plot, the perfect characters, the perfect arcs, the perfect ending, etc etc. It’s an overnight bestseller and you’re discussed as a literary great for all time. Everyone, even those outside of your target demographic, call it the perfect book. Not only would that first require you to turn the perfect book into something objective, which is impossible, but it would also mean that you would either never write again, because you can never do better than your perfect book, or you’ll always write the exact same thing in the exact same way to ensure constant perfection. It’s repetitive, it’s boring, and all in all it’s just fearful behaviour meant to protect you from criticism that you aren’t used to, rather than allowing yourself to get acclimated to less than purely positive feedback

4. Faulty comparisons. Comparing your writing to that of a published author’s is great from an analytical perspective, but it can easily just become a case of “Their work is so much better, mine sucks, I’ll never be as good as them or as good as any ‘real��� writer”. You need to remember that you’re comparing a completely finished draft, which likely underwent at least three major edits and could have even had upwards of ten, to wherever it is you’re at. A surprising number of people compare their *first* draft to a finished product, which is insanity when you think of it that way; it seems so obvious from this perspective why your first attempt isn’t as good as their tenth. You also end up comparing your ability to describe the images in your head to their ability to craft a new image in your head; I guarantee you that the image the author came up with isn’t the one their readers have, and they’re kicking themselves for not being able to get it exactly as they themselves imagine it. Only the author knows what image they’re working off of; the readers don’t, and they can imagine their own variation which is just as amazing

5. Up close and too personal. Expanding on the last point, just in general it’s harder to describe something in coherent words than it is to process it when someone else prompts you to do so. You end up frustrated and going over it a gazillion times, even to the point where words don’t even look like words anymore. You’ve got this perfect vision of how the whole story is supposed to go, and when you very understandably can’t flawlessly translate every single minute detail to your satisfaction, it’s demotivating. You’re emotionally attached to this perfect version that can’t ever be fully articulated through any other medium. But on the other hand, when consuming other media that you didn’t have a hand in creating, you’re viewing it with perfectly fresh eyes; you have no ‘perfect ideal’ of how everything is supposed to look and feel and be, so the images the final product conjures up become that idealised version - its no wonder why it always feels like every writer except you can pull off their visions when your writing is the only one you have such rigorous preconceived notions of

6. That’s entertainment. Of course writing can be stressful and draining and frustrating and all other sorts of nasty things, but if overall you can’t say that you ultimately enjoy it, you’re not writing for the right reasons. You’ll never take true pride in your work if it only brings you misery. Take a step back, figure out what you can do to make things more fun for you - or at least less like a chore - and work from there

7. Write for yourself. One of the things that most gets to me when writing is “If this was found and read by someone I know, how would that feel?”, which has lead me on multiple occasions to backtrack and try to be less cringe or less weird or less preachy or whatever else. It’s harder to share your work with people you know whose opinions you care about and whose impressions of you have the potential of shifting based on this - sharing it to strangers whose opinions ultimately don’t matter and who you’ll never have to interact with again is somehow a lot less scary because their judgements won’t stick. But allowing the imaginary opinions of others to dictate not even your finished project, but your unmoderated creative process in general? Nobody is going to see this without your say so; this is not the time to be fussing over how others may perceive your writing. The only opinion that matters at this stage is your own

8. Redirection. Instead of focusing on quality, focusing on quantity has helped me to improve my perfectionism issues; it doesn’t matter if I write twenty paragraphs of complete BS so long as I’ve written twenty paragraphs or something that may or may not be useful later. I can still let myself feel accomplished regardless of quality, and if I later have to throw out whole chapters, so be it

9. That’s a problem for future me. A lot of people have no idea how to edit, or what to look for when they do so, so having a clear idea of what you want to edit by the time the editing session comes around is gonna be a game-changer once you’re supposed to be editing. Save the clear work for when you’re allocating time for it and you’ll have a much easier and more focused start to the editing process. It’ll be more motivating than staring blankly at the intimidating word count, at least

10. The application of applications. If all else fails and you’re still going back to edit what you’ve just wrote in some struggle for the perfect writing, there are apps and websites that you can use that physically prevent you from editing your work until you’re done with it. If nothing else, maybe it can help train you away from major edits as you go

[nanowrimo]

5 Essential Tips for Mastering Scene Writing in Your Novel

There's many parts involved when writing a scene. Knowing how these different pieces work together may help you move forward in your novel. NaNo Participant Amy de la Force offers some tips on brushing up your scene writing knowledge. Scenes are the building blocks of a novel, the stages where characters spring to life, conflicts brew and emotions run high. Mastering the art of scene writing is crucial for any aspiring writer, especially in the lead-up to NaNoWriMo. But what is a scene, and how do you effectively craft one? 

What is a Scene? 

A scene is a short period of time — in a set place — that moves the story forward with dramatic conflict that reveals character, generally through dialogue or action. Think of writing a scene as a mini-story with a beginning, middle and end, all contributing to the narrative. 

Why Scene Writing is Your Secret Weapon in Storytelling

Well-crafted scenes enhance your story to develop characters, advance the plot, and engage readers through tension and emotion. Whether you're writing a novel, short story or even non-fiction, scenes weave the threads of your story together.

Tip #1: Scenes vs. Sequels

According to university lecturer Dwight Swain in Techniques of the Selling Writer, narrative time can be broken down into not just scenes, but sequels. 

Scene

The 3 parts of a scene are:

Goal: The protagonist or point-of-view (POV) character’s objective at the start of the scene.

Conflict: For dramatic conflict, this is an equally strong combination of the character’s ‘want + obstacle’ to their goal. 

Disaster: When the obstacle wins, it forces the character’s hand to act, ratcheting up tension. 

Sequel 

Similarly, Swain’s sequels have 3 parts:

Reaction: This is the POV character’s emotional follow-up to the previous scene’s disaster. 

Dilemma: If the dramatic conflict is strong enough, each possible next step seems worse than anything the character has faced.  

Decision: The scene’s goal may still apply, but the choice of action to meet it will be difficult. 

Tip #2: Questions to Ask Yourself Before Writing a Scene

In Story Genius, story coach and ex–literary agent Lisa Cron lists 4 questions to guide you in scene writing:

What does my POV character go into the scene believing?

Why do they believe it?

What is my character’s goal in the scene?

What does my character expect will happen in this scene?

