#Novel Writing

[ameliasmiscmonsters]

[thewordsarestuckinmyhead]

me when the plot won't plot like it should

[slvee]

genuinely my goal is to make my readers giggle and squeal and put the book down and do a lap around their room like this

So writers joke a lot about "drinking the tears of our readers", but I want to be so honest with you when I tell you that making you cry isn't our real goal. Making you feel is.

Kicking your feet? Giggling? Can't stop smiling? And yes, crying? Feeling anything, everything. That's our goal. That means we did The Job.

[hayatheauthor]

100 Dialogue Tags You Can Use Instead of “Said”

For the writers struggling to rid themselves of the classic ‘said’. Some are repeated in different categories since they fit multiple ones (but those are counted once so it adds up to 100 new words). 

1. Neutral Tags 

Straightforward and unobtrusive dialogue tags: 

Added, Replied, Stated, Remarked, Responded, Observed, Acknowledged, Commented, Noted, Voiced, Expressed, Shared, Answered, Mentioned, Declared.

2. Questioning Tags 

Curious, interrogative dialogue tags:

Asked, Queried, Wondered, Probed, Inquired, Requested, Pondered, Demanded, Challenged, Interjected, Investigated, Countered, Snapped, Pleaded, Insisted.

3. Emotive Tags 

Emotional dialogue tags:

Exclaimed, Shouted, Sobbed, Whispered, Cried, Hissed, Gasped, Laughed, Screamed, Stammered, Wailed, Murmured, Snarled, Choked, Barked.

4. Descriptive Tags 

Insightful, tonal dialogue tags: 

Muttered, Mumbled, Yelled, Uttered, Roared, Bellowed, Drawled, Spoke, Shrieked, Boomed, Snapped, Groaned, Rasped, Purred, Croaked.

5. Action-Oriented Tags 

Movement-based dialogue tags: 

Announced, Admitted, Interrupted, Joked, Suggested, Offered, Explained, Repeated, Advised, Warned, Agreed, Confirmed, Ordered, Reassured, Stated.

6. Conflict Tags 

Argumentative, defiant dialogue tags:

Argued, Snapped, Retorted, Rebuked, Disputed, Objected, Contested, Barked, Protested, Countered, Growled, Scoffed, Sneered, Challenged, Huffed.

7. Agreement Tags 

Understanding, compliant dialogue tags: 

Agreed, Assented, Nodded, Confirmed, Replied, Conceded, Acknowledged, Accepted, Affirmed, Yielded, Supported, Echoed, Consented, Promised, Concurred.

8. Disagreement Tags 

Resistant, defiant dialogue tags: 

Denied, Disagreed, Refused, Argued, Contradicted, Insisted, Protested, Objected, Rejected, Declined, Countered, Challenged, Snubbed, Dismissed, Rebuked.

9. Confused Tags 

Hesitant, uncertain dialogue tags:

Stammered, Hesitated, Fumbled, Babbled, Mumbled, Faltered, Stumbled, Wondered, Pondered, Stuttered, Blurted, Doubted, Confessed, Vacillated.

10. Surprise Tags

Shock-inducing dialogue tags:

Gasped, Stunned, Exclaimed, Blurted, Wondered, Staggered, Marvelled, Breathed, Recoiled, Jumped, Yelped, Shrieked, Stammered.

Note: everyone is entitled to their own opinion. No I am NOT telling people to abandon said and use these. Yes I understand that said is often good enough, but sometimes you WANT to draw attention to how the character is speaking. If you think adding an action/movement to your dialogue is 'good enough' hate to break it to you but that ruins immersion much more than a casual 'mumbled'. And for the last time: this is just a resource list, CALM DOWN. Hope that covers all the annoyingly redundant replies :)

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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[writingwithfolklore]

Don't Mess Up Your Character Introduction

Your characters only get one introduction, and from that very first moment, readers will form their opinions and impressions of that character. Once they have, it’s incredibly hard to change their minds, so you have to make sure that you make the right first impression.

In my last novel (currently querying right now!) I had a beta reader come back to me to say that he really didn’t like my female protagonist. However, in his notes on the actual manuscript, there were several parts he highlighted because he was very sympathetic to her—so why didn’t those parts sway him? It was because they came too little, too late. He’d already formed his thoughts on the protagonist as a person.