Tip #3: Writing Opening and Closing Scenes

Now that we know more about scene structure and character considerations, it’s time to open with a bang, or more to the point, a hook. Forget warming up and write a scene in the middle of the action or a conversation. Don’t forget to set the place and time with a vivid description or a little world-building. To end the scene, go for something that resolves the current tension, or a cliffhanger to make your scene or chapter ‘unputdownable’. 

Tip #4: Mastering Tension and Pacing 

A benefit to Swain’s scenes and sequels is that introspective sequels tend to balance the pace by slowing it, building tension. This pacing variation, which you can help by alternating dialogue with action or sentence lengths, offers readers the mental quiet space to rest and digest any action-packed scenes. 

Tip #5: Scene Writing for Emotional Impact

For writing a scene, the top tips from master editor Sol Stein in Stein on Writing are:

Fiction evokes emotion, so make a list of the emotion(s) you want readers to feel in your scenes and work to that list.

For editing, cut scenes that don’t serve a purpose (ideally, several purposes), or make you feel bored. If you are, your reader is too. 

Conclusion

From understanding the anatomy of a scene to writing your own, these tips will help elevate your scenes from good to unforgettable, so you can resonate with readers.

Amy de la Force is a YA and adult speculative fiction writer, alumna of Curtis Brown Creative's selective novel-writing program and Society of Authors member. The novel she’s querying longlisted for Voyage YA’s Spring First Chapters Contest in 2021. An Aussie expat, Amy lives in London. Check her out on Twitter, Bluesky, and on her website! Her books can be found on Amazon. Photo by cottonbro studio

[disneytva]

Dynamite Comics Launches Kickstarter for GARGOYLES Classic Comics As Part Of The Show's 30th Anniversary.

Dynamite Comics and Disney Comics are celebrating the 30th anniversary of Gargoyles with the first-ever Kickstarter campaign featuring brand new graphic novels collecting long out-of-print Gargoyles comic books.

Dynamite Entertainment brought back Gargoyles as a comic series in 2022 to great acclaim. Now the publisher is crowdfunding a reprint of the classic comics based on the beloved animated series. To celebrate the 30th anniversary, Dynamite is excited to offer three beautiful tomes collecting all of these previous tales for fans. The set is initially being offered on Kickstarter to reach and communicate with diverse fans of all ages directly.

“I’m honestly thrilled that these three volumes will finally give Gargoyles fans easy access to these great stories, including the canon SLG tales!” said Weisman. “I think the Dynamite Kickstarter is a great way for Gargoyles fans to get the word out and to reserve their copies. This could be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so I hope our fans don’t miss out!”

The first volume is the hotly anticipated compilation of the first-ever Gargoyles comic series from 1995. This 11-issue title was originally released by Marvel Comics and is set loosely between the first two seasons of the original TV show. The memorable first issue featured a jaw-dropping cover by artist Joe Madureira, one of the biggest superstars of the era from his work on Uncanny X-Men. The series was written by Martin Pasko (Superman) and Mort Todd.

The second and third volumes of the Gargoyles Classic Years will be an incredible treat. From 2006 to 2009, a new Gargoyles comic series was launched from SLG Publishing in association with CreatureComics — the first written by Weisman. The main series, often referred to as “Clan Building,” was joined by a companion title, Bad Guys. Issues #9-12 of Gargoyles and #5-6 of Bad Guys did not see release and were only printed in paperback collections with small print runs. They were produced at a smaller digest size and have been incredibly expensive for years on the secondary market. 

The three-volume set is available in multiple variations for different kinds of fans and collectors. Each is available as either hardcover or paperback. Deluxe hardcover editions with signed tip-in pages are being offered. For the Gargoyles diehards, the most premium option will be the Gargoyles 30th Anniversary Premier Editions limited to just 1,000 copies each!

In addition to the books at the center of this celebration, the campaign will offer several add-ons for backers, including lithograph prints of Jae Lee and Amanda Conner’s covers for Dynamite’s Gargoyles #1. The most premium art piece anyone can get will be a deluxe signed and remarqued giclée print of Lee’s Gargoyles art.

In addition to the reprint of the full series, fans can get special facsimile editions of the very first issue with gold or purple foil stamping. Sketch cover options are also available, as well as commissioned original art from Lee. Plus, collector packs of variant cover sets or premium limited editions and metal covers for Dynamite’s series can be added.

[fellshish]

I'm always afraid that the characters I write about are, well, out of character. I try to come up with things that I think they would say and put them in my style, but I always hear myself talking, not them. Do you have some advice?

Ohh this definitely pushes a button for me because i hate the hewouldntfuckingsaythat-ication of fanfiction. How that concept has poisoned the minds of writers so they keep second-guessing and become insecure and afraid. I think writing fic should be a celebration, a hobby where you write what you want, an indulgence.

So to readers i say: cope. He would say that simply because the fic writer makes him say that 🤷‍♀️ fics are little free gifts!

But as a fic author to another fic author: i understand. You want to stay true to how they sound. To how you see them. I have some tricks up my sleeve.

1. Work with a beta. Someone who reads your work for you, encourages you, and pays extra attention to how the characters ‘sound’. If your beta is a writer too whose characterisations you like, you’ll know you’re safe.

2. Rewatch canon a lot. Rewatch short scenes before writing so you get how they sound fresh in your mind again (this is a tip i stole from @gingiekittycat )

3. Think of little words or phrases your characters say often in canon, and insert them into your fic. For example for aziraphale it can be “dear” or “my dear”. Or for crowley “nknkgnk” or some variation.

4. Say it out loud. “Act” like them, say their lines as them.

5. Do one round of editing of your fic focusing ONLY on the dialogue. Ignore all the rest but just reread your dialogue and really work on it.

Also, please know, your mind lies to you. Of course it sounds “like you” because you are you, especially after you’ve worked on a fic long. But that doesn’t mean it’ll sound out of character to your readers. They’ll go along with more than you think.

[tuktukpodfics]

Hi! I'm thinking about making a podfic of one of my favorite fics and I wanted to ask for a couple of tips because I adore your podfics and I have run into a couple problems very early on.

how do you do deeper voices? my voice is fairly high (I'm a soprano that can occasionally deep down into lower alto) and most of the voices in the fic are male. I also always sound about twelve in recordings lol

how do you make distinct voices? again, I have a lot of different voices (probably 5-7 that talk the most, with many many other reoccurring characters).

pacing of reading. I tend to speak/read very quick and in my practice recordings, it sounds like I'm talking much faster than I felt I was. any tips on that?

what recording programs are best? currently I'm using voice memos on my phone. which. is clearly not going to give me the best sound, regardless of the app I use, but I don't have many options.

I am living in a dorm right now and live in fear of my suite mates hearing me (my roommate not quite as much as she likes to dub and does a lot in our room--though she does it in mandarin so I cant understand it). not to mention background noise of doors opening and whatnot. if you have any tips on that as well, that would be great!

I love your podfic, you put so much soul into them, and I hope that I could do that too!

Hello fellow podfic-er! I’m so excited for you to make a podfic!

The nice thing about podfics is that I usually don’t have to create characters from scratch, they already exist in the TV show. If I’m struggling with a character, I just rewatch some clips of them talking and imitate it!

Deep voices: I, too, have a high, childish voice and struggle with deep, Manly Men. I guess the main tip I have is to...give up. What I mean is focus less on pitch and more on tone. If you speak too low, it’ll be less expressive and will probably hurt your throat. It can work for minor, 2D characters, but don’t do it for main characters that have a wide range of emotions (you may notice that my Mighty Oaks Fire Sage Zuko voice swings higher when he’s emotional oops). Instead, use your normal pitch, and make a character sound adult by using an authoritative tone. Another thing I do is play up the childish and feminine voices. We might not be able to make the adults sound adult, but we can make the kids sound extra kiddish by comparison.

Distinct voices: I’m a tactile learner, so for me, it’s all about the physicality. Every time I do Azula’s voice, I make a pinched face like I’m eating a lemon. When I record Ozai, I sneer. For Sokka, I jut out my chin and flail my arms. It looks silly, but no one is around to see. There’s lots of YouTube tutorials about how to make different voices by varying speed and tone and nasal quality, but I get kinda lost in the sauce with those theory lessons. The only way I can really get myself to do different voices is if I’m working off of a reference. I just watch videos of other cartoons and live actors and then copy them.

Pacing: Pacing is hard. I especially struggle with the editing and often end up cutting things wonkily. Audiobooks tend to be slow because you’re less likely to get tongue tied that way. If I have a big hunk of text that I find myself racing through, I slow myself down with physicality again. I’ll lean in on important words or mime out the actions. For example, on the line, “Zuko turns, grabs the bar at the side of the ship, and throws himself back over,” I'll turn my body on the word “turn,” grab an imaginary bar on the word “grab” and then lurch forward on the word “throw.” Adding in movement can bring variation to those big blocks of text.

What recording programs are best: I don’t know! I use Audacity because it’s free. Adobe Audition is great too, but it’s expensive. I am very lazy with the podfics. I don’t have a professional set-up. Basically, I make a comfortable nest of pillows in bed or my closet, use an iPhone VoiceMemos app to record straight into the phone mic, send the audio file to my computer, convert the audio to a WAV file, put it in Audacity, add a Noise Reduction effect, and then cut it down. Once I’m done editing it, I export the Audacity file as an mp3, upload it to archive.org and Spotify, and then embed those links into Ao3. Feel free to DM me if you have other tech questions. I am not particularly savvy, but we can Google it together? If any voice actors on Tumblr have professional advice, please chime in.

Silence and privacy: Background noise is a big headache for me too. I live in a noisy area with lots of planes and a squeaky elevator. I usually record now in my closet surrounded by pillows and blankets, so it’s fairly soundproof. If there’s a noise, I usually wait for the sound to stop, record the line again, then edit out the mistake in post. At the end of the day, though, sounds will slip in. It’s just a podfic; we’re doing this for fun not professionally, so it doesn’t need to be polished. I think most listeners’ attitudes is that something is better than nothing. If you’re in a school dorm, there might be music practice rooms, a radio recording booth, or empty classrooms you can use instead.

Storage: Something I didn’t realize going in was how much storage the audio clips take up. Make sure you save and delete projects as you go. One time I finished editing an Audacity project, but it wouldn’t let me save it because I ran out of storage and I had to start over.

I’m so glad you like the podfics I’ve done and that it could help inspire you to make one too! I started making podfics because I fell in love with @pixieinthesky’s fantastic Salvage podfic (it's an absolute gem). Keep the chain going!

Have fun!

[lovewash3d-doll]

♡ Tips for when your Draft feels Un-Fixable ♡

………………………………………………………………………….

Recently I tried editing one of my stories and felt everyone that could be possibly wrong was wrong. My scenes were disorganized, my plot was all over the place, and the variation between my imagery and action was horribly inconsistent. I felt so overwhelmed staring at my computer screen and my fingers inched toward the delete key. Instead of deleting all your writing and staring at the frightening, icy white span of a new page, don’t loose hope! A messy page is better than no page at all. Here’s some tips to make your draft fixable! This applies to stories, poems, and all forms of writing

1. Identify!

First things first, instead of trying to solve your problems, identify them! Don’t even think about a solution yet! Pretend you’re editing the work of someone else—Are any paragraphs wonky? Are any sentences unclear? Mark every issue you find in your piece! Next, bullet point your main issues and only then, start considering how you could fix them. Breaking down a problem is easier than handling it at once! You can’t an apple in one bite!

2. Ditch the Digital!

I find the pristine, white screen of a laptop to be very intimidating and unnurturing to developing ideas. As the perfectionist I am, I feel like I have to solidify anything I type, and that can become an issue with accepting my poor first drafts. I find much more comfortable and intimacy in writing in a journal: the delicate paper cradles your words, scribbling preserved every mistake, and everything is hidden with the flip of the journal cover. When I’m struggling with a scene, I let my mind wander and scribble whatever I can come up in my journal. Then, I transfer it onto my computer and edit away! I find this reduces the stigma of having a perfect first draft and is applicable to many of my other tips! Sometimes old-fashioned is better!

3. Plot with Flashcards!

If the string of your plot is all tangled up, a great trick I learned is plotting with flashcards! All you need is paper, scissors, string, clips, a writing utensil, and some horizontal space. On the front side of a card, write a name for the scene and in parenthesis, mark its significance. Is it significant for foreshadowing? For character development? A rise in tension? On the back, go in depth in the scene and describe what happens and what it means to your story. Then, unravel the string in a horizontal line on your floor, desk, or even a wall. With your clips, experiment with the position of scenes along the string. Maybe a scene in the beginning of your story belongs in the middle or an additional scene should be added. Is your plot missing something? Keep clipping, shuffling, and rearranging your flashcards until it makes the most sense to you!