I heard recently that Finding Nemo’s flashback that the movie opens with was initially later in the film to explain why Marlin was such an overprotective parent, but test audiences really hated him, and by then, all the tragedy in the world wouldn’t convince them otherwise. Instead, Disney moved the flashback to the beginning so that we started the movie sympathetic to him, and were able to overlook or understand his more annoying/frustrating traits.

I’m saying that right out of the gate, if we’re meant to root for them, you need to show us why. If we’re meant to hate them, you also need to show us why. Don’t hold onto your cards, don’t keep secrets too late, because once we form an opinion on someone, it’s difficult to change.

When that opinion does need to change (such as when you’re pulling off a villain redemption arc), it typically takes the entire story and genuine character growth to do.

See my post here on why we root for a character.

[slvee]

Jack Osmund

Mediocre. He's an only child and his parents both worked a lot, so none of them are particularly close. It's not a negative relationship by any means, but a neutral one. Extended family is a different story, he hates so many of those motherfuckers.

Raised in a culturally Christian household, but they never truly believed. They were the type to only ever go to church for Christmas and Easter services. As an adult, he doesn't care for organized religion at all. Given his recent adventures he's starting to believe in the occult/supernatural.

He truly does have a desire to help others. It's what drove him to become an EMT, it's what keeps him by Hai's side through all of their adventures.

Jack was raised to be the "everyman" so to speak. Kind but not overbearing, curious but not too out there. His family never liked to rock the boat, and he took on that desire for conformity. But as he gets pulled into these adventures, he finds himself braver and more willing to act. To make decisions. To stand out.

He just really wants to settle into NYC and work as an EMT, is that so much to ask? The universe thinks so.

Oh boy does he have a lot of feelings about things he can't control. That's kind of the whole theme of the story--what is free will? Do we have it? Is it still considered free will if we actively chose to follow the path that would have been decided for us anyway? He hates not being in control, but has learned to roll with the punches and find his own way to put a spin on things.

He was quite literally chosen by the universe to be the narrator. Ah, meta storytelling.

basic things you should know about your main characters

how is their relationship with their family

what are their beliefs, if they have any

what is their motivation (preferably something unrelated to their love interest/romantic feelings)

who were they raised to be vs. who they became/are becoming

what are their plans for the future, if they have any

how they feel about themselves and how it affects their behaviour

how do they feel about things they cannot control

and last but not least: Why is This Character the Protagonist??

[writer-logbook]

How I improved my writing style... without actually writing.

Intro : It's just a clickbait title to talk about theory and side techniques - before actually practicing, of course.

LINGUISTIC ISN'T GRAMMAR - AND IT'S BETTER TO KNOW ABOUT BOTH. It's useful for writing impactful dialogue and giving your characters depth. Your characters' language should (ideally) take into account: their social position (rich or poor), the locality (local expressions?) and sometimes their age (different cultural references). And this is best transcribed with linguistic knowledge. In short: linguistics is descriptive, grammar is prescriptive.

The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences),  semantics (meaning),  morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds and equivalent gestures in sign languages), phonology (the abstract sound system of a particular language, and analogous systems of sign languages), and pragmatics (how the context of use contributes to meaning). (Linguistics, Wikipedia)

Literary theory isn't as boring as it sounds. Learn more about internal criteria of the text (figure of speech, style, aesthetic...) and external criteria of the text (the author's persona and responsability, the role of the reader and what is left to interpretation...). I refer you to the French Wikipedia page, which you can translate directly via your browser in case you need more information. (Make sure you translate the page not switch language, because the content isn't the same).

Listening to Youtube Video about the analysis of film sequences and/or scenario. Remember when I told you to read historical fiction to learn how to describe a castle properly ? Same vibe.

Novel adaptations of movies. = when the movie exists before the book, and not the other way around. e.g : The Shape of Water ; Pan's Labyrinth. In line with tip n°3, it allows us to see how emotions, scenes and descriptions have been translated into writing - and thus to better visualize concepts that may have been abstract.