4. Snip your Page!

If the organization of your paragraphs seems off or your piece lacks power, this might be the tip for you! I truthfully believe any writer should try this before deciding if their draft is final! First, print out your writing and grab some scissors! Cut out every paragraph and start rearranging them! Action scenes are a great hook and bundling similar paragraphs may increase the flow of your writing! Ask yourself what part of your writing you want your reader to prioritize? Not all writing has to be in chronological order!

5. Inspire Yourself with Some Reading!

The more you read, the better of a writer you are! Not only can reading inspire new ideas, it can also help you elevate your writing style. Look how other authors have fixed their writing problems! Find a book in your genre and with a similar writing style. Do you notice patterns? What do they do when a character is experiencing an emotional moment? Do they remain surface level or dive deep into the sea of feelings? What sentence variation do they have? What vocabulary do they use? How do they shift the tone? Apply your findings to your writing!

I hope this was helpful!

XOXO,

lovewashed doll ♡

[charmsponies]

Guides and Resources for New Mlp Collectors

A collection of resources I wanted to compile for fun and for easy access, in case there’s any new collectors who are interested

UPDATE: Since this post is so long and has been a little difficult to manage due to tumblrs editing tools, I am moving this "Resource Masterlist" to my Website Here, and will no longer be updating this post on tumblr. Thank you guys for sharing and supporting this post!

Disclaimer: i am still probably considered a relatively new collector, so im not an absolute fountain of information and there are probably tons of resources I have missed, feel free to add more in the comments and reblogs. I update this post when I can to add resources and give you the most accurate information, so please click on my blog to look at the most up to date version (it is my pinned post ^^)

Identifying Ponies/ Databases and Lists of Ponies

Mlp Merch Database- Visual list with pictures of pretty much every single release of Pony Dolls/merch for every single generation, in release order. Useful for if you want to scroll through a particular generation’s releases with pictures, very thorough and complete. If you make an account you can make checklists or wishlists for yourself.

Strawberry Reef- Visual list with Pictures of Pony Doll Releases. I feel like the pictures are slightly bigger (and thus easier to look at) than mlp merch database but that might just be my computer. G1-5, though I feel like the g4-5 sections are a little incomplete. For g1 and g2 you can sort by release date pretty effectively. This website is ESPECIALLY useful for quickly identifying ponies because you can sort by color, pose, or characteristics! However it’s not as complete a list as mlp merch database or my little wiki.

My little wiki- One of my favorite wikipedias ever (It’s an actual wiki, NOT A fandom wikia). Has lists of every release for every generation (Though the more recent gens might not have photos for every single release yet). The lists are NOT visual lists like the previous two resources so I use it less for identification, more for finding out more specific information about a certain toy. It will list pretty much every single variation/regional variant of every toy, as well as more information about their releases, which accessories they came with, backstories from the back of the box, ect.

Toy Sisters- I use this website less for identification and more for getting really good close up photos at every single pony and their accessories if you want to get some close up, detailed looks before you buy for example. You can sort generally by type, pose and year. As of writing this they do not have g5 info. If you collect other dolls or toys this website may be useful to you because they have more than just ponies.

Ponyland Press- Has photos and information on g1 releases in order, as well as country exclusive releases. Also has some information on certain accessories, ponywear or other merch. Also has some information on cleaning and some restorative information.

Restoration and Cleaning

(IMMEDIATE PSA IF ANYONE IS LOOKING AT THIS LIST TO RESTORE A PONY WITH MARKER OR HIGHLIGHTER ON HER: do NOT use acne cream like removezit or any other creams on her! This can lead to awful, permanent discoloration and staining! Instead I would look at what the mlp preservation project (linked below) says about sunfading!)

How to clean- Very basic guide on thoroughly cleaning toys, plus some styling tips

Hair Styling Tips

More Hair Styling Tips

Hair Styling: How to make twists and buns! This guide is intended for customs and talks about pushing pins into the pony and trimming the hair once you’re done but im sure it can be adjusted for non customs in a way where you don’t actually cause harm to the pony

MLP Preservation Project- One of the most useful guides for restoration, has sections on pretty much every major restoration need you might have. Links to so many different sources, tutorials and guides for fixing your ponies if something is badly wrong with them. godsend.

The Lavender Lagoon- A resource specifically for G2! Has identification and checklist materials but also has guides for hair matching and color matching eye crystals if your g2 pony's eyes have fallen out

Hair Matching Guide- A guide for closest hair color matches using dollyhair colors. Has g1, but it is a wip site. Looks like it will have other generations eventually too

Hair Length Guide- By no means complete, but has a bunch of the exact hair lengths for certain ponies g1-g3 written out, useful for looking for exact hair length measurements for rehairing. (Side note: If you can’t find how long a certain pony’s should be, ask around the community! I don’t bite and would be happy to measure a pony’s hair for you if I have the same pony, and I’m sure there are many other collectors who would be willing to do the same ^^)

Rehairing Youtube Tutorial: Using the main method most commonly used, in my opinion the easiest hairing method

Rehairing Youtube Tutorial: Loop And Lock Method: For if you struggle with gluing hair into the head

Alternate rehairing Method Tutorial

Rehairing with Yarn Youtube Tutorial

Little tutorial I made once about retailing (rehairing the tail)

Youtube tutorial for restoring g1 glitter symbols (Restoring non glitter symbols would be similar, just without the use of glitter)

Aikarin’s Custom Tutorials: A ton of tutorials related to creating custom ponies, also has some stuff that could be used with restoration

More Custom Tutorials: Intended for customs but techniques could also be used for restorations

Reflocking Youtube Tutorial - This video in particular shows reflocking small patches of missing fur. Be sure to look at the guide linked on the mlp preservation project as well

Materials for Restoration

Oxiclean- Good for cleaning ponies

Magic Eraser- Good for cleaning Stubborn marks on dirty ponies. Please be careful of cutiemarks, eyes or other painted symbols. For less stubborn marks or if you dont have a magic eraser you can use a toothbrush with dish soap on it :>

Baking Soda- I have heard that using this can help get rid of bad smells on toys, if your pony has a dirty odor! Have not tried this myself. Cover the pony in baking soda in a baggie for a few days. Similarly if you want to restore smells by scenting a pony you can use fragrances, though be careful because certain chemicals may damage your ponies!

Shampoo and Conditioner- Essential for washing and styling manes and tails. NOTE: If you have a pony with UV based color changing hair (like a g1 Sunshine Pony or something similar) Its recommended Not to wash it with soap or shampoo as it can damage the hairs ability to change color! be very gentle, water should wash it fine

Shimmerlocks- My personal favorite place to buy hair. They have close color matches for pretty much every single g1 (And have it set up for if you just search the pony’s name it will show you the closest hair matches for them!). Each (normal nylon) hair color is about 5 dollars, and they also have affordable rehairing tools and needles for only a dollar each. I’ve emailed them for color matching help before and they respond quickly and are very nice and helpful. They also have (slightly more expensive) color changing hair, glow in the dark hair, and textured hair (that are probably for other, non mlp dolls since i assume you need different hair plugs for them, but super useful if you’re a general doll collector, not just mlp)

RestoreDoll- I haven’t used this one personally but have heard people recommend it ^^

Dollyhair- A little controversial since the previous owner has had links to racist, antisemitic, and white supremacist sites, but the website is now under new ownership and is women and poc owned now! Wanted to get that out of the way since I was originally misinformed about the site and thought it was bad to use, it’s important to know about it’s past but also important to note the new ownership. They offer a lot of different hair colors, textured hair, Rehairing tools, Doll paint and even hair fragrances, with their (normal nylon) hairs being about 4 dollars each

My Little Customs- UK based nylon hair distributor, has a lot of nylon hairs but also other special hairs. They also have flocking and other materials useful for restoring dolls.

RIT Dye- The dye I use for pony hair (I have heard people also can use it for dying pony bodies for customs, but you have to be careful storing them because it could stain other ponies over time!). Good, high quality, long lasting and not fading. If you are repinking a pony with faded pink hair, I always use Petal Pink

Forceps- If you can find some online, wonderful tool for removing hair, rusty tails, or any object that might be inside your pony. Godsend, I use it all the time when rehairing. Tweezers can also work if you dont have.

Fabritac- Glue of choice for Rehairing and gluing heads back on

Fun Flock Cottonball white- Can be use to reflock or flock a pony. Visually looks similar to a g1 so soft, though the texture and look is slightly different. This is what I’ve used to restore a so soft in the past

Mod Podge- Glue of choice for flocking

Apoxie Sculpt- This is what many people use to restore broken or chewed off body parts. Durable, though may be a little more difficult to use and expensive than other basic air dry clays.

Model Magic- Personal choice for air dry clay to use to fix broken/chewed off body parts. You specifically need an air dry clay (as you cant really bake a pony body without it melting) and Model Magic doesn’t crumble and has a soft (? dunno how to describe it) toylike, texture when it dries. Just note you should avoid getting it wet. You could also use your own personal choice of air dry clay.

Rust Removers- I typically just use white vinegar to clean rusty bodys/tails/beddy bye eyes. Letting the rusty pony/hair sit in a white vinegar bath and scrubbing gently with a tooth brush will remove most rust. For harder to remove rust I’ve heard Rit Rust Remover works well, though this is more expensive and I haven’t tried it myself.

EcoStardust Glitter- I specifically sought out a biodegradable glitter for my restorations, and this is the one I’ve used. Has basic colors of glitter in various sizes. (Choosing the finest option they had) It isn’t exactly the same fineness as the original g1 glitters, but it was fine enough to work and look good on a complete cutiemark restoration. Here’s an example of what it looks like on an actual pony if you wanna see how it looks compared to the original glitter. Please note you can use whichever glitter you want, there are definitely better/closer matches to the look (And I’m sure normal glitter is cheaper/easier to get). If you don’t mind using a non biodegradable one look for “ultra fine”, I just specifically felt better using a biodegradable one ^^

Acrylic Paint- Good for custom work but also for restoring Cutiemarks!

Paintbrushes- You’ll need different kinds depending on what you’re doing. Get high quality nice ones if you wanna paint a custom or do detailed cutiemark work. If you have any of those cheapo, bendy, shitty dollarstore paintbrushes: those are great for gluing hair into heads because they’re bendy and can reach hard to reach areas, and you wont destroy an actual good brush with glue.

Hydrogen Peroxide: Can be used with sunfading to safely remove certain stains, read more here

Accessories

HQG1C- This is actually a huge, fan project creating a ton of “high quality g1 customs” they’re very cool. I’m putting them here not only for their customs but they also have cool stuff for customizers and collectors: Blank Pony Bases, Hair/rehairing tools, replacement shells for sea ponies, replacement cowboy hats for a big brother pony like Tex, ect. Here is Clipper’s website (Ships in USA) And here is a UK distributor and also another UK distributor

Sweetheart Sister Earring Replacements- (Sometimes I see these going out of stock, I’m linking someone who’s selling them as of writing this on july 28, 2023)

Flutter Wing Replacements and Windy and Summer Wing Replacements- (Sometimes I see these going out of stock, I’m linking someone who’s selling them as of writing this on july 28, 2023). Also worth noting the pony preservation project has a few tutorials on how to make some wings, these are just links for if you want to buy some.

Custom Flutter Wing Tutorial- This specific one is a custom look a little different from the original flutter wings, but looks gorgeous

Dress Ponywear Tutorial- A pattern I made myself of a basic ponywear dress, free to use. Works for g1 and g3 (have not tried to adjust it for other generations yet)

Pony nightcap sewing tutorial- idk thought I’d throw this in too, very simple sleepy nightcap sewing tutorial that fits ponies, free to use (I made it for a bbe)

Pony Blankets, Bandanas, diapers and other accessories patterns- To replace missing accessories if you wanted to sew them yourself

Community (Forums or Areas you may want to go to ask questions from others!)

My Little Pony Trading Post- A dedicated MLP forum, with sections dedicated to discussions (I often see people asking or answering questions about restorative measures for example), art, customs, or other topics. No profanity is allowed and you have to be over 16

My Little Pony Arena- I know this forum exists and that a lot of people discussed restorative topics on there and used it as a resource for stuff like that, and so I felt the need to mention it: but the site is quite literally unusable if you don’t have an account, you can’t access any pages, and to make an account you have to wait for it to be approved. I tried signing up but it has been awhile and I’ve heard nothing back, so I’m assuming this is one of those sites that are largely inactive in the modern day 😔

My MLP Discord Server- Figured I’d throw this in there: An MLP server I made for fans of all/any generation, not necessarily toy specific either. If you wanna ask me or anyone else a question or advice about toys or restoration or something or you just wanna say hi feel free to pop in :) Very Very causal

MLP Collectors Discord Server- Not mine but very fun, for fans of all gens, some nice people there :) Is a lot larger and more structured than my own server

[crispsandkerosene]

The Custom CubeMaps for TS2 Post

You may know that the Sims 2 uses cubemaps to add a reflective effect to certain objects/materials. The details of this are explained in Part 2 of Pixelhate’s ‘Exploring the TXMT’ series.