Read books about authors' writing experiences. e.g : Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft. Everyone's different, but they can provide some insightful tips not only on the act of writing itself, but on the environment conducive to writing, planning… Comparing completely different authors' experience could also be fun (this video of King and Martin is actually one of my fav)

Ah and many thanks for your ❤ and reblogs on my latest post ! UwU

[theaftersundown]

*writes two paragraphs after months of literally nothing and it took three hours*

[itsbansheebitch]

"Character doesn't act traumatized"

The flaw with the criticism of "this character isn't acting traumatized, you need to show how this event changed them" is that a lot of people experience EXTREME traumatic events and think it's normal. Their behavior might change in subtle ways, but they mostly just continue with their life.

This is especially true in children/young characters. See example here:

[charbroiledchicken]

reblog if you're a writer but would rather drink straight cyanide than show any of your family members your work

[thewordsarestuckinmyhead]

my characters watching me come up with another storyline that is going to have detrimental effects on what’s left of their mental state

[chrysalis-thestateofchange]

..＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙* ── | “Torn” | ── *•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙* ＊..

Characters // Atlas (he/him), Wren (they/them)

Atlas doesn't really know what he's doing, sneaking through the halls after lights out. 

He should be back in his dorm, preparing himself for the training and tests he'll have to endure tomorrow morning. They’ve only picked up, growing more intense and strenuous as Evaluation day inches nearer and nearer. It should be his top priority right now, above all else. He knows if Cato heard he was still out — that he was breaking the strict curfew that’s set for everyone inside the base, disobeying so many of their different, vital rules — she’d be deeply disappointed in him. 

“Letting yourself be distracted with such trivial things, Atlas,” she’d say. “Is the first step towards failure.” 

But those recordings have been all he’s been able to think about these past few days. With what he’s witnessed, the horrors that he cannot erase, no matter how hard he attempts to, he doesn’t think he’ll ever be able to forget about it. Not until he gets proper answers. 

He knows it’s bad. Knows it’s horribly, terribly wrong. But there’s a part of him, a small, impossibly rotten part of him…. That really wants to see that spy again. 

He can’t keep them out of his thoughts. Their words replay inside his mind at a near constant rate, distracting him from conversations and leaving his head spinning, questions spurring up in a way they never have before. He’s never met someone like them, someone so assertive and brash — so hellbent on reaching their goal. They don’t care about rules or regulations, about following orders. Atlas thought everyone followed orders. But this kid… they don’t seem to work for anybody but themself. He didn’t think that was even an option. There’s something about them, with all their loudmouthed disobedience, that seems too irresistible to forget, drawing him in with every new interaction they have. 

Before them, he thought he knew his place, knew exactly where he belonged. But now, he’s not so sure. With all the things he’s seen, the sickening images he’s discovered….

He’s not even sure he wants to be an Elite anymore.

It’s that thought that lingers on his mind as he creeps down the darkened halls, following the same pathway as that night, so many days prior. And it is just his luck that only feet away, the same spy from before turns the corner, boots clattering together as they briskly stomp down the corridor. 

Atlas picks up his pace, sticking to the shadows as he follows along. Guilt brews in his chest, eating away at his insides. Cato put her trust in him, and he’s breaking it, doing this. Fraternizing with the enemy. But he forces the unwanted emotions down, taking a breath to steady himself. He needs to find out more. He needs to…

He needs to prove them wrong.

The spy waltzes along the hallway, not checking to see if they’re being followed, before finally coming to a stop in the research wing, in front of the steel-panelled room from last time. It is a little fumbling inside their pockets that follows before suddenly they produce a small green card — one unlike any of the others Atlas has seen before. Stolen, no doubt. He doesn’t take his eyes off of them as they slip inside, the doors coming apart with a little hiss. He quickly steps in behind him, all his movements near-silent. Not even the scuff of his boot against the cement can be heard. 

He stands near the back of the room, unmoving, his figure clouded by the shadows, as the spy makes a beeline for the desk in the far corner. They don’t waste any time, hastily ripping apart the drawers and retrieving another singular black hard drive. It doesn’t look like anything special, no different than the one he saw a few days ago. There isn’t even a number code to differentiate it from the others. 