This document also explains how to make a custom one... but the result is not functional, at least in my all-EPs, all-SPs game. Fortunately, there’s an easy fix:

‘EnvCubes’ are not regular texture images. They contain six different “blocks”/subtextures, one for each side of the cubemap. Thus creating a custom EnvCube involves extracting and renaming one of Maxis’, and replacing the various subtextures. (Unlike SpecularMasks, these don’t mind the DXT1/3/5 formats. Error messages may appear if you import a texture bigger than the existing ones, though. In that case, commit and close the ressource, save the package, and open the ressource again.)

So TL;DR, I made a bunch!

I also made a test object for ease of visualization. Here, it demonstrates Maxis’ “reflectioncubetemplate-envcube” texture with the material’s “stdMatEnvCubeLockedToCamera” parameter set to zero and one respectively. More on that later.

The materials in the following pictures generally have an“stdMatEnvCubeCoef“ parameter of 0.5, 0.5, 0.5; its base texture is flat black.

My first creations: extra recolours of the texture used by most of the game’s metallic cubemaps. The top ball shows Maxis’ “reflectiongold” envcube as a point of comparison.

The middle row contains “MetallicRed”, “MetallicPurple”, “MetallicBlue” and “MetallicGreen”.

The bottom row contains “RoseGold”, “MetallicBrown” and “Gunmetal”.

I’ve also made variations of Maxis’ “reflectionsparking” cubemap (visible left), often used for glass and plastic. The middle texture is “HighContrastSparkling”; the one on the right is “SparseHighlights”.

The same custom envcube, previewed on the urn sculpture. Probably not their best look, tbh.

Now for something quite cool:

With specific textures and the “stdMatEnvCubeLockedToCamera” parameter set to 1, we can achieve a rimlit and/or holographic effect! Here are “RainbowFresnel”, “HoloFresnel” and “Fresnel”.

The spheres don’t really do this effect justice. So here is a demonstration of their “cool holo fabric” potential, gif included. Hopefully no one beats me to making a holo skirt haha. (+ my two reflectionsparking edits on the sides. )

I’ve also fixed up Pixelhate’s own custom envcube, though their texture turned out not to be ideal.

-

My test object and all the pictured recolours can be downloaded here on SimFileShare.

The tester is found under Deco/Misc for 1$. The actual envcube textures are found in its various recolour files, but are only referenced by the recolours of other objects. This means that if you delete “EnvcubeTester_recHoloFresnel”, “HnMManequinLongDress_RecHoloEnvCubeLocked“ won’t be able to find the texture it’s supposed to use.

And here is a zip containing these envcubes as individual TXTR ressources ready to be imported into SimPe, as well as a package file containing all of them.

Again, Pixelhate’s documentation explains how to actually use these custom envcubes for your own CC. My last package file can be used as a “pseudo texture repository” as described in their guide.

-

And a few last minute tips for creators:

The projected envcube is additively added to the object’s main texture and shading. Its brightness is also dependant on the ambiant lighting, being much duller inside. This means that a dark envcube texture likely won’t have much effect.

Maxis’ cubemap projection is weird. Some of the textures don’t have the orientation you’d expect. I’d recommend extracting the subtextures from “reflectioncubetemplate” and testing out your envcube on my test object if you’re strugging with that.

Making a ‘rimlit’ cubemap only involves creating three textures: ‘back’, ‘front’, and a gradient between those that will be reused by all sides. See my ‘fresnel’ envcubes as a reference.

When using such a ‘rimlit’ envcube, don’t forget to set the “stdMatEnvCubeLockedToCamera” parameter in the material to 1. It won’t look too good otherwise :p

Custom EnvCubes can also be used for clothing and other CaS items with the “SimStandardMaterial”. However, they are a bit pricklier: “##0x1C050000!” has to be added before the texture name in the “stdMatEnvCubeTextureName” parameter. It won’t work if this extra string is not present.

[abeinginsand]

A conversation about demon tails (Hermie and Taylor bonding)

(Dialogue and image description below)

Left to Right Panel 1: Hermie (thought): Great set-up but these typos... Surroundings: Closet sign, Making edits to fic Panel 2: Hermie (thought): Also the doctor is-- Taylor: "Hey Hermie!" Surroundings: Door slam sound effect Panel 3: Hermie: "Hello nephew, crime associate, and best friend. What have you come here for?" Panel 4: Taylor (thought): Hey I'm not that short! Taylor: "No one's around so show me your tail, Herm!" Hermie (making a dramatic, appalled face off-screen): "Puzzling choice of words..." Panel 5: Taylor: "Different shapes...yours looks like Dad's!" Hermie: "They (both tails) look like Jodie's. Still need to kill--" Taylor: "Or you could change the shape, dude....Uncle? We could match or make a new shape?" Surroundings: Nicky's (label for the doodle of Nicky's tail) Panel 6: Surroundings: Three new variations (panel header) Taylor: "Kawaii (cute)!" (to the flower shape) Taylor: "Cool like my sword cane" (to knife shape) Taylor: "Mysterious?" (to the mask) Hermie: "Perfect!" Side note: The mask is purposefully drawn with the tear on the 'happy' side of the mask unlike the traditional theater masks with tears on the 'sad' side. ---- Copy of image description: A digital sketch comic with six panels read from left to right and top to bottom. It features the friend and relative duo Hermie and Taylor from Dungeons and Daddies. Hermie is sitting with one leg crossed in the theater classroom. They are looking at their phone and editing Normal's fanfic chapter. Taylor busts into the room very loudly and interrupts Hermie's thoughts. Hermie greets him and the dialogue box seems to be on top of a very low to the floor Taylor. The next panel shows Taylor pushing the dialogue box into the air with all his strength. He asks to see his best friend's tail. The two compare their no longer hidden demon traits. The tail tips are different and Hermie's looks more like his half brother's tail than his nephew. The fact that it looks like Jodie's tail makes Hermie angry and she brings up wanting to kill him still. Taylor offers a less violent solution which is using shape shifting to alter the shape to something new. Three new variations are shown at the bottom which are flower, knife, and theater mask. Hermie likes all the shapes but is most pleased with the mask. Taylor gives compliments to each type excitedly.

[stllmnstr]

How do you write so well?? Your writing is so so beautiful!!! Any tips?

Oh this is so sweet 😭😭 First of all, thank you! I don’t feel like I have any particularly revolutionary advice to give, but these would be my main points:

1. Practice!!! Write. A lot. I posted my first fanfic in 2017 and had already been writing a lot before that, including original stories, poetry, and just about anything else I could think of. From what I’ve seen, I definitely skew on the older side of enha writers on tumblr, so please remember to be patient and gentle with yourself, especially if you’re young and/or newer to writing. The stuff I was writing at 16 certainly doesn’t read like the stuff I write now, but all of that practice helped me to get there. Writing is hard. I think it always will be. But give yourself grace and keep at it, and you’ll only keep getting better.

2. Read!!! There are so many great authors out there that do amazing, innovative, exciting things with words. I always feel inspired to write after I read a really great book, and reading will also strengthen your vocabulary, grammar, and sense of personal style/voice.

3. Let your writing be “bad” !!!! I very rarely reread stories after I post them, because every time I do, I find at least twenty things I want to change. 😭 Writing and words are a living thing, and there’s absolutely a certain amount of subjectivity to what makes writing “good.” There’s always going to be room from improvement, and you’re always going to be able to find something to nitpick or criticize if that’s the perspective you take. Fanfiction in particular is great, because if your story is something you’re excited about, there’s a 99.99% chance that other people will be excited about it too. It doesn’t have to be perfect. Take that pressure off of yourself, and enjoy the process. Use the experience and the feedback and the practice to write something even better the next time around.

4. Develop a strong editing routine. This is probably the most technical and specific point, but I think it gets overlooked. My first drafts look a LOT different from what I post, usually. I don’t remember where I found this tip, but my writing changed for the better when I started rewriting all/most of my story as part of the editing process. Literally, once I finish a draft, I’ll open a new document and will retype most/all of it, changing things as I go. This helps me to catch little errors and also to improve the overall flow and pacing of a story. I recommend trying it if you haven’t! Like I said before, a lot of “good” writing is subjective, but editing is where you improve the more objective aspects. Making sure that things like grammar, word choice, sentence variation, and general plot are solid will absolutely strengthen your writing.

5. This last tip is actually more for readers: INTERACT!!!!! Reblog, comment, send asks, scream in the tags!!!! Do all of the above!!!! Writing is a long, difficult process, and it takes a lot of effort to post a story. It’s especially hard when you’re new. Like I mentioned above, I posted my first fanfic almost seven years ago, and the only reason I kept posting more was because people interacted with my work and took the time to tell me that they enjoyed it. If you want to read better writing, if you want to read longer stories, if you want more stories to read in general, give writers the incentive to write! I love writing. I really do. But it takes a lot of time and effort, and it’s a labor of love. Posting a story feels a bit like shouting into the void. At the end of the day, your interactions are what make it worth it for myself and a lot of others that publish in the fanfic space. If you’re a writer that is struggling to get any kind of interaction/feedback, a good place to start can be connecting with other writers and building a little community! It will help tumblr (or wherever you write) to not feel so lonely. Plus, having writer friends is a wonderful way to share your woes and get inspiration.

At the end of the day, I think that genuinely enjoying writing is half the battle. If you’re already there, that means you like words. You like stories. You like putting puzzle pieces together and making characters come to life. Liking those things is where it all starts, so keep at it, trust the process, and the rest will follow. 🤍

[celestemagnoliathewriter]

2.268 million…. Words

👀

Staring at you in amazement. How do you keep the drive going when writing drabbles, and multichapters? Do you have an outlining process, storyboard, character web?

I’m seeking advice, because these fests wips that I have (ladies of hp, Romionetrope, Jily) are just so hectic. I have the beginning and end of set and ready to go. I have the dialogue/plot however I don’t know how to keep organized. When I edit my work I go back to the beginning and change some parts same goes to adding in the middle.

Do you have any tips for a fellow fanfic writer? Anything will help 😅

Ok, so I do have to preface that a lot of my fanfic writing has been a form of productive procrastination. I don't necessarily recommend stress-writing tons and tons of fanfic and putting off your actual work. However, I will say what I do for writing as much fanfic as I do:

Keeping the drive going: part of it is that I write a lot of longfics out in advance. Not all of them - certainly not all of them - but most of them, I start writing and try to get to a good percentage of the words before I start posting. With Supernova, I promised 100k words pre-written before I even began posting. So writing in advance is a huge benefit. It's also one of the ways to really write for yourself, be happy with only you seeing it (and a beta, if you're lucky!) and then getting feedback on it. A lot of the time, I keep the drive going by having multiple projects at once. If I get stuck with one, I go to the next one, and so on.

Planning: I start with an idea for a story and then think about what the 'theme' of it is (besides the obvious torturing of my characters). What is the story I want to tell? Fundamentally, most stories come down to one or two things: new person moves into town (think Pride and Prejudice or Brooklyn 99, with the arrival of Captain Holt), person goes on an adventure (think Harry Potter, or The Good Place, with Eleanor and the gang going on an afterlife adventure), or both (Lord of the Rings or Stranger Things, new kid is Eleven plus the adventure of the Upside Down). There are variations on this theme, but most stories come down to one of those things. Start by figuring out which one you're doing, or how you're doing a variation of them, and then figure out what the story is, what you're trying to tell, what you're trying to say about your characters in general.

Some examples from my own writing:

The Nymph of House Black (time traveling Tonks): Tonks goes on an adventure to the past; overarching ideas: facing the reality of what time travel would be and what-if thinking. Learning that you shouldn't carry the weight of the world on your shoulders.

Cariad (postwar Remadora survives AU): Remus and Tonks go on an adventure, of being a couple in 'the real world' and facing stuff they haven't dealt with. Overarching idea: what does it mean to love when there's only normal life? turns out that love in the mundane is harder than you think, but it can be found.

Supernova (Tedromeda/Remadora AU): new guy in town is actually Ted, returning to Andromeda's life. Overarching idea: how do we find joy when it seems impossible to find? what are the lengths we're willing to go to for those we love?

Organizational ideas: this is probably my weakest area, but I'll give it a go. When you plan a story, use the basic five-act structure. 1) set the scene, where are we? 2) rising action - what's driving the story? 3) climax - what's the crisis point? 4) falling action - how are things getting resolved after the crisis? 5) resolution - how does it end?

The advantage of the five act structure is that it's very clear, but it doesn't translate to all stories and plots. For example, Supernova is currently in a very very long "rising action' stage. We are hurtling towards crisis and there will be an equally long falling action phase. But there will also be subplots that are sort of 'mini' five act plays within the larger narrative.