They plop down in the chair, immediately plugging the hard drive into the computer without a second thought. The computer is quick to boot up, dull blue light flashing from the screen, illuminating the plain gray of their surroundings. Unlike the other computer, all the folders inside this one are separated differently, labeled by decades instead. Atlas peers closer as the spy clicks at the mouse, pulling up a file, this one with a more recent date. 

He’s sure that nothing bad will be in this file. Surely someone would have put a stop to these experiments by now. Maybe… the previous videos had been taken a long time ago, from way before Cato had even become head director. From before their leader had come into power. Maybe—

You’re lying to yourself, a voice at the back of his head unhelpfully supplies. You saw the dates. 

He quickly shakes that thought off, eyes narrowing as a large wall of text pops up on screen. He draws closer, beginning to read. 

“Jesus.” The spy mutters, a frown etched upon their lips. 

There is a column, in darker text than the rest, listing the current Elites accepted into the new year. The column beside it is smaller, recording how many were left alive by the end of the year. The most recently recorded was twenty-one at the beginning of the year. 

Six are left at the end. 

“Hey, you,” the clipped voice of the spy cuts through the tension, teeth gritted. “Come look at this.” 

Atlas flinches at the sudden sound, hesitating for a second. Did they know he was here the entire time? He’d been so careful as to not alert them of his presence.

But this was what he had been hoping for all along, wasn’t it? Running into them again, talking to them about the files…

He pauses for a moment, before very reluctantly stepping forwards to lean down next to the stranger, staring at whatever has caught their attention.

They turn to eye him for a second, dark eyes flicking over his face, before they scoot to the side, pushing the mouse towards him. “Look at how few people survive. Every year, the number of Elites that make it out is lower than they started with. And these are just the deaths from experimentation. Not even including field deaths.” 

Atlas stares at the screen, unsure of what to even make of it. “They weren’t properly prepared.” He murmurs weakly, still desperately trying to cling onto the Eden that he knew, before they showed up and ruined everything. 

Being an Elite was what he had always wanted… wasn’t it? Was he really going to let this stranger dissuade him against it? After all he had done to reach his goal? This is why he trained so hard. Being an Elite was never meant to be easy. You were supposed to be the best of the best. So what if there were casualties? It came with the territory. In a war like this, you couldn’t avoid it. That’s why Cato was so hard on him, why Evaluation day had so much importance. So that you were prepared.

The spy arches a skeptical brow and huffs. “Weren’t ready for the experiments performed on them? The torture they were put through? Can you really say this is anyone’s fault but Eden’s?” They narrow their eyes, their words hissed and exasperated. “Look at the dates. The same pattern goes back years and years. They knew what they were doing. They knew what the results would be.”

Atlas falls quiet, for once not with a rebuttal. He stares at the dates on the screen, a sort of hollow emptiness working its way through him, sapping the little fight he had left. Cato wouldn’t have lied to him…

Would she?

“Look, like it or not,” the spy sighs, eyes darting back and forth from the computer screen to Atlas. “This is bad. There’s no excuse for it. It’s evil.”

Atlas doesn’t take his eyes off of the screen, even though he can feel their eyes on him. He rereads the information over and over again, his eyes burning from the intensity of his stare. It is almost as if he reads it hard enough, if he burns the words into his skull, memorizes and dissects them, then maybe something here will make sense. Somewhere within these lines there has to be something that explains why they could be possibly doing this. Why the Eden he’s learned about all his life, the Eden he’s lived in, could do something so… so cruel. So inhumane. There is a desperation thrumming inside him, this need deep in his bones, that he just can’t ignore. He needs this. He needs to be right. 

He needs to belong. 

The spy lets out a long, exasperated puff of air, leaning back lazily in their chair. Their gaze is still focused directly on his face as they speak again, a sort of resignation in their voice. “Is this really something you want to be a part of, now that you know about it? You could come with me, you know? Get the hell away from here.” 

Atlas jerks away from them in an instant, the colour draining from his face at their words. “No.” He gasps, the very notion of abandoning his post one that he will not, under any circumstances, even consider. There’s not a time where it could ever be a possibility. What would that make him, if he just got up and ran from his duties, as soon as things got hard? What kind of soldier did such a thing? “No. I’m not leaving.” 