For longer stories, I prefer the snowflake method of plotting. Regardless, planning is your best bet for organization. Break it down into smaller sections and complete it section by section (not necessarily in order) and then weave it all together.

Other times it's better to just write, write, write, and don't stop until you can't keep writing anymore. I can't really say that there's a fully right way to plan or organize, it's whatever works best for you.

I hope some of this helps!

[nanowrimo]

What Do You Do After You've Written Your Novel? 6 Tips from Joanna Penn

Every year, we’re lucky to have great sponsors for our nonprofit events. Scrivener, a 2022 NaNoWriMo sponsor, is an award-winning writing app that has been enthusiastically adopted by best-selling novelists and novices alike. Today, they’ve partnered with author Joanna Penn to share some tips on what to do after you finish your first draft:

If you've completed this year's NaNoWriMo, congratulations! But finishing a novel is only the first step on a publishing journey. We spoke with Joanna Penn, author of non-fiction books for authors, as well as best-selling thriller author as J. F. Penn. 

Joanna did NaNoWriMo in 2009, and, while she didn't write 50,000 words, or finish her novel, the experience helped her decide where she wanted to go with her fiction, and how she wanted to develop her career as a writer. Joanna offers six tips for writers who have completed their first novel: 

1. Review your work.

"After NaNoWriMo, I spent the next 14 months in the editing process," Joanna said. At the end of NaNoWriMo, "you've got first-draft material, which you need to then shape into the book you want it to be. About 5,000 of the words that I wrote in NaNoWriMo ended up in the book. But this gave me the seed and the confidence for that first novel; I knew I could sit down and write, and have words that then I could edit later."

2. Formulate your goals.

Writers first looking for publication have choices to make. You can go the traditional publishing route, or you can self publish, and there are many variations of each approach. "If you are set on a traditional publishing deal, then you have to start researching agents. If you are interested in being an independent author, then you can look at self publishing options." 

3. Don't quit your day job.

Joanna is a full-time writer, but it took her several years, and several novels, to reach that point. She started writing in 2006, published her first book in 2008, then took a big initial pay cut when she went full time in 2011. "It's very unlikely that the book you write during NaNoWriMo is going to make you a million and get you a movie deal, so keep your day job while you keep writing." 

4. Do you enjoy writing?

Not everyone is cut out for a full-time career as a writer. Completing NaNoWriMo is a big achievement, but you need to really enjoy writing if you want to make it your career. "I think the question to ask yourself is, 'Did I enjoy writing?'" If the answer is "yes," you need to realize that a writing career won't be built around a single novel. "However you want to publish, it's not about one book, it's about more than one book."

5. If you self publish, you'll be running a business.

Successful self-publishing is a lot more than just writing; you also become a business. "To be successful at self publishing, you have to run a business. And many people don't want to run a business. They would rather have a publisher do the work for them."

6. Model your career on authors you like.

A good way to plan your future is to look how authors you like work and promote their books. "Find authors to model who have a career that you're interested in following. And then start looking at how they do marketing. What are you willing to do for the future that you want? Your decisions around publishing and marketing will come from that."

Joanna Penn is author of How to Write a Novel, and writes thrillers as J. F. Penn. 

Kirk McElhearn is the author of Take Control of Scrivener, and host of the podcast Write Now with Scrivener.

Scrivener provides a full range of writing and editing features at your fingertips, and combines all the tools you need to craft your first draft. All NaNoWriMo participants receive a 20% discount on Scrivener’s regular license by entering NANOWRIMO22 into the coupon code text field in the web store through December 7th, 2022. If you want to try out Scrivener first, you can download a free trial that will run through December 7th, 2022.

[spiritusloci]

Do have some tips on how best to use Midjourney?

I’m still learning all the time, which is why I think I’m so obsessed with it, I love the challenge and the surprises. I tend to use the formula: subject, action, setting, style… as I tend to focus on portraits. Sometimes I write in sentences, often I use :: to multiprompt and then refine that with weighting for each separate idea such as idea1::3 idea2::5 idea3::-1.5. I sometimes have very brief prompts I write myself, sometimes I play with ChatGPT to give me a description of a character and use and/or edit that. I usually generate dozens of images with slight variations in the prompts each time until I get to what I'm imagining. Sometimes I use the /shorten command to see the result and to see the keywords that MJ is picking up. Sometimes I start off with an image and use the /describe command to see the keywords for style that MJ is seeing, this helps a lot as I avoid using names of real artists or people in my prompts. Sometimes, if I’m having trouble getting an image right I will create one part (like the subject) and then another (like the setting), and then combine the images in one prompt. I often do this too with multiple versions of one subject to try to get just the right look or expression. Variations are a blessing and I tend to use both types on any result that I like just to check if there might be a slight improvement. Every image I make is also run through Lightroom where I do further editing and some images require more editing (or combining) so use Photoshop to composite before taking into Lightroom. Cheers, and good luck (and have fun)!

[whereorion]

RP GRAPHICS, by orion.

➝ note　:　do not claim my work as your own, copy, steal, redistribute, resell. you are more than welcome to edit the icon borders but you must credit me no matter what. i try to make my resources as affordable as possible, and create a handful of variations of the same design.　currently working on　:　icon borders.

➝ when using my work, custom or otherwise, crediting me is necessary　:　whereorion / previously who_orion

➝ support me over on ko-fi!

➝ tips are always appreciated but never necessary! custom commission payments are done through paypal ♡

CURRENTLY NOT ACCEPTING COMMISSIONS, but feel free to inquire through tumblr ims about future availability!

➝ icon borders : vary from $5 to $9 based on complexity!

➝ custom dividers : $5

please read the rules under the cut before commissioning me:

please have a rough idea of what you want your commission to be, any sort of inspo helps (pinterest, character wikis, edits you've made yourself, etc), even if you're uncertain of the elements! i will always send drafts of what i make you, and feedback is always appreciated, after all, i want to make something you are happy with.

i do not take payments until you are happy with everything i've made you! once we've established that you're okay with everything made, only then will i take payment for your commission.

please have the funds ready beforehand, this is currently my only source of making money while i actively search for a job, and being paid once i make a commission would very much benefit you and i, because it means you get what you requested right away.

treat me like you'd want others to treat you. i am just a person trying my best to make things for others, so being rude and harassing me will lead to you getting blocked and having your commission request denied.