Only a coward would run. 

The spy lets out a grunt of frustration, their nose scrunching, brows furrowed. “Why not? What’s keeping you now that you know the truth?” 

“How should I trust you?” Atlas steps back, panic rising at their insistence. He isn’t supposed to think these things. He isn’t supposed to question these things. He isn’t even supposed to be out.

“Maybe… maybe you just planted this here. To try and trick soldiers into leaving.” He hisses, his thoughts erratic and nonsensical as he fumbles for excuses, his voice growing hoarse. “Maybe you just— just orchestrated this whole thing. I’ve never heard anything like this in all my time here, and I’ve been inside this warehouse for years. Why are there suddenly all these files and pieces of ‘evidence’ just popping up out of nowhere? It doesn’t seem likely.”

Deep down he knows he sounds illogical, but admitting the truth in front of them would be one hundred times worse.

The spy throws their head back with a groan. “How could I plant this? How could I orchestrate footage like that? Files like this?” They spit back, defiant. “Those scientists work here, they walk this building every day. You’re just now finding out about it because it’s been covered up. I uncovered the truth. I’m an outsider. No one here could have known enough to gossip about it.”

“I’m not…” Atlas furrows his eyebrows, dread settling inside his stomach. When he speaks again his voice is not more than a mere whisper, the exact opposite of the loud and commanding tone it held when he first cornered them. “I’m not leaving my home.” 

“What’s going to happen to you if you stay here?” The spy counters, leaning towards him with squinted eyes. They don’t seem angry anymore, moreso confused. Just as confused as Atlas currently feels right now, his head a jumbled mess. “Can you really call it home if they plan to destroy you?” 

“They won’t…” He murmurs. “They’ll keep me safe.”

“Safe?” The spy scoffs and shakes their head before jabbing a finger at the computer screen. “I bet that’s what they thought too. They probably thought they were safe. They probably thought they were being rewarded.”

“You don’t know anything about me.” He spits. 

Still, he isn’t sure he believes what he’s saying. Not anymore.

“I don’t need to. I can see it. You think you’re special. You think it’ll be different with you, that you’re the one out of hundreds that will actually be rewarded.” The spy laughs, their voice dry. 

“I will be.” 

The spy crosses their arms and raises a defiant brow. “Are you sure?”

The death toll looms in front of him. It seems to be written in pure blood, inked with the regrets of hundreds before him. 

Will that be his name on the list, his pale frame on that silver table? 

Stop it. He chides himself. This is what he wants. This is what he’s always wanted. He’s been hoping for his Evaluation since he was seven years old, anxiously awaiting the day he would shine, victorious, above the rest. It’s why he trains, why he lives. It’s all he’s ever known. It’s what he’s supposed to do. What does one measly little rebel really know, in the grand scheme of things? Is he really going to listen to them, and their idiocy?

“Y-yes.”

The hesitation only seems like a confirmation to the spy. “No you’re not. You’re trying to convince yourself.” They stand with a huff, reaching forward and snatching the hard drive from out of the computer, tucking it away inside their vest. They level their stare, shouldering past Atlas with a harsh shove. “But who am I to stop you.” 

They pause at the door, turning back with one final glare. “But I gave you an out. It’ll be your fault for not taking it. 

The door shuts behind them with a resounding click, leaving Atlas alone with the darkness. He blinks blankly at the empty computer screen before him, not daring to move. 

He feels torn. 

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A big thanks to @ohagiwrites for helping me write this chapter ⋆˚࿔

─ O.A. .ᐟ

[mjjune]

I'm now offering alpha/beta/sensitivity reading and photo editing!

I've adjusted my prices and simplified the system! I've also added photo editing because I love doing that too <3

For a mini breakdown of what I'm offering:

ALPHA reading is more for overall story analysis/concerns—this is better if you haven't had any feedback yet, if you're in draft 1-2 and stumped on how to make it better, or if you only want feedback regarding the Big Picture storytelling/arcs.

BETA reading is for polished drafts that you're trying to make publication-ready. It's more detailed feedback, focusing not just on story, but also on pacing, worldbuilding, plot progression, and prose/style.

SENSITIVITY/EXPERT reading is for representation of minority groups that I am a part of or stories that involve medical/science topics that I am an expert in. This is less detailed feedback, focusing on the representation and accuracy of these specific themes.

PHOTO EDITING is pretty straight forward. You give me photos (that you have the rights to) and I edit them to your specifications. I'll do just about anything from filters, removing stuff, touching up acne, adding text, resizing, for nature, animals, people, nudes, you name it!

PAY WHAT YOU WANT is for any kind of critique/feedback or photo editing service you want for any price. You choose how much you pay and I have complete freedom/control of your request.

[a-wordsmith-of-sorts]

so like, how allowed is rewriting the beginning and ending during a first draft or is that something reserved for the second?

also how allowed is it to tweak lore while we're at it?

[writingwithfolklore]

I Failed... Let's Talk About It

At the start of February I posted about a 30-day digital detox I started the year with and all the benefits I got from it. I’d recommend reading that post if you haven’t already as this is a direct response to it, but the bare minimum that you need to know is that for the month of January, I abstained from all social media and other technology that wasn’t immediately essential to me.

I talked pretty extensively about all the ways my life improved in that original post. All in all, it was a success story.

In February, however, I started to reincorporate some of the technology I had cut out over January—mainly Youtube. Out of all the social media I was on, Youtube was my greatest vice. I spent hours upon hours of my day watching videos, even ones I had seen before, even when I was bored. It made me feel unfulfilled and guilty, and was one of the biggest reasons I decided to do a digital detox in the first place (ironically, it was also where I heard about it).

So, it comes as no surprise that while I was able to cut out Instagram and Pinterest and other time wasters without much difficulty, I really struggled with my craving for Youtube. I’m embarrassed to admit all of this, but I think it’s important context.

At first, the reintroduction of technology went really well. I had some strict rules about my consumption to retain some of the better habits I had picked up during my detox, and kept to them for the first couple weeks. My rules were this: I could watch Youtube only after 8pm and only on weekends, and even then, I had to keep it to two hours maximum. This would ensure that I spent my day doing things that actually provided me value, and retained my “brain stamina” (I still haven’t found a better term for it). Stuff like working out, reading, writing, and spending time with my friends and family.

Then, things started to slip.

I started watching Youtube during the weekdays after 8pm, then, after 6pm because I wanted to watch during dinner. Then, after 3pm, because I had just come home from a long day of classes. Eventually, I was waking up and putting it on in the morning, or halfway through the day. And with these earlier and earlier times, I also had more and more time to watch—so you can imagine my 2hr rule did not stick for very long. The people I had subscribed to so that I was only watching higher value contact also didn’t stick for long—I went back to all my old time wasters.

I started to notice that I was slipping back into old habits when I stopped reading. It took me a week to finish the new Hunger Games book, and was taking like three to finish another book of a similar length (A Venom Dark and Sweet if you’re curious). Then, and worse to me, I stopped writing too—it started to become hard again. I had no motivation to do anything other than mindlessly watch videos—even though I was bored! Even though I was really down most of the time, and didn’t have the energy to call up my friends to do anything else.

I was in the same pit that I started in.

Sitting at my desk and watching endless hours of videos is not how I see myself spending my life. Not now, and not in the future. I decided to cut Youtube from my life for good. I think trying to reintroduce it in a healthy way was an experiment that failed—and that’s okay. I did nothing wrong, but for some reason this specific format of social media pulls me in more than others, and so if I can’t consume it with mediation, it is better and easier for me to not consume it at all.

I wanted to write this update because leaving off my digital detox experience as “everything is great and my life is way better now permanently” no longer felt true to me. Things didn’t stay permanently better, but I believe I’ve made the right choice in trying to reclaim some of what I experienced during my detox, and that this failure was all just part of that journey.

If you have also attempted a digital detox or are thinking about it, know that it’s an incredibly difficult thing to do, and ‘failure’ does not reflect on you as a person. You can always try again; you can get to that place you want to be. In a big way, I failed my detox—but I’m working on it, and I’m keeping that version of who I want to be and what I want my life to look like as my guiding star. You can too.